Mayor Mike Duggan did not shy away from touting the NFL draft yet again as he kicked off his 11th annual State of the City on Wednesday evening at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church on Detroit’s northwest side.
Duggan anticipates similar crowds to past NFL drafts, which drew in roughly 300,000 visitors. The mayor encourages them to visit redeveloped sites shown across the nation during Detroit’s bankruptcy 10 years ago, such as the Michigan Central Depot, from which he delivered his State of the City last year, and witness how much the city has changed.
“We have a chance to introduce ourselves to America,” Duggan said. “The last time we were in the national spotlight on MSNBC, it was about bankruptcy and a lot of people … when they get here, you’re going to see a very different city.”
The mayor dived into a long list of recreational and major developments, including: GM Factory Zero and Stellantis assembly plants; State Fairgrounds development into a transit and Amazon fulfillment center; the $3 billion Henry Ford “Future of Health” development; Hudson’s site, which GM recently announced plans to move its headquarters into the city’s newest skyscraper, and the Water Square residences and hotel at the former Joe Louis Arena site.
Duggan added that when he first ran for office in 2013 and met with hundreds of residents, “it hurt” to realize much of them felt the city and country forgot about Detroit.
They said “our neighborhood has been forgotten … there’s illegal dumping, nobody’s picked it up. There’s open abandoned houses, nobody cares. You dial 911, the police don’t show up. The ambulance doesn’t show up,” Duggan said. “What they were really saying is our city has been forgotten.”
Duggan praised a number of the city’s accomplishments, including eliminating blight, plans to remove abandoned vehicles, demolishing and restoring abandoned homes and boosting several of the city’s parks, recreation centers and public spaces in an effort to beautify Detroit.
Here are a some key takeaways:
No more ‘ruin porn’
More than 10 years ago, visitors would take “ruin porn” tours in Detroit to capture some of the city’s blight, including the iconic Michigan Central Depot, which was initially up for demolition in 2009.
But this year, Duggan declared those tours “canceled.”
Several sites are developing, including Lear’s seating plant replacing the 40-year abandoned Hudson’s Motor plant; the updated and lavish Book Tower housing residences and restaurants; United Artists Theatre building converting into apartments; the Eddystone renovated into apartments; GM parts facility replacing the long abandoned AMC Headquarters; the Fisher Body Plant being restored into apartments, and one of the biggest eyesores, the Packard Plant, which is coming down this year.
Instead of blight tours, Duggan pointed to the city’s upgraded amenities, including the RiverWalk, Riverside Park, Beacon Park and more.
Land Value Tax
Prior to diving into the mayor’s proposed Land Value Tax plan, which would raise property taxes on vacant land, Duggan touted the city’s credit rating upgrade to reaching investment grade. Higher ratings mean governments pay lower costs to borrow money for investments across the city.
As he pushes the property tax plan through the Michigan Legislature, Duggan, once again, reminded Detroiters that it would cut homeowners’ property taxes by 17% and raise the tax on vacant land, including parking lots and scrapyards. However, not everybody is on board with the plan.
“I have this fight in Lansing for the Land Value Tax … which every national economist said would be a great thing in Detroit.”
Duggan was referencing a poll of economists who agreed that it would boost Detroit’s economy.
Public safety improvement
Detroit, once known nationally as the “carjack city,” Duggan said, saw 782 carjackings in 2013, leading Detroit officers to leave the city in “record numbers.” In 2024, Detroit has been averaging two per week, he said. Duggan pointed out that former Detroit Police Chief James Craig in 2013 was a victim of carjacking. The city in the meantime provided pay increases as an incentive to stay. Detroit’s homicide rate dropped from 386 in 2013 to 252 in 2023.
The city also started Project Green Light, which uses cameras installed at various businesses, aimed at deterring crime and providing video evidence when it happens near a Green Light site.
“Ten years later, Detroit is a national leader in reducing carjackings,” Duggan said.
Detroit also launched a number of community violence intervention initiatives, including gunshot detection systems to prevent gun crime. Six activist groups received federal grants to research ways to prevent crime and curb gun violence. Duggan plans to request that City Council extends their contracts through 2025 after seeing gun violence dip by 44% in areas where four of the groups focused on personal interaction to deescalate situations.
Duggan also touted the city’s 911 response time reaching an average of 7 minutes and 30 seconds, which is less than the national standard. The city is dispatching 42 ambulances a day, compared with 20-22 last year.
Solar energy
Duggan touted multiple solar efforts underway, including 127 municipal buildings converting from fossil-based to solar energy. The city also launched an initiative to convert 250 acres of land into solar farms. The intention would be to convert blight into a more productive use. The city would select eight neighborhoods, two of which will power streetlights.
Homeowners living within the area will receive $15,000 in energy-efficiency home upgrades. Duggan will send the first three winning neighborhoods to City Council next month for approval.
Eliminating junk vehicles
In an effort to remove abandoned vehicles, 20 of the city’s municipal parking officers are ticketing inoperable or unlicensed vehicles on the street. The citation will give owners 48 hours to move the vehicle.
“2024 is the year we finally rid Detroit of the abandoned illegal vehicles,” Duggan said, adding that a resident complained to him about junk vehicles in her neighborhood, suggesting it’s not a common sight in the suburbs.
Owners of multiple vehicles on private property lawns will have two weeks to move them, including commercial vehicles. Owners cannot store them on lawns, even if they build a fence around it, Duggan added.
“You can’t store your commercial vehicles in our neighborhoods,” Duggan said.
The city ticketed 5,208 vehicles so far this year. It towed 769, he said, and 85% were moved by the owners. Residents can report abandoned vehicles on the “Improve Detroit’ app.
Rising home values
Detroit home values grew by $3.9 billion since the city’s bankruptcy. Black homeowners’ housing wealth grew by $2.8 billion, according to a study conducted by the University of Michigan.
“That’s for the people who stay. The whole city in nine years grew,” Duggan said, adding in response to those who say downtown and Midtown are the only areas seeing growth, “you tell them the University of Michigan study has 4 billion reasons why that’s not true.”
The study indicated that since the bankruptcy, demolitions of blighted and abandoned properties, and sales by the Detroit Land Bank Authority led to a “transformation” of the city’s housing stock, leading to the market recovery as home sales prices increased.
Dexter Elmhurst Recreation Center
The city is renovating the center on the west side with plans to create a recreation center. In a surprise to a longtime community activist Helen Moore, Duggan plans to name it after her.
“Tomorrow morning, Councilman Fred Durhal is putting forward the resolution, and next year, the brand new facility will be the Helen Moore Community Center,” Duggan said. “There is one person who has been the champion. For the last 25 years of my life, my No. 1 critic has been Helen Moore. Every time, she brings me something, she’s right.”
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mike Duggan touts NFL Draft, junk car removal, crime prevention in State of the City