Guest Blog post by one of the first 2012 Venture for America Fellows, Derek Turner:
Detroit is the protagonist of two diverging stories presented by the media. In the first, the city plays the role of the tragic heroa once-great entity now downtrodden and defeated, slowly letting out its final, labored breathes. In the second, Detroit is the vigorous underdog, coming to terms with its troubled past (and present) while striving boldly into the future among a chorus of nay-saying, seeking glory in the unknown.
I flew to Detroit for a weekend to understand which of these stories has a claim to reality, and I am convinced it is the latter.
My name is Derek Im a senior at Columbia University, a native Arizonan, and a person who pursues adventure when I see it. This past winter, when a friend visited the city and witnessed its distressed state, Detroit captured my attention. I could not shake the image of a city drained of inhabitants, with empty skyscrapers and vacant streets, yearning for cultivation and innovation. Like a slate made blank again, the city sounded like it was begging for someone to have the courage to write its new storyto paint its new future.
Perhaps its my Southwestern, frontier-minded roots, but I was utterly intrigued. I needed to see the place for myself. The first weekend in November happened to be a long weekend and I decided to check it out. Though I didnt know anyone in Detroit, I had to see if the city was really playing host to young people with huge visions of entrepreneurship, industry, and revitalization. Armed with a couple contacts from VFAs generous President Andrew Yang, I got on a plane to the Motor City.
Driving into the city, the more pessimistic version of Detroits story seems the more credible. On the blocks that arent barren of buildings, there are boarded-up windows, sagging porches, and dilapidated homes. And thats before the Michigan Central Stationthat empty icon of blightcomes into view. The city is definitely hurting, and every abandoned building adds to the chorus of despair.
But as they say, looks can be deceivingand in Detroit they certainly are. Dig a little deeper and youll find what I found: a small but incredibly passionate community of individuals who have dedicated their work to bringing the city back from the brink. Over the course of the weekend, I was invited to meet with people like Jake Cohen, Vice President of Detroit Venture Partners, and Dan Izzo, the Training and Launch Chief of Bizdom U, an incubator.
People like Jake and Dan dont cover up the reality of Detroit. They dont dress up and explain away the bleakness. Noinstead they outline how this moment of vulnerability for the city is the perfect fodder for greatness. And its not all talkin the same breath they point to massive building renovations, successful startups, and big business transplants to downtown that have already happened. To them, Detroits best days lie ahead, and with enough work they will turn the bitter soil of today into old-school American prosperity tomorrow.
Of course, the work will be long and success isnt guaranteed. To bring a city like Detroit back to health is a generational endeavor, but theyve already made progress and they have the energy necessary to go in for the long haul. With some help from other dedicated people who are committed to giving Detroit sustained success, the vision really could materialize. They sound a little crazy, but what pioneer ever sounded sane?
Spend a couple minutes talking with the community behind the appearance and you will find that Detroit is ripe for progress. Thats why Venture for America is so exciting to mea couple dozen Fellows could be trailblazers into this prosperous future. Detroit is on the starting block, not the chopping block, and it just needs some people to work for and believe in its success. In Venture for America, Detroit may have found its most promising advocate. I cant wait to see how that second storythe story of optimism and glorypushes out the nay-sayers. When it does, VFA Fellows will be leading the charge.