Detroit Renaissance

Instead of taking sides or placing blame, reach out and help a fellow metro Detroiter with a job, a hand up, or a meal. Rebuild Detroit the sustainable way -- build and connect the people. Unite.

These are just a couple of the buildings that I love in the city of Detroit. I'm not an architect or engineer -- just a student, who has dreams to see this city live and breathe again.

A lot has been said about Chrysler's Super Bowl ad, featuring Clint Eastwood and Detroit. While the pundits talk about whether or not it was a campaign commercial, let me tell you what Detroiters really think about it.

As a filmmaker, I was rooting for Detropia to weave a story of hope and promise and not dredge up the same old ghosts of ruin and despair. Alas, it seems like the blight temptress has claimed her latest victims.

Detroit must take advantage of being in the limelight right now to align all of its stakeholders to be positive forces in the process of change.

Instead of working for a progress we can only access in the cinema of our imaginations, "a fantasy of more," we should embrace our station as a struggling city and exert ourselves towards making it better.

We have the ability to change Detroit by simply changing the way we speak about it. You never know who you're speaking to.

Detroit is a city that is all about division. Today's obvious divides -- rich and poor, black and white, downtown and neighborhoods -- are nothing new. We've always loved to find (or invent) ways to separate ourselves.

With the authentic desire to build community and solve problems, it's the local people who have the greatest handle on the solutions our communities seek.

I have been to Paris and Pakistan, Istanbul and Bosnia. But I have never seen anything quite like this: Detroit is a state-of-the-art, urban frontier. My tattered hometown has, somehow, become "revisionist cool."

We are not writing to argue over who is a 'real' Detroiter and who is not, nor who is and is not going to save Detroit. We are more interested in unpacking our region's history with a critical eye.

Imagine a day where 1.3 million people from around the world visit Detroit en masse to recreate and experience the high-water mark of a full and thriving Motor City. Maybe a few of them will even fall in love and stick around.

Lemonade: Detroit is a documentary about the reinvention of a city that no longer has a single industry to identify with. Detroit is the perfect mix of grit and talent and risk that breeds innovation.

It's time to end this fighting about ownership of Detroit and its future. The more we fight amongst ourselves, the more ownership we all have in the negative image of the city.

There isn't a reason to battle over who will save Detroit. The reality is that we all need each other. Why do I have to choose between the suburbs and the city?

We must look to Mayor Bing and the city council to inspire us with thoughtful leadership. What Detroit desperately needs today is new ideas, "aha moments," not fewer teachers in the classrooms.

Human evolution is being challenged to accommodate -- indeed keep up with -- the massive global change wrought by our technological genies. Detroit is in a very unique position to take advantage of this evolutionary wave.

Detroit is rising and there are plenty of restoration projects taking place in the Corktown and Downtown areas.

There is certainly a revival in the Motor City and we should all be excited about the possibilities. But I want to caution Toby Barlow and anyone who believes that to be part of the renaissance one has to relocate to Downtown Detroit.

Transforming Detroit is not a short-term process. It will not be easy. It will take significant effort from those who care enough to invest our best in the city's revitalization.

I'm not the only one coming home. There is a huge entrepreneurial movement permeating throughout the city. From technology to the creative sector, the excitement is growing.

I've been told that Michiganders reject the term "Rust Belt." Apparently it shall now be referred to as the "Green Belt." And while many may laugh, the future of Detroit can be as bright as those who choose to live there want it to be.

I believe that this time is different. This time Detroit is on its way back. So, what makes me so optimistic? It's a combination of things, and that, in and of itself, is a good thing.

The suburbs have been trying to run away from Detroit for half a century and all it has brought is ruin and depression for all. It's time to embrace this place. Luckily, right now, it's a wonderful town to embrace.

We recognize that Occupy Detroit has attracted the participation of people from across Michigan. This is a good thing, if people take the time to understand the current work of Detroit's social movements.