Time was I used to regularly point and laugh at all the heartfelt stories of Detroit's rebirth and recovery, claiming that it was futile and Detroit was hopeless. Now that tangible evidence of that recovery is getting publicity everywhere you look, you'd think I'd be hiding my head in shame. Well, no. I'm still going to be the wet blanket on your happy feelies.
Two good things have happened. First, the State of Michigan took over management of Detroit when they went into bankruptcy. Until then, assorted powers on the city council along the mayor worked the city like the mafia bust out. The State taking over has at least allowed businesses to feel like they are not going to get shaken down and milked dry. That has led to the second good thing, which is some high profile businesses have opened up shop in the city. The cynic in me says these businesses are figuring out ways to use decaying Detroit as a benefit to branding, either to goose their Good Progressive Actor scores or elevate their authenticity status. (Authenticity is a holy grail for well-heeled, insecure hipsters and nothing makes you more real than being from Detroit. )
Along with these high profile businesses have come well-meaning white people who fancy themselves on the vanguard of culture and coolness. Getting a New York Times article about how cool you are gives them shivers of validation. I'd wager you get more cred these days for being from Detroit than you do being from Brooklyn; that's saying something.
This year, was the first election for mayor since the State has relinquished control back to local authorities. As of last August, four of the eight candidates for mayor were felons -- two of whom were charged with attempted murder. Now, the good news is that none of them were serious candidates, but old habits of die hard (just ask Marion Barry). Yet, remarkably, the new Mayor, Mike Duggan, is white -- which strongly suggests that one way or another the old power structure is on the ropes. I mean, he beat Coleman Young II, son of the long-time mayor Coleman Young who was the individual who did the most the destroy the city. His dad would never have lost to a white man, so something is going on.
So that's good. I'm happy for this. I really am. And I grudgingly have to say progress has been made. But what you have to understand is that all this positivity is confined to about one square mile around Hart Plaza. It's like a small window connecting the city to the functional world outside. The broader problems are far from over. Corruption is still deeply ingrained in the city's flesh. Check out this story on the cop implicated in a towing-auto theft scam. And there is still rampant incompetence, from the comic -- bands of undercover cops fighting each other -- to the tragic -- you may have read about to 600 neglected rape kits. Imagine being a rape victim and calling about the progress of your case only to dig your way through a litany of laconic functionaries to eventually discover they couldn't be bothered to to keep track of your rape kit. Detroit is still not a good place to live by any measure. It remains The Most Violent City in America.
But here we have, for the first time in my lifetime, a step in the right direction. The question is can the next step be taken. That's a harder step. The high profile businesses coming in can only go so far. To be of any real economic benefit they will need to house employees in the city -- and not just right-thinking white hipsters. We're talking middle-class families. We're talking good schools and secure streets. And for those you need two things: 1) public safety, which it is well documented that you don't have, and 2) a strong school system, which not only do you not have, but you have the educational bureaucracy actively working against you.
Beyond that, you need an ecosystem of small, unglamorous businesses - plumbers, convenience stores, child care centers, dull office-fillers, etc. -- because one of the benefits of having big name companies in your town is the further business growth needed to service both the companies and the employees that they can bring in. That's how functional cities grow. But in Detroit, the entrenched, hyperactive regulatory policies and enforcement institutions seem dedicated to stifling any business that isn't well funded enough to locate in Detroit on principle alone. Read this for a good description of the conditions. In short, businesses seeking profit as opposed to goodwill, will look elsewhere.
We're still a long way from a Detroit that is functional in any way beyond symbolism. Detroit has a problem with Rule of Law. It has too little is some circumstances and too much in others. There is a word: Anarcho-tyranny, which is a government that cannot control real criminals so it controls the innocent to demonstrate its authority. Detroit has flirted with that for the last 50 years and that hasn't changed.
But however tiny, there is an upswing, something I never expected. What comes next, in the absence of strong State oversight, will be interesting to see. I honestly hope the day comes when I have to eat crow. But I doubt it. My sneer remains intact.
