No Robocop for Detroit

Perhaps due in part to that Chrysler ad that captured everyone’s imagination during the Super Bowl , the city of Detroit is, once again, attracting national media attention. Today, there’s a feature in the Washington Post entitled, “With Detroit in dire straits, mayor invites big thinking.” Here’s a clip.

…With no salvation in sight, Bing, 67, has embarked on a mission few in his position have ever had to take on: dramatically shrinking a major American metropolis. To do so, Bing has issued an open invitation: anyone with a proposal, plan, theory – a notion, even – is welcome to try to save his crumbling city.

Numerous outfits have responded, turning Detroit into the new New Orleans – a giant testing ground for urban planners and developers.

There is an urban farming proposal, which would turn over whole sections of the city to corporate farming operations. Many of the country’s leading foundations, including Kresge, Ford, Rockefeller, Kellogg, Skillman and Knight, are funding arts, education and development projects.

The Urban Land Institute is helping to revitalize a downtown corridor. The federal government has spent hundreds of millions, and Bing is seeking millions more.

“It’s open season,” said Chazz Miller, an artist and entrepreneur in Detroit who was handed a $15,000 grant from the Knight Foundation last year after speaking on a panel about urban renewal. He’s now applying for a $40,000 grant for a beautification project in the Brightmoor neighborhood. “There’s over a million dollars a year now for public art in Detroit.”

Bing announced a plan on Monday to encourage city police officers and firefighters to live in Detroit as a way of bolstering neighborhoods. Using federal dollars and deals with local banks, the city would offer homes for as little as $1,000.

The mayor is not just trying to save Detroit for its residents, but create the kind of city that others will want to return to, said Robin Boyle, a professor of urban planning at Wayne State University. “Bing, since he came on board, has consistently held the position publicly that this is a time that requires decisive and directional changing intervention,” he said….

Some ideas, however, are apparently less welcome than others. Mayor Bing, for instance, had the following to say this afternoon on Twitter about one specific idea that had been submitted to his office.

But, you’ll be happy to know, the people of Detroit aren’t taking this lying down. No, like the people of Tunisia and Egypt, they’re rising up and fighting back. Of course, they haven’t taken to the streets yet… but they are on Facebook.

I don’t know if it would be appreciated, but I’d be happy to step in and broker a deal, if Bing and others would let me. I have an idea for a compromise already. It involves a giant RoboCop statue, with the head of Martha Reeves. I think it could be incredible. [If someone could photoshop it for me, I’d appreciate it.]

update: For what it’s worth, I really like the idea of offering downtown homes dirt cheap to Detroit police officers and firefighters. It’s something that we’ve discussed here in the past, and I think it could have an incredible impact. I just hope that people take him up on the offer. I’d also encourage the Mayor to extend the offer to those outside of the Police and Fire departments who have relevant skills and experience. For a start, I’d suggest making the offer to professors at Wayne State.