Open Season for Social Enterprises, and a New Future for Detroit

In an effort to save what is left of the housing stock in Detroit, city officials are devising a plan to shrink its residential city limits and hopefully turn around its fate. Currently, Detroit possesses a serious population decline and neighborhoods that have seen better days. A trip through any of Detroit's residential areas would reveal hoards of abandoned buildings and vacant lots, strewn with trash and debris. According to one recent estimate, the city of Detroit currently possesses 35,000 empty houses and 91,000 vacant residential lots. These vacancies have become blights on the community and feeding grounds for illegal dumping, crime and graffiti. It is because of these residential eye soars, the city of Detroit, lead by Mayor David Bing,is seeking to demolish these areas and re-map its residential areas.

With the decline of the auto industryand a drastic decrease in populationthat can be blamed in part on thenumerous plant closings, the glory days of Detroit are long behind them. Once a thriving industrial powerhouse, Detroit boasted a population of over 2 million. Now, the city is populated with half that and is free falling. The auto industry that once caused the city to bloom is now proving to be its demise, and city officials are desperately seeking to stop the bleeding.

One revolutionary idea being proposed is to clear the areas that are heavily saturated with burned out and vacant homes and redistribute the city's residential populations. The current plan is to demolish over 100,000 homes in three years. Once cleared, some proposed ideas for the new land would be to use some of the land for agricultural purposes. Other larger pieces would be sold or leased to community organizations to use. The Community Development Advocates of Detroit are championing for the creation of suburban-style neighborhoods and nature parks. The hope would be to produce a semi-rural atmosphere in the middle of a metropolis.

This proposal could be a gold mind for those interested in social enterprise, and could prove to be the positive shift that Detroit so desperately needs. In a recent post, I highlighted the positive works of Energize Clinton County (ECC). This movement was created as a result from the departure of DHL from Wilmington, Ohio. With that exodus, the city saw a rapid economic decline, but instead of accepting that fate, Wilmington re-focused their energies and reinvented itself as the first Green Enterprise Zone. Detroit could have a similar fate if the powers that be in the city have their way.

The city will acquire some of the property through tax foreclosures. However, the city will need hundreds of millions of federal dollars to offer current residents buy outs for their land and relocate others. This would be on top of a recent award of $40.8 million in federal renewal funds. In conjunction to those funds, the city is going to need additional investors who are interested in aiding with the cities recovery. This is where innovative social entrepreneurs could be of service.

There are several possibilities available with this new plan. With the creation of agricultural fields, locally grown produce could be sold to the community. A person seeking to kill two birds with one stone could position themselves as urban farmers offering aid to the community with accessible option organic produce while also providing economic stimulus to the area.

Taking a page from the ECC playbook, part of the vacant property could be used to develop a profitable green zone; positioning itself as an additional model for what the green industry can do for fledgling cities. With a vast amount of vacant land available the opportunities for the investment in green communities are endless.

Detroit already has the infrastructure to be a productive hub for green products, with several available manufacturing plants in the area. Those seeking to be a part of this new chapter in Detroit's history could make a successful go of creating new revenue generating methods within the city. As a native of the Detroit area, I am thrilled to think of the possibilities upon the horizon. I hope that the reality of this land clearing proposal are realizedand soon. Detroit may never return to its glory days, but economic ruin does not have to be its eternal fate. With a little creative thinking, and the dedicated interest of social entrepreneurs and community development organizations, Detroit could hold some real promise.

As always, let me know what you think!

Photo courtesy: http://gutschow.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/detroit-then-now.jpg