Detroit: Rebuild, Restore, Reconsider!

I recently went to Detroit for the annual Population Association of America meeting. It was a great meeting. A number of informative presentations and I met a number of individuals that I hope to stay in touch with both professionally and personally. However, the most important part of the trip for me was Detroit. Detroit, at the most basic level, is hurting.  The downtown was virtual empty, even during the work week. Businesses, cab drivers and residents I that met were happy that our conference was in town because it meant at least some business.  I hope other professional associations will consider Detroit as a meeting destination. The city has so much to offer and if Detroit is to survive it will take the creative minds of Americans across the land. Quoting Sufjan Stevens, “Detroit lift your weary head. Rebuild, Restore, Reconsider!

Similar to other cities in the Rust Belt, Detroit has seen a decline in population. The city's population increased more than sixfold during the first half of the twentieth century, fed largely by an influx of Eastern European, Lebanese and Southern migrants to work in the burgeoning automobile industry. However, since 1950 the city has seen a major shift in its population to the suburbs. The city population dropped from its peak in 1950 with a population of 1.8 million to 916,952 in 2007.

My short visit to Detroit reminded me of my passion for sociology my goal with this blog as well as other blogs I write for (namely Greater Greater Washington). It’s one thing to teach in a classroom, to work with Census data on a daily basis, but a whole different thing to practice public sociology. So here I am to share with you my observations and thoughts about Detroit and my hope for it’s future.

I only had enough time to explore downtown Detroit. My fellow sociologist, Vincent Louis, and I rode the People Mover and explored the empty city streets. We got coffee at a great little coffee shop called Jazzy Café at 212 E. Grand River. The owner, Michael, made me a delicious vanilla latte and is a bit of a sociologist himself. We learned a lot about the troubles Detroit is facing. However, Michael was very optimistic about the future and believes with a little redirection, Detroit can recreate itself. While I didn’t get a chance to get into the more residential parts of Detroit, there blocks upon blocks of vacant homes across Detroit. The NYT recently ran a piece about the possibility of tearing down the vacant homes and returning the land to farming. I say why not go even further, and put solar panels on the land or wind turbines and sell the energy to the power grid. 

From there, we made a stop at very vibrant barber shop on Broadway so Vincent could get a haircut with a barber that Michael recommended, Tony T.  The place was buzzing with conversations about the days events. Vincent waited a least an hour for his cut, but it was well worth it! 

My visit to Detroit also involved a baseball game to see the Tigers, Greektown (highly recommend Astoria Bakery) and a fabulous bar called the Grand Trunk. The most memorable moment of the trip was when the bartender at Grand Trunk exclaimed, "I love my empty city!" on a Friday night to a nearly empty bar.  Oh, and yes I did make it to a couple of sessions at the PAA meeting, but Detroit is a temptress and I can't wait to go back!