Possibilities & The Grassroots

There are some people in the Metro-Detroit Region and across the state who look at the state of the city and see it as hopeless & undeserving of any kind of support.  They go through life with narrow minds and a limited view of the world, not seeing the possibilities that lie in the D and are ignorant to what a thriving metropolis can mean to the state.

Then you have the members of the Creative Community and other activists & advocates who want to make their neighborhood or the city as a whole a better place.  They most often have very little in the way of resources, yet they are committed to taking a stand and doing their part to improve the landscape by any means at their disposal, even if it is on a minor level.

It is in dark & dire times such as these we are going through now that imagining the possibilities, is more important than ever.  I posted a piece from the newspaper with the headline, "In Dark Times, Be a Light in the Region."  As optimistic as I try to be, fighting off feelings of bleakness about the situation we are in, is a constant battle; but I tell myself that sooner or later the D will realize what creativity & possibilities can do to turn things around.

Recently Crain's Detroit Business had a special feature "The D's Next Decade, 10 ideas, projects that can create Detroit's future."  While one of the pieces made note of the Design 99 effort of starting an artist enclave, and used the example of another effort to attract artists to Paducah, Kentucky (and another effort based on that model) there were no other mentions of the what the power of the Creative Community can achieve if properly nurtured. 

Ric Geyer, who owns the 4731 Gallery & Studios building had a piece on "Could Detroit become known as ‘The City that Listens?"  I dropped him a line and mentioned it would be nice if the foundations, corporations and other entities would listen to ideas from the grassroots members of the Creative Community.

A problem I see with regional efforts to revitalize the city and region is a lack of inclusion in what efforts should be taken to restore the D to something resembling a world class city.

Two books I’ve read in recent years, by the same set of authors, principals of Collaborative Economics,  are Civic Revolutionaries, 2004, and Grass Roots Leaders for a New Economy, How Civic Entrepreneurs Are Building Prosperous Communities, 97.  Both books touch on thinking regionally and innovatively and  define what kind of role persons such as myself can play in helping the city & region and talk about how Civic Entrepreneurs, who can come from a variety of backgrounds (including community advocates) play an integral role in turning cities and regions around.

Another book which was most inspiring, The Creative City, by Charles Landry, founder of the consulting group Comedia had this comment that validates the idea of embracing persons who might have radical thoughts on how to improve the D.

“The creative individuals need to be brought into play at strategic points because, though not everyone in the creative city needs to be creative, it depends on a critical mass of open-minded, courageous and fresh thinkers.  A handful of strategically placed creative people can transform a city if they are in the right positions of influence – not necessarily of power.”

An early news piece about the One D effort, quoted an Urban Studies Professor as saying the average Joe is the real key to success, but I believe the Creative Community can have the biggest impact in turning the city around, we just need a major spark.