Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. It marks transformation from fall into winter and offers all of us free candy while we wait. I’m not sure if it is the changing of the leaves, the multiple cups of warm cider or my obsession with candy that really makes me love this time of the year, but it definitely has me under its spell. This month, I have been enjoying Detroit as it transforms into fall and winter. Corn stalks line Woodward Avenue; Campus Martius is becoming a skating rink bigger than the one at Madison Square Garden; candy has completely flooded my space at General Motors and the buzzwords at work are ideas for Halloween costumes. The city is in an all-out fall frenzy, and this brings to my mind a question I’m asked all the time: “do you really think Detroit will come back?” At this point, I’m sure you are asking, “Laurie, what does Halloween have to do with Detroit’s comeback?” and my answer for you is… it really does not have anything to do with it – but I like Halloween and I like Detroit so the two must have something in common, right?

In all honesty, however, this month I’ve had various discussions about Detroit’s comeback and I have realized that the term “comeback” itself means something different to every person. To me, Detroit’s “comeback” is not about recreating the city we had a little less than a hundred years ago. It’s not even necessarily about bringing 1.5 million residents back into the picture. Instead, it is about engaging the community and celebrating the 700,000 people that are still here, those who have stuck it out and are still in love with the city that I have fallen in love with myself. Sure, our past was great; but the cool thing about this city is that we now have 700,000 of the most passionate, hard-working citizens there are. Let’s celebrate them. They deserve a safe place to Trick or Treat, a candy-filled work place and a great neighborhood where they and all of their friends and family can enjoy a cup of hot cider. Everyone deserves that. See – I connected the dots. Now stop looking at that piece of candy and eat it already, that’s what Halloween is all about!
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