![](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2014\/12\/16\/2412B74E00000578-0-image-a-22_1418690415464.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAs Detroit continues its ascent back to the realms of our nation’s unwritten ”list” of marquee places, albeit slowly, It has encountered a series of both political and social barriers. At times its feels as if large\u00a0parts of the city\u00a0are not willing to let go of the normality they were raised with to allow the widely criticized\u00a0”New” Detroit to be erected. The city seems almost content with the present state of Detroit, to a certain degree and with the exception of the obvious ”products” of violence and a corrupt system. As an architect, it was puzzling to see a city reject change in the manner I see it here. One of the most challenging parts of design in a city in the midst of a transformation is understanding the political climate surrounding the development and the oft displacement of long-time residents.<\/p>\n
If you ”look” at the micro composition of any ”modern”, successful city\u00a0you\u00a0will see a revolving, ever-changing balance between what was and what will be.\u00a0A cities historic past, both from an architectural and cultural sense\u00a0should be a significant part of\u00a0a cities ”feel”. But,\u00a0In the same vein,\u00a0in a manner to ever evolve, there will be specific part that will become the\u00a0”victim” of said change. The difficulty arises when there is not sufficient effort or research placed\u00a0into the consequences, and process to transform.<\/p>\n
From my brief time in Detroit, I have continuously used running as a medium to explore the ”un-refurbished” parts of Detroit, the parts of the city where the heartbeat is still centered around the ringing sound of Motown, and the automotive industry. The sectors of Detroit who go ”unnoticed” but are the areas of this city that have, and will continue to define it. There is a different vibe that emanates when you leave downtown Detroit. There is more than a physical change of scenery when you exit the radius and bubble that is downtown. Its a very significant portion of the city that our leaders need to recognize and\u00a0”invite” to the table. It\u00a0difficult to design and\u00a0shape the best solution for\u00a0this\u00a0city, or any city, when you only allow the voices of the downtown sector are heard or valued.<\/p>\n
To fully understand, you must experience it<\/em>. Anything. Period. To understand Detroit, visit. but ensure you take time to understand more than the downtown area that composes the small section of Detroit that has garnered all of the financial benefits, and developmental focus since emerging from bankruptcy. From 2008 until present day, the gap between downtown Detroit and the neighborhoods is continuously increasing and its evident by the growing tension between the leaders, and residents of both. Detroit needs to accept and invite the neighborhoods to the party. Downtown needs to learn to accept and utilize the prominent culture and social structure of the neighborhoods. Detroit needs to become a unified city where its not obvious to the naked eye where the money stops.<\/p>\n The solution? That is something I humbly decline to say I have nor feel educated enough to begin to answer. But the beginning is equality in education, financial support, positive ”marketing”, etc. Detroit’s future is increasingly bright but in order to maximize its potential and to truly regain its ”status” from its heyday, it cant do it without the sector of the city who’s responsible for that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Detroit continues its ascent back to the realms of our nation’s unwritten ”list” of marquee places, albeit slowly, It has encountered a series of both political and social barriers. At times its feels as if large\u00a0parts of the city\u00a0are not willing to let go of the normality they were raised with to allow the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}