Reflections from Detroit – What’s Our Moment?

This week, I want to share key takeaways from last week’s InterCity Leadership Visit to Detroit – a powerful and inspiring experience. If you’d like to hear more, join us for our Lunch with Leaders on November 12, focused on Downtown Revitalization. Joe Spencer of the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance will share Saint Paul’s updates and include insights from our Detroit visit. 
 
Detroit’s story is remarkable. After declaring bankruptcy in 2013, the city has made staggering progress. Leaders who spoke to us credited their turnaround to a shared mindset, “radical collaboration”:

1. No one was coming to save them — they had to act.
2. Government, business, and philanthropy had to collaborate.
3. They built a plan and made tough choices to execute it.

 
The results speak volumes: revitalized downtown, improved riverfront, reduced crime, and strong community pride. While they’ve only achieved about 5% of their long-term goals, the momentum is real — unified, focused, and inspiring (for context, the Time article “The Tragedy of Detroit” from October 2009 is a powerful read.)
 
On our final day, we asked: What is our Detroit moment? Must we face a similar existential crisis to find clarity and unity? Or can we learn and adapt now?
 
Detroit’s leaders described the MSP region as “one of the winners” over the past decade. Consider this: Saint Paul’s four vacant buildings pale in comparison to Detroit’s 30% population decline, 12 skyscrapers (their “dirty dozen”) either redeveloped or demolished and one more ahead with a $1.2B demolition price tag, $33K median income, and miles of abandoned homes/commercial properties.
 
One of our attendees to Detroit, Paul Campbell, Founder and CEO of Brown Venture Group, added his takeaways below.  He is very insightful!
 
I’m especially grateful for the perspectives each of you brought. The experience was enriched by your voices, and I’m looking forward to our Minnesota-side follow-up.
 
This morning, I asked myself: Could our Detroit moment be rooted in our strengths? Might our greatest assets also be our greatest vulnerabilities?
 
As Matt Lewis (GreaterMSP) noted, we’re in a time of rapid change. AI and the data centers powering it are reshaping every sector. Our region’s pride in hosting the highest per capita number of Fortune 500 companies could also mean greater exposure to workforce disruption. For example, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang predicts AI’s impact could reach $100 trillion across industries.
 
So, what does this mean for Minnesota’s workforce? What if we could redeploy talent from our legacy companies to launch and scale future firms — perhaps becoming the OEM backbone for emerging industries like Detroit’s mobility sector?
 
As the saying goes: “A smart person learns from their mistakes; a wise person learns from the mistakes of others.” Let’s be wise and learn from Detroit:

1. The cavalry isn’t coming — it’s already here. Let’s shift from benchmarking to trendsetting.
2. Let’s stop pointing fingers and start lifting each other up.
3. Knowledge and contribution aren’t cornered markets. We need collaboration across public, private, philanthropic, and community sectors — including voices that challenge our own.
4. Beware institutional complacency. Remember when Blackberry dismissed touchscreen phones? If we don’t stay hungry, humble, and smart, we risk losing our headquarters bragging rights.

 
See you in the trenches,
B

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