Time Magazine made a big commitment to Detroit in opening a bureau in the Motor City focussed on innovation and revival.  They asked me to post to their Detroit blog, following my fascinating visit to this weekend’s Maker Faire Detroit.  Here’s an excerpt from the post, which they call “Unfiltered:  Jules Pieri on Looking Back at the Faire and Detroit.”

“In traveling around Detroit for various Maker Faire events, my GPS seemed to think it was still in Boston. It kept avoiding highways (did it not realize Detroit is highway heaven?) and directing me onto surface streets. The one time I did not mind the GPS confusion was when the surface streets took me by the west-side neighborhood where I grew up. I’d been meaning to stop by that tidy grid of modest postwar brick bungalows.

Growing up, everyone on my street earned a living making or fixing things. The sights and sounds of manufacturing punctuated our days and nights: bone-rattling roars of the freight train line, the constant throbbing of a massive Detroit Diesel Allison plant just past the railroad. My nostalgia turned to analysis during my 72-hour visit, especially because I met many Detroiters who convinced me that the city’s competitive advantages were just below the surface.”

Here is the “manifesto” from Bryce Moore and his company Context Furniture.  He’s singing my song.   Or, I am singing his.

I wish I’d taken even more photos.  Between trying to find my speaking venues, dealing with the usual AV challenges, talking to Makers, and the lovely distractions of my adorable nephew who came along for some of the time, I was running from pillar to post.   I can’t wait to do it again, at the next Maker Faire Detroit.