the GLUE holding Pittsburgh and Detroit together
Formation of GLUE – the Great Lakes Urban Exchange network is a happy new news item. Founders Abby Wilson and Sarah Szurpicki are of Pittsburgh and Detroit respectively. The purpose of this organization is to foster and support online networking and help to build regional identity and share information among young urban leaders in the Great Lakes region.
A temporary blog page is available here while the full site is under development:
http://gluespace.wordpress.com/
Pittsburgh and Detroit have always had some unique connections going back historically. The French and British contended for and occupied each location at varying points in history. Industrialization drew the two metropoli together – with a heavy exchange of ideas. Pittsburgh industrialist J.B. Ford, for example, formed a chemcical manufacturing corporation in Wyandotte, Michigan, a community 14 miles south of Detroit and located on the Detroit River.
For the past several decades Pittsburgh has pulled ahead of Detroit in many crucial respects. One is better coordination of urban redevelopment and revitalization activities in Pittsburgh versus Detroit. This may be thanked to its relatively smaller size. A higher level of cooperation of civic, business, and philanthropic leaders in Pittsburgh has led to positive effects. Detroit is just starting to benefit from such a level of coordination.
Another other claim to fame Pittsburgh has is the presence of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. This group has been a leader advoacting for historic preservation efforts. With a sizable staff and annual budget of over a million dollars, this group has grown in stature and influence, serving all of Allegheny County and reaching into other major metropolitan areas such as Cleveland.
We greet GLUE with great hope and optimism, and offer wishes of prosperity and success. The great cities of Pittsburgh and Detroit deserve an organization of this nature. And, we hope as Robert Browning put so eloquently, “the best is yet to be”!