We Choose Detroit: Heidi

My favorite run route starts from my house and heads a short distance away to Belle Isle, Detroit’s Olmstead-designed, island park in the Detroit River.  It continues from there to Eastern Market, then back home through the run/bike path of the Dequindre Cut and Lafayette Park. This loop encapsulates all of what Detroit means to me.  I pass by historic mansions, a beautiful but neglected urban park, decaying and burned out residential and industrial buildings, vacant lots, public art pieces, one of the largest public markets in the U.S., and the country’s first urban renewal project.  When I do this run, I am faced with the complexity and potential of this place I now call home.

For most of my life, I hardly thought about Detroit.  Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest and spent my college and young adult life on the East Coast, I assumed I would always live on either the right or left side of the country.  Then, on a business trip to Milwaukee in the fall of 2006 I met Mike, a native Detroiter and one of its biggest boosters.  I was struck by Mike’s view of the world: one that was driven by a fiery work ethic, severe compassion for friends and strangers, a creative spirit, and an innate sense of justice.  As I got to know and eventually fall in love with him, he introduced me to the city that helped create him.

The next five years involved a long distance relationship and then Mike leaving his beloved city to join me in Brooklyn.  Over those years and about a dozen visits to Detroit, I grew to love this city and imagined myself living here one day.  I became acquainted with the city as a place that is rich in culture, innovative in art and design, and full of people whose passion for their city was unparalleled.  As a student of urban affairs, I was enthralled by Detroit’s history and intrigued by its future.  To me, it was an earlier version of Brooklyn, and often times more pleasurable because of the Midwestern sentiment.  You could be in a vibrant city stimulated by the people and environment around you, and have a million things to do and see, without the cutthroat nature of a much denser city.

So, in 2011, with my 5-month pregnant belly, we left Brooklyn to settle in Detroit.  It was a choice that came easily for us.  Practical considerations of affordability and improved quality of life aside, we chose Detroit because, as a family, we can have it all.  As urban practitioners, we’re able to roll up our sleeves and make a contribution and impact in a place that needs it.  Like ditch diggers, the fruits of our labor are clearer than in a place, such as New York City, that has more assets than it can handle.  As a family, we’ll be able to raise a true citizen that learns about a diverse world of art, music, architecture, farming, nature, industry, social justice, politics, history and so much more, just by exploring the city around him.  To thrive in this city, we must be active in our schools, get to know our neighbors and take part in caring for our community.  In many ways, this means we have more power over creating the life we want for our family and ourselves.  We also hope that by making the city a good place for us to live, we make it a better place for everyone else, too.

We see the challenges that Detroit faces every day whenever we step out of our house.  This is a city where, even if you wanted to, you can’t close your eyes to the suffering around you.  For us, this is cause for considering how political corruption and racial and economic inequity has ravaged an entire city.  More importantly, it forces us to consider how we can make a difference and create social change toward a Detroit that creates opportunities instead of disparities.  By choosing Detroit, we hope to pass these values along to our son.  We hope that he will grow up amongst, and be a part of, a city that rises up and remakes itself and, therefore, believes that making things better is possible.

With love from Detroit,

Heidi

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