from “le détroit” · the strait
Detroit's Rise Higher Community Framework, drawn from more than 8,000 survey responses across 39 zip codes, names neighborhoods, jobs, safety, and transit as resident priorities.
Mayor Mary Sheffield on Monday released a 116-page report laying out what Detroit residents say they need from their city government, built from a survey that drew more than 8,000 responses spanning 39 of the city's zip codes.
The report, called the Rise Higher Community Framework, was unveiled at Marygrove Conservancy. The underlying survey opened on January 9 and ran for nine weeks, asking residents to weigh in on six issue areas: thriving neighborhoods, safe and just communities, reliable transportation and sustainable infrastructure, equitable economic and workforce development, robust education and youth opportunities, and open and accessible government.
The answers were concrete. Residents pointed to a shortage of grocery stores in some neighborhoods, the difficulty of finding jobs that pay enough to support a family, the need for safer streets, stronger youth programming, and a government that listens before it decides. Those responses shape the framework, which the administration says will inform budget and program priorities going forward.
"Detroiters deserve a government that is shaped by their voices, their experiences, and their priorities, and this survey is one way we're turning that commitment into action," Sheffield said.
The outreach was wide. The survey was offered in five languages, English, Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, and French, in both digital and paper formats. Three community organizations, Detroit Action, Eastside Community Network, and MI Poder, ran door-to-door canvassing and tabling at grocery stores, recreation centers, gas stations, and churches. More than 1,200 residents also joined in-person community conversations with senior city officials, held across five sessions in March.
After data cleaning, the survey counted 8,215 valid responses covering 39 of Detroit's zip codes. The effort built on a transition process that engaged close to 300 community leaders before Sheffield took office.
For a first-year mayor working to set a governing agenda, the framework is a statement about process as much as policy. The city will be measured on how closely the spending and decisions that follow line up with what residents put on paper.
The full Rise Higher Community Framework is posted on the city's website at detroitmi.gov.
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