First of all, Kevyn Orr should be applauded. Detroit’s historic bankruptcy of 2013–2014 was managed very well, clearing legacy obligations while minimizing pain where possible, getting creditors aligned on the side of the city by giving them a stake in revitalization, and providing a blank slate that the City of Detroit can capitalize on.
Most notably, The Grand Bargain was a triumph of enlightened partnership, forging common cause between philanthropies, state government, retirees, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Many people still talk about it as a national model that could be replicated elsewhere.
Mr. Orr and all the professionals involved in this process should be thanked for a job well done.
So what now?
The City now has the resources to invest in its future. Many in city government have an entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to try new things to achieve better outcomes. Recent improvements in city department service standards and a proposal for “pink zoning” that enables more mixing of uses and streamlines development approvals are excellent examples.
But more broadly, the city’s bankruptcy and the deep pain of the Great Recession provide a psychological break with the past. There is a widespread belief that Detroit has finally hit “rock bottom” and has begun to turn around. This is true both in the City and the suburbs, and this sentiment enables people to look anew at the city and the region as a whole.
You can see this everywhere. Real estate development in Greater Downtown is ticking up dramatically, and property prices are rising throughout the city. Some of that is a reflection of the much improved regional economy, but much of it is a re-assessment by the region’s citizens to give the City of Detroit another look. From lingering longer after a Tigers game to going to one of the many new restaurants popping up to investing in a Midtown condo, suburbanites see possibility.
This is a golden opportunity to strengthen these regional bridges and erase longstanding divisions that have separated us.
At the same time, this new image of Detroit is starting to register in the national and international media, from the New York Times to The Guardian. What this allows the Detroit region to do is build on this pivot. We can use the blank slates where they exist to continue a positive narrative of change and opportunity.
This positive narrative should include new investments in infrastructure to make this progress physical and visible, both to long-standing residents and visitors.
The RTA’s Master Plan has a number of new services that provide real improvements in daily life, allowing Metro Detroiters easy access to regional destinations and activity nodes. New pathways are opened for people working hard to escape poverty, and businesses are connected with more workers than ever before.
And almost as important, a Detroit region that is investing in visible improvements is a powerful signal to businesses who may be looking at moving and/or expanding operations. This is a region that has finally gotten its act together, and has moved past the toxic dysfunction of the past.
Metro Detroit, in many ways, is even healthier now than in the halcyon 1990s.
During that boom period, cheap oil and profits from new SUVs drove regional growth and drove down unemployment to 2.5% in 2000. But now, the auto companies have all faced near death experiences and the city has finally been through the cleansing bath of bankruptcy. This period of growth can be more lasting and the start of something better than a purely cyclical boom.
The Big Three have been streamlined, are more competitive with Japanese and German rivals, and are hungrier to win. New investments in electric and self-driving cars show that the companies know they need to adapt for the obvious future that awaits.
The City of Detroit, while still facing many structural problems, is showing the improvements on many metrics that matter, from in-migration of educated citizens, to household income, to real estate development. The corner has been turned.
This blank slate, after the resets of the past decade, is our opportunity to choose differently and change our trajectory. The region’s current prosperity is the chance to look objectively at who our competitors are, what assets they have, and how we can beat them.
Because no one else is standing still. And we have to keep working.