"Bare in Mind.... We All Fall Behind.... From Time To Time", is a popular quote from dance rockers, LCD Soundsystem and although these lyrics are uttered carefree, they conjure the sense of profound clairvoyance from the perspective a Detroiter. It has become painfully obvious that the city of Detroit is risking a catastrophic economic collapse if the automobile industry fails- a scenario long predicted by economists, sociologists, and urban planners. However, our role on the center stage of the current economic crisis has catapulted us to a level of exposure equal to the first great depression and that has become all the rage of news media outlets. There was the Mitch Albom's SI story, followed by the recent Rolling Stone's article. Now Richard Florida who is an economist, urban theorist, and author of the global best-seller The Rise of the Creative Class, chimes in with his predictions. Although Florida's outlook is considered bleak, his position as a creative thinker could certainly offer an unique perspective in regards to the continued re-development of Detroit. Read his recent article for the Atlantic Monthly.
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Very lengthy article I didn't finish. I was mostly interested in what he had to say about Detroit. I don't think there's any argument anywhere with the consensus being that things look pretty bleak for the city and we have huge amounts of work to do to recover. At least he didn't bash the city by portraying it to be little more than "the Middle East of the Midwest". I get offended by those statements. If anything, the people I see on the streets seem to have a mostly positive attitude, just trying to keep the pieces in place. We've been at this for so long, we know what to do to recover, it's nothing new. It's the people elsewhere who are spinning their wheels of pandemonium by being freaked out about everything. People located wide and far with an appreciation for Detroit need to follow our lead, believe it or not...
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