Detroit Works Project Forums Seen as Vital

DETROIT - A meeting to consider shrinking Detroit erupted in emotion, but now everyone’s talking about how to make the city stronger.

Blight plagues many blocks in the Brightmore neighborhood on Detroit's west side, but there are pockets of revival such as Charlotte Morgan's home. So, how can you blend such contrast?

’I guess we can co-exist with each other just by keeping the neighborhood together; trying to work together as a community and trying to keep the streets clean,’ said Morgan.

Land use issues and the Detroit Works Project aimed at reshaping the city were topics at a forum Tuesday night at Greater Grace Temple. Mayor Bing is trying to find ways to make the city's declining population live in more manageable neighborhoods.

Kurt Metzger runs Data Driven Detroit. He sees the Detroit Works Project forums as vital.

’To get community participation, to realize that the community needs to be involved and to get the community to trust the process,’ he said.

Getting a broad range of people in the most challenged neighborhoods most directly impacted by the Detroit Works Project to participate in the process may be difficult.

’Poor skills, lack of literacy, they’re so not even part of the process. I mean, they’re just trying to make it day to day,’ said Metzger. ’How do you get them involved? How do you make them believe that this process is going to help them in the end?’

Thursday night, there will be another land use forum at the American Serbian Hall on Van Dyke. In Brighmore and in other neighborhoods across the city more information must be gathered.

’How are the neighborhoods organized in terms of service delivery? Where is the population right now? We still don’t know,’ Metzger said. ’What are the pockets of population? Where are the elderly? Where are the young? I mean, really get a good handle on what the lay of the land is, 139 square miles.’