In his 10th State of the City address on Tuesday, March 7, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan discusses economic opportunities, municipal challenges, and what it means to revitalize the city while also highlighting Michigan Central’s turnaround.
Photo courtesy of the City of Detroit
On Tuesday, March 7, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan gave his 10th State of the City speech at Michigan Central Station, aptly a representation of buoying hope, resiliency and history.
Duggan delivered his annual address live in the newly renovated Grand Lobby of Michigan Central Station, the center of Michigan Central’s hub for advancing new technologies and programs that overcome barriers to greater social, economic, and physical mobility.
The historic Michigan Central Railroad Station, which has served as a symbol of Detroit’s deterioration around the world for decades, is expected to be repaired and usable by the end of this year.
“When it opened in 1913, the city had 100,000 visitors a year,” he said to a packed crowd of the historic site, which shuttered in 1988 after the last train left and blight entered the picture on the aging, downtrodden facility. “This was their (guests) first impression of our town.”
In 2009, Detroit City Council voted 7-1 for its demolition.
“The people who blocked demolition were the ones who felt it had value,” Duggan, elected in 2013, said. “I knew one thing for sure it was not going to be demolished.”
Duggan, who took heat years earlier for an agreement with the station’s owners to put new windows on the facility in 2015 (some described it as putting lipstick on a pig) said that the criticism eventually turned into praise.
“When the windows started going in the effect was electric,” Duggan said of the building’s facelift looking better and in turn making the city shine a bit brighter, too.
During Duggan’s rousing address, he discussed how the city didn’t remain so economically viable—even roughly around a decade ago.
Less than a month after entering office, in January 2014, the mayor delivered his first State of the City address. At the time, the city was bankrupt, under emergency management, and struggling to provide even the most basic services. At that time, the city has seen the biggest construction boom since the 1950s, the lowest unemployment rate in more than 20 years, and a historically high increase in property values in practically every neighborhood.
An increase in the city’s economy is good news for everyone, like job seekers (thousands more positions will soon become available) or residents redefining Detroit through their remarkable works and volunteerism.
From Detroit surpassing Silicon Valley in electric vehicle production and manufacturing (with new charging opportunities coming online soon) to the passage of Proposal N – progress is being made in the city and many advancements are also coming from Black developers.
“We have developers from this community building across the city,” Duggan said during the address.
One such example is the Fisher Body 21 factory, which will be transformed into 433 apartments and a public market as part of a $134 million development project led by builders Greg Jackson and Richard Hosey. They also hope to provide affordable housing to the city’s Greater New Center region.
Jackson and Hosey are not alone.
From developers to owners, an emerging crop of Black-led projects is coming online across the city and the roughly one-year-old Detroit Pizza Bar in Detroit is no exception.
The Black-owned pizzeria, which opened last April 1, was given a shoutout in Duggan’s speech as exemplifying one of the many bourgeoning businesses improving commercial corridors and businesses, especially in neighborhoods like Livernois-Six Mile (Live6). The project, funded by the Strategic Neighborhood Fund, a public-private partnership aimed at improving 10 neighborhoods throughout Detroit, is one more meaningful way of how the city helps emerging business owners.
Byron Osbern, co-partner at the Detroit Pizza Bar, told the Michigan Chronicle after the address that Black development is important in a majority Black city.
“We definitely want to … have our voices be heard,” he said of economic improvements for and by “people who look like us.”
Osbern added that while he was inspired by the address, he hopes to see even more tangible change with more decision-making level involvement on the back end of business deals and not just down the line at the worker level.
“Like they say, ‘If you’re not at the table you’re on the menu.’ We definitely got to be at the table making these decisions,” he said.
Duggan told the Michigan Chronicle that Black ownership is crucial.
“I think black ownership is critical for development, for homes, for businesses and it has been exciting to see,” Duggan said adding that Motor City Match is also a great partnership with some businesses, like Detroit Pizza Bar. “We have 144 new businesses in this city (177 percent of them minority-owned).”
Duggan said even when he was running for mayor he had meetings with potential business owners who said they don’t have the funds to start their businesses, which allows Motor City Match to make up the difference. “We get 300 applications a quarter and this is allowing people from Detroit to start businesses.”
Duggan’s lengthy speech was framed by an upbeat tone that suggested the direction the city is headed: a positive one, and it’s not hard to see why.
According to a University of Michigan Economic Forecast, while the nation is on the cusp of a national recession, Detroit’s reputation for resiliency is now manifesting itself in other areas as well.
Unquestionably, there is a growing sense of optimism in Detroit with more jobs expected to be created, more earnings anticipated, and more prospects expected for residents – even though hard economic realities like unemployment still exist.
Detroit’s continued success in luring well-paying jobs is a major contributor to its healthy economy.
“Despite projections of a mild national recession, the Detroit economy has proven to be more resilient today supported by multiple years of balanced budgets for the city post-bankruptcy. We will continue employing the administration’s growth and opportunity strategies to further sustain and grow the City’s economy and improve the quality of life for Detroiters,” said Jay Rising, chief financial officer, of the City of Detroit.
Duggan told the Michigan Chronicle that the revitalization of Michigan Central is a long-awaited opportunity that is just as symbolic as it is a tangible reminder of what the city is all about – a good rebirth.
“It means a lot for people,” he said of Michigan Central. “People are going to be really pleased at how people restored it.”
The address begins can be viewed at detroitmi.gov or on the City of Detroit Facebook and YouTube pages.
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