Special Report
URBAN LIFEIYL\ -
Destination Detroit from page 13
work to help young
entrepreneurs get off
the ground. Through
those connections,
we'll create a vibrant
and prosperous
community. Without
them, we will con-
tinue to see people
leave our state."
Jacob Cohen, 28,
of Ann Arbor agrees.
Adam Jahnke of Birmingham, Abby Stover of Royal Oak,
He works for Detroit
Katie Katz of Huntington Woods and Michael Ben of West
Venture Partners, a
Bloomfield
firm started by local
Jewish entrepre-
for the Detroit town hall meeting" on
neurs Dan Gilbert, Josh Linkner and Brian
his Facebook page. One of his Facebook
Hermelin that makes investments in early-
friends, Matthew Schenk of Grosse Pointe,
stage technology companies and startups.
replied, "Truly special to be part of a group
"We've looked at more than 100 deals
of about 300 Jews all interested in being
since we formed in November," Cohen said.
part of Detroit's revival?'
He now plans to move to Detroit so he
Adam Kresch of Farmington Hills, a
can walk to work and put an end to his
Quicken Loans mortgage banker, was
long commute.
tweeting during the event using the
"Midtown is attracting young profes-
hashtag #CNXTthall (a hashtag is a "key-
sionals right now; downtown will be
word" Twitter followers can use to easily
building serious momentum in the next
search for specific topics). One of his
six to 18 months:' he added. "Moving to
tweets read, "You can say this about Dan
the city will allow me to be close to busi-
Gilbert, he's very passionate about down-
ness and important people. I realize the
town Detroit and its future."
social scene hasn't reached the critical
Jason Kanter of Huntington
Woods, another Twitter user,
texted, "Great time and discus-
sion tonight at #CNXTthall.
Does your future involve living,
working or simply enjoying
Detroit?"
Jason Raznick, 32, of
Birmingham walked out of the
meeting feeling energized and
inspired. Last year, he started
Benzinga.com, an online
media outlet that covers break-
ii
ing news in the business and
Jason Raznick of Birmingham, Karen Gales of
financial community. Like so
Farmington Hills and Mike Berris of Huntington
many others, he considered
moving to another city to start Woods
his business. But he ended up
staying in Michigan because of the efforts
mass yet; but there are really cool dive
and outreach of CommunityNEXT and
bars and hipster scenes that make life
Federation.
down here interesting?'
"We've grown from two employees to
So what's next? CommunityNEXT has
14; and most of them represent the young
created an online forum to keep the con-
people required to help Michigan grow,"
versation going. A Jewish Detroit task force
Raznick said. "It's almost become cliche to
also is being assembled to execute the
say that Michigan needs to innovate and
many innovative ideas floating around.
create to get back on top. That's a good
"It was nice to hear from those who are
sign — it means people agree that we
investing in Detroit's future, and informa-
need to nurture our young entrepreneurial tive to hear the questions and statements
culture?'
of those who want to be part of the contin-
Now, he says, it's time to take action.
ued growth:' Kate Bush said following the
"We're lucky to have a powerful and
meeting.
interconnected Jewish community in
"There is incredible talent and creativity
Michigan," Raznick said. "We all still need
in this city. The possibilities for how the
to do a better job of leveraging that net-
city will define itself are endless?' Li
14
February 3 .' 2011
Living in the "Z"
Several young Jewish Detroiters stood up during the town hall meeting and
talked about why they love living in the "D." Here we introduce you to some
of your neighbors in the city and share their thoughts on urban life.
BEN GORDON
Age: 23
Works: In the film industry as a producer's assistant
Lives: Grand Circus Park in the Kales Building on Adams Avenue
•
"Shortly after graduating from University of
F - '
Michigan,
I got a job downtown and I wanted to take
f
the opportunity to learn about the city. I know what
Royal Oak is like; I know what Birmingham is like; but
I'd never really spent much time in the city of Detroit.
Growing up, I always saw Detroit as a city with a lot
of character, a city I was connected to, but one I knew
nothing about.
"I wanted to change that so I moved down here and
started exploring. I like being able to walk from my apartment in Foxtown
to my office in Greektown, to hop on the people mover after work and go to
the Joe for a Wings game, then stop by the Westin Book Cadillac afterwards
for a late dinner or a drink at the bar. Also, I keep finding new scenes, hear-
ing about new cool bars to go to and art galleries to check out – there's a
lot more to this city and its community than I imagined; it just takes a little
effort to seek out."
;
KATE BUSH
Age: 29
Works: ePrize, senior project manager
Lives: Palmer Woods, a historic neighborhood in northwest Detroit
"I grew up in Detroit but moved away to attend col-
lege. I moved back to the city four years ago. When
most were leaving the city, my parents moved into
Detroit's university district where I spent a happy
childhood before moving to Montreal to attend McGill
University. After graduating, I lived in a few different
areas, but none felt special to me.
"When the opportunity arose to move back to
Detroit, my husband and I jumped on it. We shop at
Mike's Market, get haircuts at Curl Up & Dye, spend Thursday nights deep
in conversation at Soup at Spaulding, and attend events at the Downtown
Synagogue. You feel a certain pride about the fact that you are making
urban life work. I've never felt that way living in the suburbs. I think it's
unique to Detroit."
DANIEL FRIEDBERG
Age: 25
Works: mortgage banker, Quicken Loans
Lives: Woodbridge for the last two years (and the Cass Corridor for five years)
"I have lived in Detroit for seven years. I moved to the
city right after my high school graduation. What I like
most about living in Detroit is the community and the
opportunity for growth. The connections between the
people in Detroit run stronger than in other places. We're
all working together for the common cause of resurgence
in Detroit.
"You can make anything happen in Detroit, and I'm an
example of that. I wanted to live my life in the city. First
chance I got, I moved down. I had no idea the kind of impact it would have on
me. My life in Detroit is incredibly meaningful. I'm a part of something big.
Also, the direct contrast between beauty and ruin was a hard pill to swallow
as a fresh-faced 18-year-old. You take the bad with the great and keep roll-
ing. Life isn't always rosy here; but if you can make it in Detroit, you can truly
make it anywhere."