Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivers State of the City address, says city will 'reintroduce itself' during draft

Detroit — As thousands descend on the city next week for the NFL Draft, Mayor Mike Duggan insists visitors will be surprised as Detroit "reintroduces itself to America," painting a picture of a city that's seen major changes in housing, crime and economic development during his State of the City address on Wednesday.

Delivering the speech inside the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church on the city's west side, Duggan noted the area is celebrating "a neighborhood rebirth."

And while the city's rebirth, critics note, has been primarily witnessed downtown, Duggan used much of his 11th citywide speech to detail improvements in everything from crime rates to getting rid of the "ruin porn" that used to draw people to the city.

"Instead of blight, they can visit beauty," he said. "...On abandoned riverfront land, we built the world-class Riverside Park. DTE took an eyesore on Grand River and built the very popular Beacon Park. Our industrial riverfront is now rated the finest riverwalk in America."

Duggan's theme was similar to his most recent election platform: "Every neighborhood has a future."

"For me, this journey started in the neighborhood. When I announced in 2013… people started inviting me into their homes. I found the people who invited me were the ones who were going to stick and stay,” he said, thanking Rev. Richard White and the 105-year-old church for hosting them.

“They would say, our neighborhood has been forgotten… illegal dumping, open abandoned houses, cops and ambulances don’t show up and the streetlights don’t work,” Duggan said on the city’s west side. “It hurt because the state and the country turned its back on us… but they haven’t forgotten about us anymore. We have a chance to reintroduce Detroit to America. The last time we were in the national spotlight, it was about bankruptcy.”

Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield said Duggan’s speech showcased efforts to improve the view of the city from the outside and said there are accomplishments that should be lauded, but there's also still work to be done.

“In that vein, it’s important to recognize we still have a long way to go with respect to Detroiters earning a livable wage, our residents having the ability to afford safe quality housing, and the building of generational wealth,” she said.

Duggan's speech, always held in a symbolic location, was given in the Baptist church on Dexter Avenue, highlighting how his administration is making investments in neighborhoods across the city.

The area's corridor is slated to get an infusion of $21.5 million in Strategic Neighborhood Fund investments for a new $10 million streetscape from Webb to Davison, a small business called In Harmony Cafe, new recreation centers, park improvements and murals.

Throughout his hour-long speech, Duggan, who gave his first State of the City address when the city was still in bankruptcy, focused on how the city has changed as it prepares for an influx of 300,000 visitors at the NFL Draft April 25-27 and more than 50 million viewers on television next week.

Duggan said the city has to convince the world its reputation has changed after its historic bankruptcy. He touted that the city has returned to investment-grade status for the first time since 2009 and with new companies, the unemployment rate dropped to 7% last year and there are nearly 5,000 open positions. This week, he announced $1 billion in affordable housing investments since 2019 and a new University of Michigan report showing added home value for Black residents increased 80% between 2014 and 2022 by $3.4 billion.

To the people who would travel to visit Detroit’s “ruin porn” he said, “Detroit’s ruin porn tours are canceled.”

Rehabbed, new builds, demolitions

Detroit City Councilman Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who represents District 6, agreed that the city has made so much progress and still has "so much more to do, but I do believe that we will get it done.”

“We’re in an incredibly exciting time for Detroit," she said. "We’re not done yet but we have proven that our city is worth love, care and investment. I will continue to work to ensure our residents get what they deserve along with our administration.”

Duggan showcased a list of automotive rehabs of abandoned structures including, the Jeep plant that opened in 2021 on Detroit’s east side, the GM Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant and re-opened Factory Zero with 4,000 employees making electric vehicles.

Duggan said demolishing the abandoned Packard Plant, which stopped making cars in 1956, will be completed by the end of this year. The city is looking for another automotive factory in its place.

Amazon is set to bring 1,200 employees to the former State Fairgrounds site, which was abandoned in 2011. The Fairgrounds site is also being renovated into a $19 million transit center. In Midtown, on West Grand Boulevard, they’ll find a new Henry Ford Cancer Institute and later this year, the hospital will break ground on a $3 billion expansion.

Downtown, he highlighted new towers reshaping Detroit’s skyline: Hudson’s property that was abandoned for 40 years will be home to the second tallest building in Michigan where GM will move its headquarters when it is finished next year. Also, Gary Torgows’ Huntington Bank Headquarters and Water Square, will see a new convention hotel soon.

Duggan also on touched on some of the improvements in higher education, including UM’s $200 million Center for Innovation being built on Grand River, a $100 million renovation to the University of Detroit Mercy with expanded nursing and engineering facilities, and Wayne State University has a new performing arts center. Pensole Lewis College also recently opened its design campus on the Riverfront, Michigan’s only historic Black college.

But at least one activist group accused Duggan of still not doing enough to address urgent housing and economic need for low-income residents while "showing preference for wealthy developers."

"Channeling billions of dollars in abatements and corporate incentives does not ensure prosperity for all residents," said Scott Holiday, political Director at Detroit Action, an organization dedicated to fighting for racial, housing and economic justice for working-class Black and Brown Metro Detroiters.

Boosting safety, transportation, solar neighborhoods

The city's nearly $2.8 billion budget boosted funds for Detroit's Department of Transportation, police and fire departments, a 13th check for retirees, and addressing the city's homeless population by retaining shelter funding post-pandemic.

Boosts include more funding for police and fire safety. Duggan said in 2013, the city had the highest homicide rate in the nation and was known nationally as “carjack city” with 782 carjackings that year. Then-police chief James Craig was nearly carjacked in an unmarked car, he said.

Since then, he said the city has hiked officers' pay to make it competitive with other cities and hired 230 more officers in 2023. He said homicides have dropped from 386 in 2012 to 252 in 2023, the fewest since 1966.

And as far as carjackings, there have been 27 so far this year, he said.

“That’s two per week compared to 15 per week in 2013,” Duggan said.

In 2013, Detroit was down to eight operating ambulances, and an average 911 response was often over an hour. This year, Detroit has 42 ambulances and 33 medically-staffed fire trucks on the street with an average response time of 7 minutes, beating the national average, Duggan said.

During his last State of the City, Duggan presented his ShotStoppers initiative that selected six activist groups that will begin intense outreach to the community this fall.

Duggan said the city also is being proactive about climate change. His plan is to convert 127 municipal buildings from fossil-based energy into solar by installing six solar neighborhood solar fields totaling 250 acres. The city has eight finalist neighborhoods and next month, he said, they’ll send the first three neighborhoods and two solar company contracts to City Council for approval.

"I want two contracts from two neighborhoods because I want them to compete," he said.

Transportation improvements

Duggan also touched more investment in the city's transportation department, including $189 million more to finance 627 bus drivers, up from the 510 drivers.

"For the thousands of residents waiting in the cold, you'll be able to wait inside the comfortable Jason Hargrove Transit Center honoring a driver who died during COVID," he said. "We're going to build the first-class bus system."

Still, some would like to see more done to improve transit in the city. Ned Staebler, CEO of TechTown, said not just Detroit, but Michigan, "will not rebound until it has functional transit."

"I equate transit to the roof on a house. Transit is Detroit's leaky roof and no one would buy a house with a leaky roof," said Staebler, who was not in attendance. "We put billions into auto plants in rural areas instead of investing in urban areas. Duggan knows this, he used to run SMART. He could certainly work with his partners in Lansing to push harder."

Safety concerns, meanwhile, have riddled the transportation department, with a Detroit News report finding city bus drivers averaged more than one collision per day in 2023. There are more than 5,000 bus stops in the city.

Junk vehicles don't belong in neighborhoods

One new initiative Duggan announced during his speech was to address abandoned junk vehicles frequently parked on lawns and in backyards in the city. The new initiative includes 20 municipal parking officers that are now ticketing inoperable or unlicensed cars on the street.

The orange sticker gives the owner 48 hours to move their vehicle. For vehicles on private property, Detroit police has a new 12-person enforcement squad. Property owners have up to two weeks to remove ticketed vehicles. Residents can now report vehicles on the Improve Detroit App.

So far in 2024, they’ve ticketed 5,208 vehicles in neighborhoods and they’ve had to tow 769 – 85% were removed by the owner, Duggan said.

"I'm giving everyone a head start because enforcement is coming," Duggan said.

Moving forward

Duggan said he also continues to fight in Lansing for a Land Value Tax that would cut property taxes on homeowners by 17% and raise them on parking lots and scrapyards in the city. The city has cut taxes by 1 mill in June last year and another 1 mill in July this year and propose another millage cut next year. The proposal would crack down on scrapyards that have perpetually operated out of compliance in the city.

“As property values and rents rise, Detroit could have become like many other cities,” he said showing photos of tents and homeless.

At the end of his speech, Duggan announced plans to rename the Dexter Elmhurst Recreation Center in the heart of the community after a woman who fought to save it, Helen Moore. Moore, who is known as a community advocate and critic of the administration, was in attendance and was shocked by the announcement.

Councilman Fred Durhal III applauded that decision to rename the center after Moore.

“Ms. Moore used to host fish fries just to keep the lights on,” he said. “She’s a firecracker and deserves it.”

srahal@detroitnews.com

X: @SarahRahal_