From that handsome devil, award-winning reporter Malachi Barrett, over at BridgeDetroit…

The mayor [Mike Duggan] said Detroit’s prospects are tied to neighborhood success. The country sees Detroit’s star rising as the city sheds a sour reputation of bankruptcy, violence and “ruin porn,” Duggan said. He also said residents who thought their communities were abandoned are now seeing more investment and support from the city.

A year ago, the mayor announced his plan to pay community organizations for their work to reduce gun violence. At the time, Duggan said he wasn’t sure whether it would work but the approach was worth trying. […] Since November 2023, shootings are down 28% across the city. Areas served by four organizations posted a 44% decline in shootings, Duggan said, and will receive additional funding to continue their work for another year.

Duggan said he doggedly pursued funding to eliminate blight from the city, starting with federal funding that knocked down 21,000 houses in six years, followed by a voter-backed ballot initiative to take out 20,000 more. […] The mayor said there are 4,400 blighted properties left standing as of this week. There will be “next to zero” by the end of next year, he said.

_{Activist Helen Moore at Mayor Duggan’s State of the City address. Photo: City of Detroit}

Duggan surprised Russell Woods community leader Helen Moore by announcing that a renovated recreation center will bear her name. […] The city is spending $8.5 million in federal pandemic relief funds to rehabilitate the Dexter-Elmhurst Recreation Center. […] “In the last 25 years of my life, my number one critic has been Helen Moore,” Duggan said. “Every time she brings me something, she’s right. There’s not an ounce of meanness in her, she wants things to be better for the children.”