September 5, 2014
Kenneth Cockrel Jr. has been a Detroit City Council member, council president and — for six months in 2013 — the city’s mayor. But for the last nine months, as the executive director at Detroit Future City, he’s seen Detroit anew. “It’s a view from the balcony,” he says.
As a city official, Cockrel recalls being busy solving crises, “so focused on the daily grind, putting out fires every day, that you don’t get a chance to think about how to prevent fires from starting.”
Now, the city’s future — and how to get there — is the only job for Cockrel and his co-workers at the concrete-floored, urban-rustic DFC implementation office on West Grand Boulevard.
Detroit Future City helps shape public, private visions into area’s transformation
Laura Berman, September 4, 2014, The Detroit News