Shaping Our City
Detroit has always been shaped by the impulses of white men. It was established in 1701 in the midst of war by white men pursuing land and access to the wealth of the natural world. Over the centuries, war and violence, the pursuit of personal wealth, and the destruction of the commons have been part of our legacy. But so, too, are the moments of resistance to these efforts. Chief Pontiac forged one of the largest armies contesting imperial expansion on the globe. Henry Ford’s mechanized industrial production, made possible by publicly financed streets, water, and sewers, was contained by the humanizing thrust of the labor movement, emphasizing the dignity of people who work. Many of our streets bear the names of those who wantonly killed, enslaved, stole, and sold other human beings. Yet we also honor the Abolitionist, the outlaws, and the troublemakers and peace seekers.
Today, as we pass five years since the beginning of the bankruptcy declaration, we see a resurgence of personal greed overwhelming the public good. Powerful interests are attempting to force their vision for the future on all of us.
The figure to emerge most clearly in this post-bankruptcy era is that of Dan Gilbert. Hotels, casinos, restaurants, former police stations, and failed jails are only part of an estimated $2.15 billion in investments in the downtown area. These investments are supported in large part by public funds. The public funds are justified with the argument that only public financing and creative tax incentives make it worth the risk for people to invest in the city. Such public financing, we are told, will trickle down, providing jobs to Detroiters, whose tax dollars are leveraged in these deals.
Like many of the most brutal ideas of this present moment, this notion was fostered in Michigan, in the battle for Poletown. There, in 1980, for the first time, corporations and government elites joined forces to argue that the public need for jobs justified the government’s ability to take a community and give it to a private corporation for the development of a for-profit business. In this case, it was the community of Poletown where 3,500 people were forcefully removed. Their homes, businesses, churches, and schools were leveled for a Cadillac plant.
Of course, the promised jobs never materialized. Nor the revitalized economy. But General Motors got its plant, and the profits that flowed from it. Years later, after pain, disruption, and death, the Michigan Supreme Court said, oops. In 2004 the Court reversed its support of the “quick take” legislation, finding it unconstitutional.
But the intellectual foundation had been established and it became normal for City Councils, County Commissioners, and State Legislatures to provide tax incentives and a range of tools for to shift public money into private hands.
Such mechanisms contributed in no small part to the Detroit bankruptcy and to the chaos in our public schools.
Meanwhile, forces of resistance continue to press for alternatives, to find ways of building a sustainable, just, and inclusive city.
Around the country cities are experimenting with progressive policies that promise affordable housing; access to clean, affordable water; corporate accountability; sustainable development; and protection for vulnerable people.
Detroit, once a leader in visionary municipal development, has fallen under the control of a small group of men who think narrowly about advancing their own wealth. This path only leads to violence and destruction.
Yet throughout the city, people are advocating for a different vision. People press for a real water affordability program, such as the one designed here, but adopted by Philadelphia. They are working to evolve affordable housing plans and rent controls, drawing on ideas from Richmond to NY. Community land trusts and benefit agreements are evolving with sophisticated reporting mechanisms, as in Houston. Visionary ideas are everywhere in our city, just not in the halls of this administration or Gilbert’s board rooms.