My Vision for the Northend Community

Detroit is currently in the stage of New-Birth. The Northend Community has fallen right into the middle of the re-building process. Many do not know, but community residents and stakeholders are actually being asked, "what do you want your community to look like. What would you like for it to become?"

We meet, we talk, we discuss, we plan and m...ost of all, we dream. I go into these meeting with what I believe to be my ideas and my want list. I come out of each meeting after hearing other's ideas, and suddenly, I have new dreams.

Well today 5/19/11, I'm on my way to another meeting and this is the dream that I'll enter this meeting with today.

Our world (planet earth) is getting smaller and smaller with the world wide web (www). With this we now have the ablity to travel the world and never leave our own little Northend.

     On a major scale, there is a good chance that the Internet Age will compel many of us to live in a walk-friendly community. People are moving back to the Northend and Central District after a 50 year migration to the suburbs. The migration back to our Northend helps to motivate us to rebuild our neighborhood where people can live, work, shop for the essentials, eat out, and entertain themselves all within walking distrance of their homes and apartments. No real need to spend a large percentage of their income on gasoline and the total maintance of an automobile. Don't forget the Woodward Rail is also in the plans.

     With the world wide web supplying us with so many work, shopping and entertainment options, this type of community will be possible for the Internet Age just as the railroads repurposed cities in the Industrial Age.

     Since it is so easy and inexpensive to move information, there will be less need for physical travel. Why get on an airplaine when you can video-conference from my own home? Just as my parents did in Black-bottom and Paradise Valley, we will shop, play, education and work all right here in the Northend. We will be neighbors and we will talk and visit right next-door. We will look out for each and care for each other.

     Other changes that we do expect to happen, may not happen, or might happen in a different way. But what I am certain will happen is that the Internet will drive us closer to each and and not further apart. The sooner we begin building society with a physical infrastructure tuned into the Internet Age, the sooner our community will revive and jobs and people will begin to appear.

Rita Denard,                                                                                                                                                                             Northend Connection, editor