Detroiters Deserve More Than Downtown Deals

Detroit is changing fast. Everywhere you look, headlines celebrate new investments: the Renaissance Center redevelopment, the redesign of I-375, and the Michigan GOP’s latest tax incentives for big businesses. From afar, it may look like our city is finally getting the attention it deserves. But Detroiters on the ground know the truth: for many Black families, these deals don’t translate into real benefits.

Take the Renaissance Center — a $75–$100 million redevelopment project billed as revitalizing downtown. It sounds impressive, but how much of this investment actually reaches Black Detroiters? How many local contractors, tradespeople, and neighborhood businesses will get contracts? How many residents will secure jobs that pay a living wage? Too often, these projects benefit outside developers and downtown elites while neighborhoods continue to struggle.

Then there’s the I-375 freeway reconfiguration. Once the lifeline of Detroit’s Black Bottom and Paradise Valley communities, it’s a painful reminder that redevelopment without inclusion can repeat historical harm. Will this project finally prioritize Black-owned businesses, anti-displacement protections, and community ownership? Or will it remain another monument to planning that leaves Detroiters on the sidelines?

Meanwhile, Lansing is rolling out generous tax incentives for corporations. But here’s the question Detroiters must ask: do these incentives create real opportunities for residents, or do they simply give away our city and state resources while small Black-owned businesses and working families wait for crumbs?

The solutions are not complicated. We need policies that put Detroiters first, capturing the value of development for neighborhoods, not just corporate pockets. Programs like the Detroit Reparations recommendations provide a roadmap: freeze property taxes for community-owned businesses, capture revenue for reinvestment in local neighborhoods, and ensure equity in workforce development.

Detroit has the talent, the resilience, and the creativity to thrive. But only if investments are intentionally tied to building generational wealth and real opportunity for Black Detroiters. Downtown deals should not come at the expense of the people who built this city.

At Detroiters Speaks, we will continue asking the tough questions, holding decision-makers accountable, and amplifying the voices of Detroiters who deserve more than promises — they deserve progress. That's my opinion