Reimagining Cities-Disrupting the Urban Doom Loop

The unexpected revitalization of Detroit’s once-distressed downtown is primarily due to private capital. Major contributors included businesses and organizations such as General Motors, Ford and the Kresge Foundation. In addition, investors like Peter Karmanos, Mike Ilitch and Dan Gilbert made significant investments based on nostalgic memories of downtown Detroit from their youth. This emotionally driven investment approach is not uncommon in cities across the country but never in such a depressed downtown and by so many private investors. An additional factor in this revitalization is the city’s bankruptcy, the largest of its kind in U.S. history. The city’s poor financial condition meant that investors received limited public sector incentives. However, this also resulted in the entire planning department and many other public departments being laid off before and during the bankruptcy. As a result, these investors faced less government bureaucracy to slow or stop them. There was continued public sector planning, direction and assistance from the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a public/ private nonprofit, which is the City’s economic development agency. Overcoming an Episodic Doom Loop: Seattle In 1971, real estate agents Bob McDonald and Jim Youngren rented a billboard near Sea Tac Airport that read, “Will the last person leaving Seattle—Turn out the lights.” At the time, Boeing, the area’s largest employer, had been downsizing for years, and like nearly all U.S. cities, Seattle had been losing residents since 1950. 43 However, after the recovery from the Boeing recession, the suburban areas adjacent to the city began to grow, adopting the Drivable Sub-urban development form. In 1950, the Seattle metro area had a population of 726,000, making up about 65% of the metro population. By 2000, the metropolitan area had skyrocketed to

over 3.55 million, while the city’s population dropped to 564,000, comprising only 15% of the total metro area population. Government leaders recognized the risk of relying too heavily on one industry after the Boeing collapse and worked to diversify Seattle’s economy . In 1979, local entrepreneur Bill Gates relocated his tech startup, Microsoft, from Albuquerque to Bellevue, a growing city located east of Seattle. 44 Amazon launched in 1994, along with many other tech firms, reenforcing the metropolitan area’s standing as the third largest tech center in the country. By 2022, nearly 15% of employed residents worked in tech, making Seattle number one among the 50 largest U.S. metros for tech occupations. 45 Though Seattle is still dependent on tech, the city has rebranded itself as an outdoor destination with unique “Instagrammable” walkable urban experiences like Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, top-tier restaurants and its spectacular setting between mountains and Puget Sound.

43 Millsap, Adam A. “Is Seattle Doomed?” Forbes. 2018. 44 Crowley, Walt. “Turning Point 7: A Bumpy Ride: Seattle’s Economic Booms, Busts, and Comebacks.” History Link. 2000. 45 “The Seattle Times: Seattle’s top data stories of 2023.” Downtown Seattle Association, 2024.

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