Written by Neil E. Boudette
On a sunny Friday morning last month, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan got behind the wheel of his black Jeep Grand Cherokee and toured the city he’s led for a decade. Located not far from Michigan Central Station, it was once a large abandoned building that has recently been transformed into a gleaming office complex. He slowed to a halt and pointed to a construction site of vertical steel girders and yellow earth-moving equipment. The hotel will become a 600-room JW Marriott hotel, connected to the city’s convention center, and is expected to open by 2027, when the college basketball Final Four will be held in Detroit.
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Farther west, more earthmoving crews are crawling along a mile-long stretch of riverfront property, creating spacious green spaces with elaborate play structures, a water park, basketball courts, and outdoor training equipment. They were adding contours to create a recreational area. It will be one of the last links in a 5.5-mile series of parks, open spaces and bike paths that replaced the warehouses and industrial yards that once lined the Detroit River.
Just beyond the park stood remnants of Detroit’s troubled past. It’s a crumbling boarded-up building that once housed Southwest Detroit Hospital, which closed 18 years ago. Professional soccer club Detroit City FC wants to demolish it and build a new stadium.
About a mile away, Mr. Duggan, 66, parked his car at another construction site that will be home to the University of Michigan’s Center for Research and Innovation, which focuses on software, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. “This is where we will create the jobs of the future,” he said.
Twenty minutes later, Duggan got out of the Jeep at a small park off Rosa Parks Boulevard north of downtown. In 1967, the site was the site of an unlicensed after-hours club and was raided by police. The action sparked violent riots that escalated over five days, leaving 34 people dead, 1,200 injured, and more than 14,000 homes, buildings, and businesses torched or destroyed. This event spurred thousands of residents to flee the city and marked the beginning of Detroit’s long and painful decline.
“There were tanks in the street,” Duggan said quietly. “This is where the violence started in 1967, so it’s very powerful to be standing here now.”
But on this day, the mayor of Detroit strode into a nearby busy coffee shop called The Congregation, a former small church. He was immediately recognized.
“Mayor!” said a blonde woman with a nose piercing, getting up from her seat to shake his hand. Adelaide Welden, 34, is an example of Detroit’s optimism and the kind of urban young pioneers the city is beginning to attract. Originally from Texas, she moved to Texas and bought a duplex that she and her fiancé were renovating. “I’m getting married next week!” she said to Duggan with a smile. “I love Detroit.”
For more than half a century, Detroit has been widely viewed as an example of America’s most troubled and seemingly irreparable urban decline. For many, it was the murder capital of the country. (And on Thursday, former President Donald J. Trump spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, calling the city a “chaos.”)
At one point, about 40% of streetlights were turned off. The city has lost about two-thirds of its population, from more than 2 million people in the late 1950s to just over 600,000 in recent years. Downtown was dotted with boarded-up office towers and decaying apartment buildings. When the Super Bowl was held in Detroit in 2006, organizers painted storefronts to make it look crowded.
In 2013, Detroit hit rock bottom. With $19 billion in debt, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy protection.
But since then, under Mayor Duggan and with the help of billionaire investors, Detroit has expanded beyond just its downtown area to the neighborhood known as Midtown, home to Wayne State University, and its former home in Cork. We have been working on the reconstruction of the town area. About Irish immigrants.
©2024 New York Times News Service
First published: October 13, 2024 | 11:34 PM IST
