Detroit's Rebirth: Beyond the Headlines

Detroit headlines often focus on the major stories: the 2013-2014 bankruptcy, Mayor Mike Duggan, and Dan Gilbert, to name a few. Drawing on 30 years of reporting on Detroit, John Gallagher overviews five "less-noticed trends" that he sees as essential to the city's rebirth. 

• A burgeoning urban farming movement, "neighborhood-based, staffed by volunteers," has given "Detroit that first flavor of the reinvention it now enjoys. From the international symbol of Rust Belt ruin, Detroit now evokes the possibilities of a reimagined post-industrial city."
• By spinning off certain municipal services to alternative management, Detroit gave a "host of services once run so badly by the city the freedom to reinvent themselves under new management."
• Entrepreneurialism has upended the Motor City's reputation as an economy dominated by giant corporations.
• Philanthropic organizations have played a major role, "From the more than $300 million pumped into the “Grand Bargain” during Detroit’s bankruptcy to underwriting the birth of the Qline and many other projects [...]"
• Individual neighborhoods have benefited from nonprofit community development organizations, many of which grew from volunteer block clubs to increasingly professionalized entities.