Any idea well entertained in mind.....

There are two quotes my family has given me that I live by. Firstly my great grandma Barber told me that, "Any idea well entertained in mind will carry itself out in action." and my dad gave me a stone with the General Patton quote, "Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory"

As I start any venture, I think of those quotes and realize that the tasks at hand are a direct path to the goal I've set. Saving Detroit may seem like a lofty goal, but someone has to have it. It takes someone saying, "I'm going to do something" and believing it wholeheartedly to make it happen. The idea has to be created and entertained, the challenges have to be accepted so that the action takes place and victory can be celebrated.

Phase 1 is mapping out the plan, putting a team in place, brainstorming, learning the system(s) in place, meeting the players, and getting people to believe that we all can come together to save our city.

If you've been to Chicago and shopped the magnificent mile and enjoyed Grant Park, Navy Pier and any of Chicago east of MI ave - you have the great Chicago fire of 1871 to thank. Although utterly devastating to its people and city at the time, Chicago took its ruins and literally rebuilt itself from its own charred remains.

Detroit's ruins look different than Chicago. They are not that of a city devastated overnight. That are of one abandoned, forgotten and slowly crumbling. Detroit does not lack location, it does not lack beauty, it does not lack potential. It currently is lacking investment. Detroit is seen as a treasure by most. It is not thought of as an asset. However, if we are to fix it; if we are to breathe life back into Detroit, that is exactly how we need to start thinking of it.

The investment process is going to be crucial. Investments need to come in equal parts of time, care, belief, money and hard work. Simply put this is going to take a lot of buy in from people on the local, state and national stage. We need small and large business to be active. We need to harness the power of City Year/Care Force and other non profits. We need to invite those families that left in the 60s to come back to turn their memories and pride into a future.

And lastly, we need to make the saving of Detroit a national project. The world and nation has never been more connected. We need to transform the fascination with Detroit's failure and make our goal its success. It's time to leverage the heart of America and show what we can do when we come together on all levels. We built this nation once, we can rebuilt the parts that need a little extra care.

A long term goal of this project will be to take all the lessons learned and strategies created and implemented and be able to implement them in the area that most needs help from our nation. We'll be working to create a TV show and internet site that will allow Americans to stay connected to the progress and be able to volunteer, donate and assist as they can. When the season of Detroit is complete and we can look to transition this aspect of the project to an area such as the gulf.

If you have constructive ideas or thoughts, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Why is the skyline dark?

What sounded like a simple question on a beautiful night for baseball got me thinking long and hard about the answer.

Why is the skyline dark? And hasn't it been dark for too long?

The solution to save Detroit isn't complex to understand. It speaks to the goodness that is America. It's not even as idealistic as that last statement sounds. It's going to take its citizens and hope. It's going to take belief and funding. It's going to take risk and labor. And it's going to take a long time.

What we've seen over the past 30+ years is that Detroit is not going to save itself. It's going to take more than talk, it's going to take more than local government. It's going to take a movement.

Saving the lost city is going to be done on a scale so large that it's going to change the way America looks at the crises that she is forced to overcome. And it's going to solidify that which we already know. America is because we do. And America we are going to save the lost city.