The Motor City 2010

For the first time as an adult, I spent some time In Detroit (albeit not for a reason that I'd like to have been there, I made the best of it though) and came away with some interesting opinions about the once great city and its inhabitants. I have a laundry list of observations about the city:

• It saddens me that the city, once among the manufacturing and production powerhouses in the world, so downtrodden. There are stretches of city blocks where 60-70% of business are out of business. Restaurants, specialty shops, used car dealerships, everything
• The city has lost almost half of its population due to the lost of large chunks of its largest industry which is automobile manufacturing. I'd venture out and say that no city depends as heavily on one industry as Detroit relies on the American automobile industry.
• My 45-year old second cousin, who was raised in inner city Detroit, moved to the distant suburbs and refuses to go back into the inner city citing the violence and hopelessness; he even called it the "Wild Wild West." He spoke about the 1976 building of the Renaissance Building, the most distinctive building in the Detroit skyline. While renaissance means rebirth or change, he said he hasn't seen an ounce of change in the city and has finally lost hope. This is saddening to hear from a native.
  
• However, despite all the turmoil the industry has been under, I was delighted to see the art of production at the Ford Rouge River plant (where every F-150 is built). Watching the assembly line work in a fluid, rhythmical way was almost therapeutic and gave me renewed respect for Ford and their attempts to change things to make their products competitive again. I almost wanna buy an F-150, but gas is still not cheap enough for that. They've also incorporated green aspects into the structure such as the "living roof," special vegetation used for rejuvenation of a former junkyard, and solar energy use where appropriate.
• I gained a new respect for Henry Ford. Although he neither invented the automobile or the assembly line, he forged the two into a modern marvel of production and industry. He had a huge had in building Detroit itself. The city's hospitals and casino would not be what they are without his influence. Also, his influence created the residential sectors of Dearborn and Inkster so his workers would be able to live closer to their jobs.
• For the short Do Better advice for Detroit, I have to single out the 25 and over crowd which is not acting its age. My cousin, an attractive, hard-working, and ambitious 37 year old woman, told me she hasn't been able to get serious with anyone in her lifetime in Detroit because she can't find someone her age who has charm, goals, and education to be compatible with her. I didn't understand and then I went out to a club and bar at a casino and I see why now. I've never seen so many 25-35 year old men wearing beaters as actual shirts. As if they stood in the mirror and said to themselves "I'm feeling myself so much that I refuse to even put a shirt on." And to counter that, many also refused to take their do-rags off to come in public; they were it to make the hair look nice and then don't wanna show it off? Coonery. Hell, my 22-year old cousin that took me to the casino said that my outfit - a short sleeve Polo button-up, jeans, and Pumas - was much more dressy that the usual attire even at 21 and older spots; sad enough on its own. And this one 30-somethin guy in a 5XL Obama shirt was sufficiently embarrassing himself on the dance floor for about 25 minutes straight. I was ashamed for the ladies of Detroit. Do Better...

The economic downturn and collapse of the America auto industry has been as detrimental to Detroit as Hurricane Katrina has been to New Orleans. The economic recovery necessary in Motown seems to be as large as the rebuilding effort needed to resurrect the the Crescent City. I hope that the city can rise above all the turmoil and reinvent itself; it needs to truly harness some of that rebirth the Renaissance building was supposed to represent almost 35 years ago. Not to mention, the grown ups need to act like grown up too. Motown, you're capable of so much more, act like it. Do Better...