Rebuilding Detroit: A Community Effort

Detroiters across the city continue to step up and take responsibility for their neighborhoods. This blog shares some of their stories. We've discussed the residents of neighborhoods like Indian Village and Palmer Woods, who hire private security patrols and the residents of Puritan Street, who are working to clean their blocks. But the driven Detroiters don't stop there. And the Wall Street Journal illustrates that today in “The Do-It-Yourself City,” a piece which provides even more examples of Detroiters with diligence.

First, there's Eddie Edwards, a retiree living on Detroit's East Side:

This summer, the 63-year-old Mr. Edwards is chopping down tall weeds in empty lots and cleaning the alleyways behind his home and across the street. He also routinely takes care of the street sweeping, using just a broom and dust pan.

Then, the residents of Southwest Detroit:

On one block, residents received a grant earlier this year to begin boarding up vacant homes. A nonprofit has pledged to demolish one vacant home on their own and turn another into a multipurpose space with public art.

And those living just west of downtown:

In the Corktown community west of downtown, Howard King Jr. maintains more than a dozen empty lots, two of which he farms for his 87-year-old mother.

I've met many hopeful Detroiters, who believe that even the smallest efforts will help rebuild the city. They say if every resident simply focuses on their own block, it will all connect somewhere. In that case, between Eddie Edwards, Howard King Jr. and everyone else making moves around the D, we've got to be seeing more progress soon.