This issue of ITE Journal is dedicated to Detroit, the host city of our Annual Meeting. Originally Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit, Detroit started out as part of New France. It became part of the United States after the American Revolution. Few cities represent Canadian and American cooperation better than Detroit. The automotive industry that dominates Detroit quickly became a cross-border enterprise, with parts for vehicles crossing the border up to six times before final assembly. When Ontario first permitted casinos, one of the first was in Windsor, directly across from Detroit. A prime example of cross-border cooperation will hopefully be open by the time this message is published—the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The Canadian government fronted the full construction cost, and the toll revenue will be shared between the two countries after the construction cost is repaid. In addition to sharing my first name, this bridge will allow bicyclists and pedestrians to cross and will allow commercial traffic to bypass downtown streets.
Detroit gives other North American cities hope that they can reinvent themselves. Between 1950 and 2020, the city of Detroit lost 1.2 million residents, or two-thirds of its population. In 2013, the City of Detroit went bankrupt. Now, the city is in the process of rejuvenating—it added 12,500 new residents last year. Part of how Detroit is reinventing itself is by looking backward in time with respect to transportation. A lyric in the song “Bastille Day” by Rush (a band I heard constantly on my favorite radio station growing up) says, “Guide the future by the past. Long ago, the mold was cast.” Detroit is doing exactly that!
At one point, I set a goal of going to see hockey games in every National Hockey League (NHL) arena (a goal I originally accomplished in 2020, but I now have to see a game in Utah). Detroit is home to the Red Wings—an “Original Six” team (meaning that it was one of the six teams that existed from 1942 to 1967). I went to the Joe Louis Arena in 2015 with my youngest brother (who travelled from southwestern Ontario to come to the game with me). We picked a hotel about a mile from the arena so we wouldn’t have to drive. The walk was extremely lonely. In fact, we had to backtrack after trying to leave through the parking garage because of fencing. The arena traffic was long gone by the time we got to our hotel.
Fast-forward to 2022 and Little Caesars Arena. I went to an NHL hockey game with ITE members Steve Stramsak, P.E., PTOE (M), and Colleen Hill-Stramsak, P.E., PTOE
(M). There was a road open only to pedestrians adjacent to the arena. The road in front had light rail tracks and a planted median. There was life before and after the game around the arena! The arena is located within a neighborhood with Ford Field—home of the Detroit Lions NFL football team, and Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team. The Detroit Pistons, a National Basketball Association team, share Little Caesars Arena with the Detroit Red Wings. The concentration of sporting and other entertainment events into one area allows restaurants and other businesses that serve patrons to thrive—a prime example of placemaking.
What a difference seven years have made! If you are coming to the Annual Meeting or visiting Detroit for another conference or reason, I encourage you to visit this neighborhood to see for yourself!