Better at 50

By Vivian DeGain

From Rochester to Detroit
Column for Nov. 12, 2007 for Suburban Lifestyles,
A weekly direct-mailed paper with a circulation of 170,000 in the suburbs.

Now here’s an interfaith cause that I am putting my arms around.

On Nov. 6, I attended a meeting held by religious community leaders who are trying to identify what is needed to bridge the miles between Detroit and the suburbs, miles that include more than distance and economies.

The organization is MOSES and they have begun a quest to bring the first regional mass transit system to the Motor City.

What a good idea!

MOSES, which stands for Metropolitan Organizing Strategies Enabling Strength, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to teach lay and clerical leaders how to organize people and/or raise money in order to influence public policy. There are some 55 congregations and religious organizations who participate in the coalition, and at least one Jewish congregation, Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park.

When Rabbi Joseph Klein of Temple Emanu-El, who has participated in MOSES for a few years, asked for volunteers who could imagine such a possibility and attend, there were a few of us who raised our hands.

The meeting, held at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit and hosted by MOSES facilitators Lee Gaddies and Ponsella Hardaway, featured the guest speaker Myron Orfield, who lit up the room with enthusiasm and ideas!

Orfield, who looks far too young to be both a Minnesota professor and former state legislator with 12 years’ experience, is a “nationally renowned expert, recognized as an authority in the trends of changes within communities from large cities to small rural areas,” said the Middletown Press (Connecticut),10-20-2007.

“Orfield is recognized as the most influential social demographer in America’s burgeoning regional movement. An expert in geographic information systems (GIS) and the president and founder of Ameregis, a research and GIS firm based in Minnesota, he has done work on local, state and federal levels to gauge and report on growth and changes in cities and towns across the country.” www.middletownpress.com

Orfield also spoke in Troy on Nov. 7-8, in a presentation “Connecting the Dots: Linking Suburban and Urban Town Centers via Transit”

For MOSES, Orfield’s presentation included maps and charts about the metropatterns of Motown from Detroit City to suburbs north, west and south. He said that in his studies of Boston, New York City, Washington D.C., Seattle, Chicago and more, “There is no place more compelling than Detroit.”

We know how racially divided our Metro community is. It is the MOST racially segregated community in America.

However, Orfield made a suggestion to MOSES. Currently, he said, we have the biggest public works bill in history available to us. While the money is being allocated and spent to “fix” the traffic congestion in the northern suburbs that we are all familiar with – the money could also be used for mass transit. We need to get organized as inter-racial community and get financial help from public sources and private foundations.

MOSES also had two strategies. Find out who your SEMCOG representative is and contact him/her. Then, petition SEMCOG to hire an expert in mass transportation to advocate for it.

Currently, there is no one at SEMCOG in that role.

There are dozens of  SEMCOG local representatives. See SEMCOG.org for a complete list and contact information.

Here’s my report:

From Atlanta to New York City to Seattle to Portland, Oregon – mass transit makes life easier, greener, and more cost effective for all of us.

Instead of wasting time and gas in the gridlock of rush hour twice every work day – with mass transit, I could be sitting on the train reading, napping or doing anything else instead of getting stressed about the drive.

Instead of paying for parking, finding safe parking and avoiding the parking tickets, I could be paying for a ride to my destination.

Instead of watching and thinking ahead as the Baby Boomers age with more and more traffic hazards, as we become less able to see, hear and have patience for safe driving – we could all be safer and more self-reliant with mass transit.

MOSES has a great idea!

Please learn more about it at www.mosesmi.org or call (313) 962-5290.

These are a few of MOSES ideals: Justice – for all, without regard to race, gender, social status or religion. Respect for the Dignity of each person – more than a mere respect for life, it is the acknowledgment that each one of us bears the image of God. Mercy – understanding that there are times and circumstances when laws and guidelines have both a letter and a “spirit”. Fairness – the expectation that society’s laws, policies and procedures will be administered in an equitable fashion. Civility – our desire is a society where each of us respects the rights and humanity of others, and behaves in a fashion worthy of respect. Kindness – we participate in the building of a true “community” marked by friendliness, generosity, sympathy and tolerance.

The Ford Foundation writes: MOSES envisions the city and the suburbs joining to save the bus service and scores of other programs by sharing resources throughout the region, an approach the group has dubbed metro equity. This would allow the city and its nearby suburbs to stop competing over public money and incentives for real estate development. “Tax base sharing is the best scenario,” said Ponsella Hardaway, the group’s executive director. From www.fordfound.org.

For more information about Myron Orfield and The Institute on Race & Poverty at the University of Minnesota, an organization which investigates the ways that policies and practices disproportionately affect people of color and the disadvantaged visit www.irpumn.org/web site.

Associated Press Award-winning columnist Vivian DeGain lives in Rochester Hills. Contact her at degainvi@comcast.net.