This chapter is all about how we engage with our cities. We already touched on that slightly in week 1, but to go deeper: Could you ever run for mayor in your city (or township supervisor, as the case may be)? What changes would cause you to engage more significantly with the place you live in? Finally, would you consider moving to a bigger city, and do you agree that your level of engagement would go down in that atmosphere?
Let's see, Detroit is a big enough city that you definitely need a lot of political capital, connection, money, etc to run for mayor. Seems like fewer barriers to city council, but still. I would definitely, though, run for office in my hometown of Redford. It's small enough that most anyone can, and I think I would have something valuable to contribute.
ReplyDeleteIn big cities, increased engagement needs to come on the neighborhood level. There've been steps in that direction in Detroit with the district representatives, but it's still not to the point where everyone has an equal voice. I would absolutely move to New York or another big city because many of the benefits outweigh the losses, but I would miss the feeling of being somewhat civically relevant!
I can understand that because I think being relevant in the scope of being responsible for your community is important. I also think New York would make you civically relevant as each area in New York is culturally strong.
DeleteOh, my . . . I believe I must agree with Gerrard on this point. Neighborhoods in New York (and, in general, the East Coast) tend to have strong cultural identities. This fact gives each of these neighborhoods a small town feel, which in turn would encourage one to be more engaged with their community.
DeleteTrue, though I do still think there's a difference between neighborhood engagement and city government engagement. Neighborhoods usually can't tax, pass ordinances, etc. It's really something to live in a place like Ypsilanti where you can get put on a real city committee with influence over policy after a few months of living there, if you express enthusiasm.
DeleteI would run for mayor of Detroit because I don't think anyone running against me would win. I would change the systems in which commuting is done in and out of the city, and would focus more energy and efforts into making the Detroit Public School system as prominent as it was when I was a kid. If I were to move, I would move to San Fransisco, Seattle or Paris because of the cities benefits and I wouldn't feel as though I'm not engaged in the community because I can get involved in anything if I put myself to it.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at my own situation, I actually feel like I could run for Mayor for Dearborn, although, would be very interesting to see if I could make a dent. Dearborn is a very interesting place. While it is diverse and has a "small town" feel with a population of over 100,000 people, it can also get stuck in its ways. Dearborn has had essentially three players as Mayor in the past 70 years: Hubbard, Guido and O'Riley.
ReplyDeleteIf I had a desire to run for political office, that would be a motivation for becoming more involved. As I have mentioned previously, I have felt disengaged with my city for a while now. The lack of strong leadership, city development, and services has definitely sped up the process of me wanting to move on to the next phase of my life in regard to where I live.
Depending where I move and what else is going on in my life at that time would play a role in my involvement with my new city - however, I do feel some engagement, even if its just in your neighborhood, is always good to have.
Mike - I know what you mean about Dearborn. I thought after Hubbard died, the office of the mayor would not remain in the hands of only a few people. However, it seems, once someone takes over the office, only death can remove them.
DeleteYeah, it's weird that Dearborn's mayors have been such institutions (for better or worse). I guess it just has a very peculiar history. Dearborn may also be a case of a suburb where demographic changes aren't yet manifested in the governance - that's definitely the case in other places like Redford.
DeleteAnyway, both Gerrard and Mike I would vote for you!
As a current resident of Lathrup Village, I do not see myself running for office in my city. For me, Lathrup Village is one of the hundreds of municipalities in this state that should not exist. Surrounded on three sides by the city of Southfield, we already depend upon the larger city for our public schools, library, fire department, and other city services. I truly feel Lathrup Village residents would benefit if we allowed the city to be annexed by Southfield . . . but, “hell will probably freeze over” before that happens.
ReplyDeleteYes, so many municipalities in this are just tax shelters or otherwise redundant layers of government. It would be great to go to a county system like they have in other parts of the country, but indeed that would be way too regionalist to ever fly.
DeleteFun fact: Pleasant Ridge, due to the Detroit Zoo, has more animal residents than human residents.
I do not want to be mayor of any city. I think I'm too idealistic, and not realistic or practical enough to deal with the difficult reality of balancing the needs of people and businesses, and I'd be worrying about everyone, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, wanting to fix all the problems, knowing that I wouldn't be able to help or please everyone.
ReplyDeleteRight now, in Ypsilanti, I'm not very engaged with where I live, because it doesn’t feel like home, but my boyfriend and I are looking into buying a house sometime soon, and I hope that wherever that ends up being, it's a place where I want to be more involved and engaged with what's going on. I don't know what form that engagement will take, but I do believe that the little things people do on the community and neighborhood level make a difference.
I don't see myself ever running for public office. I have no desire to be a public figure and therefore subject to the whims and needs of the citizenry. I do like the idea of living in a community that I could potentially have influence over. I like the idea of being able to contribute to an area without being responsible for everything.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to move to a larger city, I would see myself as more of a consumer of the city than a maker.