Assignment Detroit: A Special Time Inc. Project

Urban decay is present around the country, whether people want to discover it or care to is another story. For four years, I lived in the Midtown area of St. Louis, the 48th largest city in the U.S. In 1890, it was the fourth largest. Each morning I woke up to the Arch shining through my freshmen dorm window. Only miles to the north of SLU's beautiful oasis are the projects. When I volunteered there senior year small, black children gawked at us through the cracked open doorways of their homes. They stared for two main reasons: we were white and we weren't cops. White people don't typically come into those areas for good reasons. Below is an example of a once beautiful mansion in the same area. Now it's mostly recycled for scraps.



Because of my time in St. Louis, I took particular interest in Time Inc.'s newest project, "Assignment Detroit." The editors of Time magazine recently purchased a home in Detroit for a year long evaluation of city and its past and future role in American society. Journalists, photographers and bloggers will spend a year living in this home and emerging themselves in Detroit's history. They are hosting BBQs and inviting neighbors over for lawn parties. It's not just reporting, it's immersion. The introduction of why time is in Detroit is here and an amazing article.

People [lots of Chicagoans] that say "Detroit sucks!" are ignorant. Detroit's story is the most important milestone in America economic history's since the Industrial Revolution. (If this is already too far over your head then stop reading.)

Detroit is still the world's automotive center. Detroit as a whole cannot fail. Detroit is at the forefront of health care and poverty issues, to name a few facing national policy. For all of these reasons, I will follow this story as it unfolds and look into all the possiblities presented to me. And whoever else wants to discover the story.

"While we do not intend to be cheerleaders or apologists, we do have a point of view: we want Detroit to recover and find its way into the future."

United Arts Theater Built in 1928, vacant since the 1970s)