Flight

Detroit, MI

Local City Rankings Article

Detroit, MI: Opportunities for Change

America’s “Motor City” is bearing down on the sustainability throttle: the city’s green engine is heating up and has propelled it up twelve spots in SustainLane’s 2008 rankings. What’s fueling Detroit’s upswing? First and foremost, adaptive reuse of land abandoned from decades of suburban flight. Detroit boasts a thriving community garden network growing on vacant land across the city. Quality-of-life issues are a high priority for Detroit officials, who are planning for more greenways, connecting landmarks and bringing in new businesses. The city has already seen a successful transformation of its formerly-blighted riverfront into a bustling area of parks, plazas, and a five-mile recreation path. Expect to see more greening in the near future: City council president and head of the recently-formed “Green Task Force,” Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr., replaced the city’s mayor who resigned early September 2008.