One of the locations I visited while on a tour of the renaissance of Detroit, Michigan was Brightmoor. Apparently developed as a planned workers community in the 1920s, Brightmoor's decline led one media agency to describe it as "an incubator for Homicides." Yet the Brightmoor I visited recently was perhaps one of the most profound examples of community I have seen in a western context. Sure there are plenty of examples of abandoned houses but it seems for every abandonment there are twenty extraordinary murals of colour appearing on hoardings and boardings-up; there are footpaths and vacant blocks sporting thriving urban agriculture; local people of all ages out trimming, chopping, pruning and the like; self-developed meeting spaces and places; streams of music in the air; children playing in backyards and frontyards; and people of all colours going about the business of making this place highly liveable. Inspirationville!
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