After living nearly four months in Detroit, the one thing that has stood out to me about the city is its uniqueness. I have fortunately had the luxury to visit a few other big cities such as Chicago, New York, L.A., etc. and while all these cities are different from the other, you can still spot many similarities throughout these cities. However, I cannot say the same for Detroit. Some people may think this is a bad thing, but in my eyes this is what makes the city of Detroit so unique. I truly believe if an individual really wants to make an impact and have it recognized, there is no better place to do that than in Detroit.
When somebody opens something in Detroit or does something special, everybody knows about it. One example of this can be the remodeling of Joe Louis arena that Illitch announced recently. It made headlines in the newspaper and was the “hot topic” everyone was talking about. He was simply making more space for venues and other activities to be held in the building and it made everyone so excited!! Another example can be the recent announcement of Buffalo Wild Wings opening in the city. Again, it is only a restaurant opening up, yet it is making headlines and making everybody in the city of Detroit very excited! I doubt creating more venue space or opening up a franchised restaurant in any other big city would not nearly create as much buzz, if any.
The idea of these small things opening up, being recognized, and getting people excited can be easily applied to the job market and opportunity for businesses in Detroit. For example, my company is located in Livonia. After attending Challenge Detroit’s kick-off meeting, my company wanted nothing more than to re-locate in the city of Detroit. What really intrigued them was this connection that all these Detroit-located companies share, and my company really felt they could be apart of this “movement.” This also applies to individuals, and entrepreneurs especially. If you are an entrepreneur and want to start a successful business, do you think it would be easier to start in Chicago with a flooded market of start-ups all competing to stand out from the other, or would you rather start in Detroit where this movement of entrepreneurship is just beginning and the resources to make them successful are becoming larger every day?