Where Sirens Never Sleep

I just read the most honest and oh so sad story about Detroit in the Industry Standard. If you want to read it, click here. Add to that a comment in an email that I received this morning from one of my favorite people, Father David: "Bet you never imagined that St. Charles might outlast General Motors?"

What keeps Detroiters going? Our Mayor is in jail, our Lions haven't won a game, one in seven houses in our nice Detroit neighborhood are empty, only 25% of Detroit Public School students graduate and the Detroit 3 is the laughing stock of the world. So much sadness.

Why do I like it here? I think it the amazing resilient spirit of city residents. St. Charles was on the "hit list" of the Archdiocese for decades. We rallied and kept the doors open. Groups like the Greening of Detroit saw that trees weren't enough. They saw all of the city's open land and said "Hey, people are hungry. Let's start some urban gardens and grow our own food."

This morning, I got an invitation from my friend Trish to support the Colin Hubbell Memorial Fund. The group's theme: Improving Detroit, one connection at a time. So true. That is exactly what the City needs. It is not one blanket "fix-it." It is one little improvement at a time.

I am about to be part of the problem. I am joining the thousands of people who are leaving Detroit. When we get back from Sao Paulo in late 2010, what will Detroit be like? Will we want to live here again or will we take the easy path and bolt to the suburbs? I'm not sure.

So on this Christmas Eve when I am feeling so blessed to be surrounded by my family, my hope is that all the negativity swirling around Detroit can be channeled into good. Even the homeless guy the writer in the Industry Standard piece interviewed had a sense of optimism.