Almost every day Detroiters are confronted with some new effort to redevelop land. Most of these efforts are met with widespread suspicion, usually founded on bitter experiences of previous “development efforts. ” Time and again we have seen a few people get rich while leaving the rest of us to deal with the pieces of shattered promises. Frequently these schemes have been destructive to many of the most vulnerable in our community. Hastings Street, the Brewster Projects, Poletown, Virginia Park, New Center and the fiasco of the riverfront casinos all promised “rebirth” of one kind or another.

The power of this experience shapes how many of us judge any claim for restoring our city. What the corporate-foundation-government elite label “dysfunction” and “naysaying” is generally a thoughtful, considered response born out of these experiences. It is also a recognition that we in Detroit have the opportunity to develop a very different kind of urban life. Our unique history and resources give us the possibility of creating the first self-sustaining city of the 21st Century, a city that values all of its people, cherishes its resources and culture, and offers a vision of new, productive work that develops people while protecting the natural world.