Rambling

Nothing special to write about here, just some thoughts on a Tuesday morning.

Had breakfast with a mover/shaker pal at Mercury Coffee Bar this morning, which I am continuing to love. We talked about how irritating all the marketing of Detroit stuff continues to be, and just how ass-backwards the thinking of the people holding the pursestrings is in this town.

On the one hand it is always nice to know folks who are on the ground running like my friend and who feel the same way about that stupid time-wasting. On the other hand, it doesn't change the fact that right this minute there could be some dude in pleated pants out there deciding it's a good idea to throw half a million bucks at another website to attract the creative class.

We segued into how genius it would be if the downstairs of Mercury stays non-smoking when they get their beer/wine license. Which they should do since they are all foodie and everything.

Left there to drive around and find a place to get some wi-fi and ended up in Hamtamck. On the way up here saw another closed up big old building half devoured by scrappers, what the fuck is this city gonna do about that? It's insane. I never cry a tear when I hear of one getting electrocuted, I will tell you that much. If that makes me a bad person then fine.

Angry, I drove through some of the Ham-town neighborhoods, drove down Jos. Campau, went by my brother's house from when he first got married, watched kids playing in schoolyards - that all calmed me down a lot and put me in a good mood again. And I saw this, which was awesome:

A sign of tough times.

But read the fine print.

Ended up at Cafe 1923 to work. It's actually my first visit here - I've shied away in the past because they allow smoking, but mercifully there's no one smoking here now. They've really got their act together, and it's more coffee-housey than the Rowland Cafe. So here's another good coffee spot in Detroit (well, Hamtramck is technically inside Detroit). And oddly, the people I've seen here are mostly quite well-dressed. So if you are wondering where the nicely-dressed people in Detroit are, they are at Cafe 1923.

I do like Hamtramck a lot.

OK, another mover/shaker friend just walked in (dressed fabulously) so I gotta go.
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CCS: the Homo Breakout

One of the things I was concerned about with the Creative Cities Summit is that the role of gays and lesbians in community development would be swept aside in the interest of keeping things palatable for a broad audience. It's not that the GLBT community doesn't get a share of the credit in creating "cool cities" in the literature, but come on, this is Detroit, and thus far the role of GLBTs in the discussion locally has been minimal.

I was actually not even planning on attending the conference until the week before when they announced some additional programming, and among that programming was a breakout session on "Community Vitality: The Role of Artists, Gays, Lesbians & Immigrants." The panel member scheduled to represent the GLBT community was Kate Runyon, the Interim Executive Director of the Triangle Foundation.

I wrote a brief summary of the breakout experience for this week's Model D, so you should check it out here. Plus then I don't have to bog things down here with the content of the panel.

The first great thing about the panel was that I ran into an old friend from Ann Arbor whom I hadn't seen in over three years, so there was some dishy catch-up chatting to do. Isn't that the funnest part of these things?

A quick survey of the room revealed a smattering of our gay urban intelligensia, clearly all in attendance to see just how the whole topic was handled. Surprisingly *not* in attendance was speaker Kate Runyon. Say what?? I know the Triangle Foundation Annual Dinner was the night before, so maybe it was just a scheduling mix-up, or mollifying big donors is more exhausing than she anticipated ... whatever the story, it was a bit shocking.

Fortunately, the panel moderator was able to enlist William Colburn, founder of Preservation Wayne and renowned local homosexualist, out of the audience. William was part of the drive to get the National Trust of Historic Preservation to acknowledge the contributions of the gay and lesbian community in preservation. In one of those quirky twists of fate, he is probably a better-qualified speaker on the role of the GLBT community than Kate, whose areas of expertise are more policy-oriented.

In the Model D piece I didn't really have space to detail the points made by each speaker. If you want to know what the others had to say then e-mail me. William did a fantastic impromptu job, however, and made some great points that the non-gay creative community probably needed to hear. In particular, I was so pleased that he pointed out that creativity needs freedom, and social policy that allows gay & lesbian freedom is essential to gaining the contributions of this community. He suggested that a place like Michigan might be too late to the table, since there are so many other places that are more welcoming.

Take that, creative policy makers.

He said a lot of other great stuff that is probably not news to any of you gays with an eye on urban development, but I hope was a bit of a wake-up call to the policymakers who think the key is to just invite the gay community to move in and their cool city problems will be solved.

Which, it turns out, the audience here was full of. Apparently white late-middle-aged women get put on diversity patrol. There were two women there from different parts of the country who asked how they could attract the arts, immigrant and GLBT communities to their cities. Cuz, you know, they called them but no one would call back (I'm serious!).

The answer of course pleased me, and it was that this kind of community development is never top down. Which is something that Detroit, unfortunately, may never wrap its head around (I'm talking to you, Harmonie Park/Paradise Valley). Organic is the way to go, as I think Southwest Detroit and its strong Mexican community demonstrates. Just help it along by not hating.

The only other point I think bears repeating is that the most successful cities don't necessarily follow the "melting pot" analogy, where everyone blends together, but instead follows a "mosaic" or "tapestry" paradigm, where each culture or group maintains its identity but coexists in harmony. Tolerance, what a concept!

Long before this conference I'd emailed a contact at Triangle, and talked to a friend who works with the planners of the conference, about the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the agenda at the conference. I don't think for one second that my queries resulted in the inclusion of this panel at the conference, but I just get worried that, at least locally, the gay community is completely not in the picture. And that's not entirely the fault of policymakers and planners - the gay community itself doesn't seem to be that interested in joining the discussion. And that's really what concerns me the most. I mean, hi, Triangle, I love you. LOVE YOU. But, like, call and cancel next time, ok?

The kicker is that gay people I know in the city are doing great stuff. From restoring historic homes to opening businesses to planning community-building nights out on the town to throwing better parties than anyone else - they're in the trenches. Now that people are starting to give credit, I want to see our people getting the acknowledgement they deserve.

What a beautifully restored gay-owned home in Islandview Village!

Mezzanine is owned by a big mary, and I hear it's quite lovely.

Talk about community development! Guerrilla Queer Bar is our favorite gay bar!

I'm not allowed to tell you anything about this party because I am barely invited myself.

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CCS2: the Creative Economy guy

The first speaker after the opening ceremonies was John Howkins, the guy who coined the phrase "Creative Economy" back in 2001. He started his address talking about discovering the Diego Rivera murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and wondering what the equivalent act of creation today would be. And then he talked about stumbling upon the "Unconference" at MoCAD on Sunday and thinking "aha!," that was the equivalent!

He talked for like two more minutes and I was out of there. I had to go paint the Mona Lisa by checking my email.

Wanna borrow my notes?

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CCS2: The Creative Opening Ceremonies

As with any multi-day event, the opening ceremonies are critical for clearing away the clutter of the outside world from the minds of attendees and shifting everyone's focus to the matter-at-hand. Which was especially important for me and this Creative Cities Summit, on account of my cynical view of the whole creative economy thing (to review: efforts to market the creative economy exist to prop up the creative economy).

I got there when our very own Governatrix Jennifer Granholm was speaking. You have to hand it to her, she really is enthused about the whole Cool Cities thing. I'm going to leave discussions of policy out of this (since I have done exactly zero research on it) but she's a great motivator on this stuff. And really, in a town where leadership is less than visionary it's nice to hear an elected official talk about things like, I dunno, the future. I do wish she'd worn an outfit that was a little more visionary, however. That ill-fitting red jacket did no one any favors.

Now I may be messing up the order but the next thing I remember was being surrounded by the Martin Luther King High School Marching band. I approved of this mucho. If it's good enough for China's Olympics then it is good enough for the Detroit Creative Cities Summit. Those kids are so effin cute, and of course anything involving sequins and choreography has got me from the word go.

Karen Gagnon, one of the CCS2 co-producers spoke next, and I think there were two significant things in her talk. First was the entreaty to try and leave this conference with one concrete thing you can do. This was music to the ears of anyone (me) who thinks this whole creative class thing has devolved into a lot of talk.

Secondly - and more tellingly - was the ending of her brief speech where she quoted the movie Auntie Mame: "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death! So live! Live! Live!" While this line makes me wince every time I watch that movie, it is certainly an appropriate line with which to end a speech to a creative group, and Karen delivered it with the requisite gusto. What gave me pause was the wave of unrecognition that swept over the audience as she said it. The line fell flat, with only a few chuckles, and I could not help but think the majority of these people had no clue what she was talking about. Not a good sign.

Even though I was an English major in college I don't alway have an enjoyable time with poetry, particularly the spoken variety. So I was a little apprehensive with the next speaker, Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, the Poet Laureat of the City of Toronto. It was a relief, then, when it was announced he would not be reading poetry but rather speaking poetically. It was actually great, and he was the first person (of many, it turns out) to speak of the real individual contributions people make in the journey toward a creative world. It was heartening, and my first real indication that we were going to get some great outside perspectives at this conference.

He concluded, and the crowd prepared for the shift to the opening keynote address. Creative attendees, while short of being worked into a frenzy, are feeling very summity at this point it seems, so kudos to the conference for getting the ball rolling with inspiration, brevity, and a little local flair.

And now a few non-sequitur notes that really don't fit anyplace else:

A production note: the big screens on either side showing the speaker are great, especially for someone who broke his glasses, but shooting non-actors wearing no makeup from a slightly elevated angle in hi-def might not be the best way to go. Lots of foreheads and bottom front teeth on display. And there were Brits on display, so think about that.

A practical note: the conference rooms at the Ren Cen have no wi-fi. WTF???
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Creative Cities Summit!

As none of you are probably aware, this week the Creative Cities Summit is being held at the Ren Cen Marriott. What is a Creative Cities Summit? Well, it is all on their website, but the reality of it is unclear. Here's what I do know.

First of all, all the people responsible for bringing you the Cool Cities concept will be there. "Creative Economy," "Creative Cities" and "Creative Class" will all be there. If someone nukes the Ren Cen today the entire concept will implode.

I also know that there will be a session on the role of Gays & Lesbians (and artists and immigrants) in economic development and the revitalization of cities.

And I know that I got to go free because I am Web 2.0 media. Hello media credentials!

But there are many questions ... like how much talk is too much talk? And (as an astute reader wrote in and suggested earlier this summer) is the drive to keep young people here really just a ploy by middle-aged parents to keep their kids near home? And is the creative economy really just a big circle-jerk like the Academy Awards?

Well, let's find out.

Wrong Side of the Bed

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today so I'm gonna bitch about this region we live in for a just a minute.

I try to be circumspect about living here, and recognize the negatives while keeping in mind the many positives. I like how living in Detroit exposes me to so many different people, and prevents me from living in a bubble, able to ignore problems just because I don't see them. I feel like it keeps me aware of the importance of social justice, and also challenges me to keep an open mind to other people's perspectives. I feel like these are advantages over many other cities, including San Francisco and certainly Chicago.

HAVING SAID THAT, I am so fucking irritated with this backwater right now I could spit, and there are just so many things throwing me off my game. It's the horrible irony that the California Supreme Court affirmed gay marriage the same week the Michigan Supreme Court affirms the anti-gay marriage amendment's sweeping smackdown of rights for gays & lesbians. It's the multiple debacles at the Coleman A Young Municipal Center. It's the fact that overall we've got a population so full of lotus eaters that they turn down every proposal that could conceivably move this region forward in favor of policy that promotes a drive to the mall.

If you are straight you are probably not aware of the extent of the marriage discussion in the gay community right now. What the people of Michigan have done is relegate themselves to "backwater" status, right up there with Mississippi. There is absolutely no conceivable reason for a gay person to move to Michigan right now without an impetus such as a job, school or family. And even then, don't expect them to stay long.

And as a bonus, it doesn't end there! Not only did we send a big "fuck you" to the gay community, but the educated and creative types the powers-that-be keep trying to attract aren't exactly turned on by the idea of a state that is so openly hostile to gay people. As an example of this discussion, here is a post from a gay online forum based in New York that I occasionally read. There was a thread asking which is the best non-Ivy League school, UVa or U of Michigan (and included a discussion of UC-Berkeley):

Sorry - Michigan is over. The state's new law prohibiting any form of gay-partner rights has already stopped them from being able to recruit new teachers.

Academic friends of mine say that within a decade, Michigan will fall into the second tier unless the state relaxes its grip.

I know it's just a post on an online forum, but that's the tenor of the discussion.

Of course this weekend is the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, and Crain's Detroit Business has a group of attendees blogging for them while attending. The conference, which really does bring all the movers and shakers (and hangers-on) in Michigan together, has a couple big themes this year. And the one I keep hearing about over and over and over is "how do we keep young people from leaving Michigan after college?"

Now is it just me, or is that one of the dumbest goals in the history of time? Why in the world would you want to keep someone from leaving Michigan at age 22 to explore other cities, regions and even countries? Do we really need to encourage the provincialism that exists here? And at an age when people are actually able to pick up and move around, no less! If you love them, let them go!

It seems to me we need to do a better job of attracting these people back at age 30, when they have lived different, more urban or cosmopolitan lives. And when they have more disposable income, higher expecations and more refined tastes. At 30 they are at a point where they might want to take advantage of the great housing buys, the lower cost of living, the proximity to their families when raising kids. There is also real opportunity here for people with an entrepreneurial drive, with low barriers to entry and a real chance not just to succeed but to stand out.

And what does a fleet of 23-year olds bring to the table? I mean, they will rent apartments and work entry-level jobs and spend money at the bar and eat at cheap restaurants. And then get tired of living here by 27 and move on to where they think there is more excitement, burned out on Michigan and less likely to return than they were had we graciously let them leave after school. I'm not sure exactly how that changes what we've got now.

It's just my opinion, but I really think the people leading these discussions about change are really missing the boat (as I mentioned in this post late last year). It probably doesn't help that they aren't on the street - they tend to be policy makers or planners or work for foundations. And they mostly live in the suburbs, even if they work in the city, and skew toward middle age. They should be entrepreneurs who know the business vibe and talk to people every day, young people who can articulate what they want for themselves, and developers who can defend why they can't (or won't) do anything remotely architecturally interesting that might create some draw. And how about the creative types who are already here in droves? The ones no one seems to talk to (let alone support) as they search for this elusive "creative class" they can't really even define? Policy-makers can lead the discussion, but they shouldn't be providing the content.

From a gay perspective, what I have been most shocked to find, in the Detroit area at least, is how the gay community isn't even part of the conversation. We're not just absent from the table, we're absent from the actual content. Not a single straight person I know (outside of Ann Arbor) said anything about the Michigan Supreme Court decision. Not one. I don't even think they know about it.

Of course the gay community hasn't exactly been vocal about it either - they seem content to let straight white men do the heavy lifting (and bless their hearts, they are doing it). Where are the street demonstrations? Hell, this Sunday is Motor City Pride in Ferndale, let's see how many people turn out for even that.

Right now I need a sign that something here can be remotely progressive, that the people aren't hopelessly apathetic, and that leadership actually might be capable of a fraction of what seems so effortless to other cities (including Chicago).

I mean, seriously. Anything. I'm easy.