Detroit: From Rust to Riches
Monday, February 4, 2013This post makes for a nice follow-up to my recent post of my interview on WHDT World News, where the topic was Detroit.
This interview coincided with my rolling out of my new Detroit themed blog that is titled “Detroit: Rust to Riches.” Thanks to Butler Shaffer for the blog name suggestion that beat all other suggestions. This blog will be about the uniqueness of the Detroit renaissance. The lens through which I view things is very different from the mainstream, or even the scattered blogosphere. This will not be a standard “this is my life in Detroit” blog. Though, I will intersperse some of that stuff, along with my Detroit photography, to keep the blog varied and intellectually interesting. As an economist and market anarchist, I look for topics that cast Detroit in the following light (short summary):
- Detroit’s resurgence due to an inept and powerless local bureaucracy (government) that cannot possibly keep up with regulating the renaissance of entrepreneurial and community ventures. (Example: unlike Chicago, a city with a totalitarian and powerful regulatory environment.)
- Entrepreneurial success in spite of government. (Example: food trucks, pop-ups, private bus service, farmers markets, private security, etc.)
- Community voluntaryism, homesteading of property, and any and all “illegal” (as defined by government!) activities that revive property, serve customers, and/or create value.
- Detroit’s burgeoning art scene/graffiti scene and overall art culture, and how that is undergirding the resurgence and interest in Detroit.
- Urban farming / Community gardens / Etc.
- Private investment/renovations in Detroit communities.
Visit the blog and let me know what you think. Follow me on Twitter @karendecoster.
liberranter says:
February 5th, 2013 at 4:42 pm
No doubt you’ll take issue with Michael Snyder’s recent post over at The Economic Collapse blog.
Otaddy says:
February 6th, 2013 at 5:40 am
The message is getting out there. I was up in Montreal visiting my cousin and she was asking me about Detroit. She is very entrepreneurial and heard that there were lots of exciting things going on and wants to visit this summer.
I may do the same as I am overdue for a visit to Hamtramck!
Pam Maltzman says:
February 16th, 2013 at 11:59 pm
I have seen a LOT of photographs on various web sites which show the ‘fabulous ruins of Detroit,” both industrial and residential buildings. Makes me want to weep for a once-great city–especially when I see ruins of once-livable houses and apartment houses, not to mention the Gilded Age mansions. I’m sorry, but I don’t see much to rejoice about in the situation represented by those ruings. I guess you and I must be reading and talking about two different cities, particularly when one considers the crime rate in Detroit. Sorry… I was born in Dearborn. We mostly lived in outlying suburbs such as Taylor, Warren, Oak Park, and finally Ypsilanti. My father dragged us down to Miami, FLorida in 1963, when I was 10. Some of the architectural styles in the photographs of ruins look familiar to me, although not most of the particular individual houses. I did go skating, as a child, at Belle Isle, and I remember the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Ontario. If Detroit is realy coming back to life, that’d be nice, but from what I’ve read, I don’t see much to rejoice about.
Pam Maltzman says:
March 12th, 2013 at 8:08 am
Oh, yeah… my copy of Paul Kersey’s book ‘Escape From Detroit” arrived today from Amazon. I’ve onlly browsed it so far. They apparently sent me 2 copies when I only ordered 1. Oh, well.