Biking: it’s more than just exercise. It’s equitable transportation, entertainment and a way for people to be introduced to Detroit and what the city has to offer.

As cities and downtowns continue to navigate post-pandemic recovery, downtown Detroit’s recovery has been night and day, literally. While nightlife activity has nearly fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, weekday activity has been slow to return to downtown Detroit, having an impact on business and the city’s overall economic recovery.

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How has the shift to remote and hybrid work impacted downtown Detroit’s vibrancy? Has the pandemic upended the notion that downtowns thrive on in-office workspaces and large company headquarters?

Millennials are expected to make up nearly three-fourths of the global workforce in the next two years, and many are moving away from now-unaffordable and overpopulated cities like New York City and San Francisco to cities down South including Austin, Dallas, and Miami.

In the past decade, the pulse of downtown Detroit has gone up and down like a rollercoaster. From a steep drop into bankruptcy a decade ago to swift twists and turns to return the city’s vibrancy, all for those efforts to be met with another huge drop— the COVID-19 pandemic. As Detroiters head into year three of the city’s post-pandemic recovery efforts, what plans are ahead? And what do the experts think?  

For nearly three years, many employees have been working remotely because of the pandemic. Now, whether employers are choosing to stay fully remote, implement a hybrid model or make a full return to the office, several businesses are starting to make decisions about their post-pandemic workplace environments and requirements. But what do the employees want?  

As Michigan ushers in a Democratic-controlled state government for the first time in 40 years, what could that mean for the state’s ongoing investments in Detroit? And what could Detroit’s resurgence mean for the rest of the region and state?

Ten years ago, in 2013, Detroit was facing arguably one of its hardest situations yet: bankruptcy. In the last decade, however, the city’s downtown has rebounded and revitalized itself, and in the grand scheme of things, for some city officials and key stakeholders, Detroit’s resurgence is just getting started.