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have to do on the front end. But once
people see human-centered spaces,
they love them. It’s like oxygen has
suddenly entered a room where none
existed before. We’ve been so dominat-
ed by this car-centric planning mind-
set that people forget what it’s like to
have spaces that are built for them.

How has Detroit changed since
you’ve moved back? The progress
has been undeniable in some areas
and, in others, things continue to get
worse. We sometimes overlook that in
our zeal to tell the renaissance story.
Where I’ve really seen the most prog-
ress is in the recognition of the amaz-
ing creative capacity and resilience
that has existed in the city all along.
We’re done with the savior narrative
generally, and we’ve come to a place
where its more “how can we build
this thing together.” That excites me
because one of the central pillars of
human-centered design is working
with and designing for actual people,
not theoretical people.

What type of funding came from
the Knight Foundation? We are final-
ists for the Knight Cities Challenge,
which is a nationwide competition for
the best ideas to make cities a better
place. My idea is to create a network of
people who are actively creating quick
and cheap human-centered spaces in
a single geography with the hopes of
moving the needle on one very large
physical challenge in a Detroit neigh-
borhood. We haven’t received funding
yet, but I’ve got my fingers crossed!

What does it mean that you were
selected by the Knight Foundation
and featured as an “emerging city
champion” in Detroit?w It was a huge
honor, partially because that was also a
national competition, but also because
the judge was Gil Penalosa, who was
the former head of Urban Planning in
Bogota, and he’s a huge hero of mine.
What they’ve been able to achieve in
Bogota through people-first projects is
something that I think we need to take
a serious look at in how we develop
Detroit.
If Detroit in 2025 is a bunch of
luxury condos surrounded by blight,
then we’ve failed. We need thriving
interconnected neighborhoods with
great streets and great parks. That’s
what they’ve been able to achieve in
Bogota, and they had it far worse than
Detroit ever did.

What is your advice to a young
Jewish millennial considering mov-
ing from a larger city to Detroit?
Listen, but also don’t be afraid to share

a broader perspective. Be respectful,
but push for excellence. Also, step out-
side your comfort zone. Detroit is one
of the coolest cities if you know where
to look and if you treat people with
respect.

How do you think the Detroit
Jewish community can impact the
city in the years to come? Recognize
that Jews are embedded in diverse
communities. One of my great frus-
trations is that a lot of Jewish philan-
thropy is focused on Jewish-specific
causes. Most of the young Jews I know
aren’t as interested in Jewish phi-
lanthropy’s passion points. They are
more concerned with making neigh-
borhoods great, with environmental
sustainability, with public education
than they are with ensuring that the
synagogue model lives on or that every
Jew gets to go to Israel.
My advice to Jewish leaders in
Metro Detroit is to actually listen to
what young people have been saying
for years. We’ve been voting with our
bodies anyway.

How have Jewish values, contacts
or the Jewish community assisted
you to launch and build HSS? I’m a
big fan of the Jewish prophets — those
wide-eyed and honey-tongued dream-
ers who were extremely sensitive to
evil and who were misunderstood in
their own time. I’ve been really lucky
to have been supported very early on
by some amazing and visionary people
in the Jewish community — Phillip
Fisher and Matt Lester — and I think
part of why they’ve supported my
work both financially and philosophi-
cally is because they are people who
listen. They know what they don’t
know, but they also have vast knowl-
edge and passion for this region. Their
interests are also incredibly diverse
and interesting.

What new entity/change would
you most like to see to improve the
urban landscape in Detroit? I’d like
to see a mindset shift around the
relationship between the physical envi-
ronment and economic development.
We’ve traditionally placed so much
emphasis on economic development,
and we’ve neglected the physical envi-
ronment, and look where that’s gotten
us. Make great places that improve
people’s quality of life, and the rest fol-
lows. Not the other way around. That’s
the lesson of every great 21st-century
city, and it’s one we need to learn
quick if we want this nascent renais-
sance to stick.

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