Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says he’s coming to Traverse City to learn. But he’ll also bring a message or two, not the least of which is the incredible importance – and sheer power – of cooperation.

“For years, the politics of Detroit was everybody fighting with everybody. Us versus them, Detroit versus the suburbs, Detroit versus the business community, Detroit versus Lansing,” Duggan tells The Ticker. “We fundamentally changed politics here, and it’s an exciting thing…and I think it’s been the biggest factor in us coming back.”

Duggan, Detroit’s mayor since 2014, comes to town on Sept. 20 to speak to the Economic Club of Traverse City. He says he wants to “tell the story” of Detroit’s resurgence.

“The city was in bankruptcy. The highest unemployment rate, the highest poverty rate and the highest murder rate in America,” he says. “All of those things have changed dramatically, and we’ve done it by the community coming together.”

Though the circumstances are different, many of the struggles in this resurgent Detroit play out in Traverse City. Just as many Cherry Capital locals question their place in the future of town that gets bigger and more expensive by the minute, for example, longtime Detroiters question their ability to survive in a revamped and thriving Motor City.

Duggan points to Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, where Ford Motor Company recently invested nearly $1 billion to renovate and reopen Michigan Central Station. Continued growth in that corridor in recent times has driven rent prices up and threatened to displace locals, so the city is spearheading an effort to build 600 affordable housing units there, Duggan says.

“We want growth, but we want to make sure the growth doesn't come at the expense of the people who stayed through the tough times,” he says. “People's issue usually isn't with a new company, new jobs or new housing, as long as you're doing it in a way that's respectful of those who have been there.”

Much like Traverse City and other vacation-driven communities, Detroit also has its own struggles with Airbnbs and other rentals, Duggan says. Trying to balance private property and business rights with the needs of the overall community is very difficult, he says.

“It’s a sensitive subject because there’s no doubt it's taking housing units that could have been available for rentals for permanent residents and taking them offline and, in some cases down here, turning them into party houses,” he says. “That means that those units aren’t available to be rented month in and month out to a mom with two kids.”

Duggan hopes to impress upon Traverse City folks (and anyone else who will listen) that now’s the time to get back to Detroit if you haven’t been in a while. The riverwalk and other downtown enhancements are sure to wow folks with memories of Detroit from 15 or 20 years ago, he says.

“We had 750,000 people down here in April for the NFL Draft, and I talked to so many people who said they hadn’t been to Detroit in 10 years or 20 years, and (they couldn’t believe it),” he says. “I think people will be struck with how beautiful the city is.”

A big reason Duggan decided to come to Traverse City is to forge partnerships in an effort to move the needle in Lansing, he says. He’s found more can be accomplished in issues like housing and transit with diverse voices at the table.

“When you want to get things done in Lansing, which is a horribly divided place, you have to build coalitions from different parts of the state,” he says. “If we can build partnerships with Grand Rapids, with Jackson, with Traverse City, you now can get things done that are good for everybody. I'm just looking for common ground and for partners.”

It’s possible he’s also interested in laying the groundwork for a gubernatorial campaign, as many pundits suspect he might. He wouldn’t bite on The Ticker’s questions in that regard.

“I’m not going to talk about anything else until after the presidential election,” he says. “I've got to first make a decision on running for mayor next year, and then I'll make a decision about what else I do.”

More information about the Economic Club event can be found here. 

Econ Club program chair Andi Dolan called landing Duggan a “grand slam.”

“Every city has its challenges, and learning what Detroit has gone through might lead us to some very specific things that we as Traverse City can relate to and learn from as we're growing at such a fast speed,” she tells The Ticker. “Hopefully we can glean from him and the challenges that he's overcome some things that we should be really paying attention to.”