With all of the progress happening in the Downtown and Midtown areas of Detroit, it’s easy for residents in the neighborhoods outside of those areas to feel left out.  Mayor Duggan along with the members of the Department of Neighborhoods are out to show that everyone has a voice and they want to hear it.

A little background info on my neighborhood: I live in Detroit’s 7th district in an area referred to as the aviation subdivision.  You will almost never hear the neighborhood brought up in conversation, however it is in my opinion one of the well kept secrets of Detroit.  The area features many beautiful brick homes built in the 1920’s and 30’s and border’s neighboring Dearborn, a city which compared to most suburbs is pretty unique with a deep/rich history itself.

Back to business… Recently I was asked by the Deputy Manager of District 7 Mona Ali (who also happens to be my sister) if my wife Athar and I would like to host the Mayor and many of our neighbors for a community meeting. Although I was not aware of this prior to being asked to host the event, Mayor Duggan does his best to meet with residents and block clubs throughout the city for a similar open forum meeting at least once a week.

We of course said yes and welcomed Mayor Duggan along with many longtime residents of the Aviation Sub into our home.  Right off the bat Mayor Duggan made it clear that he wanted everyone to be open about things: What’s working, whats not, what can be improved, etc.  He, along with Mona and Ray Solomon were able to respond to and offer immediate answers and feedback on many of the concerns, and vowed get back to us on things that required more research.

Detroit is not a small city and everyone was appreciative of the Mayor, Mona, and Ray taking the time out of their schedule to meet with us and show genuine interest in having our voices heard and concerns addressed.  While no one is perfect and change doesn’t happen overnight, as a longtime resident of the city I can genuinely say i’m happy in the direction things are going.  As we enter the new year i’m excited to see what’s in store for all of Detroit in 2016.