I like to get things done. Luckily, I work at a time and a place where things are getting done. Detroit is riding a five-year wave of development – $5.6 billion so far – and we haven’t reached the crest. In fact, we can’t even see the crest ahead of us because every deal we are making, every dollar someone is investing here is opening up more opportunities for the future.
The City of Detroit has been a regional leader in the number of new housing permits it has issued, coming in third in 2003 and 2004 and first in 2005. Rather than sputtering out, that development spurred on even more construction in 2006.
What is going on here is no less than a transformation of an entire city. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick even calls it Next Detroit. It started downtown, but is now moving relentlessly in every direction. We began with infrastructure improvements, renovation or restoration of vintage buildings, a revival of entertainment districts and new housing construction. We have moved on to attracting new businesses on the strength of Detroit’s great hub location on the Canada-U.S. border and TechTown, an outstanding urban research and technology park. We love our nickname as the Motor City, especially now that we’ve got the engine roaring and our pedal to the metal on new development.
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Jackson is president and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a non-profit organization that works with businesses, government and other organizations throughout Detroit to encourage and manage economic development projects.
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