Hello World!

It may be a bit cliché, but the engineer in me cannot think of a better sentence to start my blogging career (bonus points to the first person who correctly posts why…).

Let me start with a (very) brief introduction. I’ve been a Michigander my whole life, growing up near Grand Rapids in the small town of Rockford, MI. I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2005 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. After 5 years working in software for the auto industry I went back to U of M to pursue my MBA at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. I graduated from business school in May 2013 with a specialization in finance and social entrepreneurship and now am a Challenge Detroit fellow working with the Beaumont Medical Group for the next year. I love to cook (and eat), play tennis, travel and think up new business ideas. I am an amateur wine-maker and just got married two weeks ago to the love of my life, Kristy. I wanted to go over this brief history so that you can know what perspective I write from. Over the course of the year, I hope to write about food, business, events, charity and life–all in the context of Detroit.

Random side note: I’m both shocked and excited ‘Michigander’ passed spellcheck—go Microsoft.

Now without further ado, let’s get to my first post…

How to fix Detroit

Whenever I tell people that I moved to Detroit to work on the city’s revitalization, the typical response is something like, “You certainly have a big job ahead of you.” It’s not surprising that’s the response I get when you think of the press that Detroit has been getting over the past decade. Detroit is the bankrupt city with a corrupt government where you are very likely to be shot. Right? While these issues may be what the national media picks up on, I’m learning that the city may not need as much help as it appears. Consider these numbers about Detroit courtesy of the Detroit Regional Chamber:

And by-the-way, my wife and I have been out running many times past dark and we are still alive to tell the tale.

So how is it that an area with so much going for it got to be in such bad shape? According to one speaker we heard during our Challenge Detroit boot camp week, it has a lot to do with a history of an “us vs them” mentality in the region. Don’t quote me on these numbers, but a Detroit tour guide told me there are around 140 different cities in the tri-county area most of which are less than 2 square miles in size and many of these cities like are opposed to cooperating with one another. Barring any collaboration, each one of these cities requires its own government, police force and fire department. Economics 101 says that the only way any big organization can sustain itself is to take advantage of economies of scale, the idea that goods/services get cheaper on average as you consume more of them. Just imagine the amount of money that could be saved if these small cities could share resources with each other.

Thankfully, not everyone is stuck in this mentality. In fact, Downtown and Midtown are now thriving on collaboration. Just look at how many business incubators now exist in these areas. Chances for the community to come out and support each other—like the Detroit Design Festival that just happened—seem to flood my inbox every week. That is why Detroit is already making news as being one of the fastest growing urban developments in the nation.

So back to my original question….how do you fix Detroit? While the next Detroit city government will have to worry about correcting the city’s financial woes and services, I think Detroiters already know how to fix everything else. The people of Detroit are staging an incredible comeback and as long as the spirit of community collaboration is kept alive, the rest of the nation will soon see the thriving Detroit that I now get to see every day.

How do you see Detoiters fixing their city?

Tom may be reached on twitter (@Tom_Schuelke) or via email at thomas.schuelke@challengedetroit.org but would especially love comments posted to the blog. Also, he thinks he may give Cody a run for his money on the hair comment.