Transition Ferndale Talks about Detroit Future City March 20
Transition Ferndale Talks about Detroit Future City March 20
(Press Release, March 16, 2014)
At 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 20, Transition Ferndale will host a presentation of the “Detroit Future City” plan. We have all been hearing about Detroit’s financial crisis, population crisis, economic crisis and governance crisis. Possibly there is another crisis or two not yet named.
We have not heard any plausible solution for any of these, except possibly a state takeover and/or defaulting on some billions of dollars of city bonds, pension obligations and so on.
The Detroit Future City plan is completely different. The people at the Detroit Works Project Long Term Planning team believe they have put together “a guide for decision making” which should:
- Create job growth and prosperity for all
- Strengthen and create unique, vibrant neighborhoods
- Use vacant land productively
- Build/strengthen infrastructure that serves citizens (roads, lighting, transportation, etc.)
- Maintain a high level of community engagement
- Ultimately, improve the quality of life for all Detroiters
Now technically, this is Ferndale, not Detroit. Still, our main street runs straight into Detroit (or comes to us directly from Detroit). Our trains run through Detroit. Our water comes from Detroit. We are so intimately connected to Detroit that it is absurd to imagine any way Ferndale might prosper if Detroit does not.
The same is true of Hazel Park, Oak Park, Warren and other communities in the area. In that sense, we are all Detroiters, and the future of Detroit is our future. If there is a route to prosperity and a better quality of life, then we should know about it. Therefore, Transition Ferndale is holding this meeting. The presenter will be Christianne Sims, who has been a process leader in developing the plan. Please come, listen and ask her any questions about it.
As always, Transition Ferndale meetings are free and open to the public. You need not be a Ferndale resident to attend. Anyone interested in creating a sustainable local economy is welcome.
If you are intrigued, then you can go to http://dev.detroitworksproject.com/ and read more about it; or you can go to http://dev.detroitworksproject.com/the-plan/ and download your own free copy of the entire plan.
