10/29/08 Sometimes smaller is much better

By Terry Parris, Jr.

Citizen Staffwriter

It’s not a bad thing at all when Hamtramck’s new economic development director says he is exactly where he wants to be.

“I was doing a lot of redevelopment of bigger projects,” Jason Friedmann, 31, said. “But I wanted to work in a vibrant urban setting. A place that had some realness, some grit. This is exactly where I wanted to be.”

He was the senior planner for Macomb County, which is considerably larger than Hamtramck. As of the 2000 census, Macomb, a 570 square-mile county, had nearly 800,000 people. That’s quite a large contrast to Hamtramck’s population of nearly 25,000 spread out over a mere 2.2 square-miles.

Friedmann welcomes the closeness of Hamtramck and the added responsibility.

“I’m looking forward to being a part of each specific project,” he said. “I know there will be no quick and easy way to do anything and I’m looking forward to figuring out how to fit all of our little pieces together.”

Friedmann attended Michigan State University for urban planning. Living in Mt. Clemens, he would drive to Detroit with friends for its vibrant music scene. On the way over, he said, he would notice pockets of blight and density and would ask himself, “Why is it like that?” That question, he said, pushed him toward urban planning.

Right after graduation in 2000 he began working with Macomb County as an associate planner within their economic development department, moving his way up. And now he’s in Hamtramck as the community and economic development director.

“This is a place I’ve always loved,” he said. “I always thought it had something.”

He said that the economy is going to be the biggest hurdle the city faces in the immediate future, however, it’s not all grim.

“Hamtramck has an opportunity,” he said. “This is that kind of place that people want to live. There is street life, it’s walkable, it’s different, there are so many options for dining and going out. We already have the markings of a vibrant city.”

To improve what Hamtramck already has, Friedmann hopes to establish better transit options for the residents. He wants to connect Hamtramck to Detroit’s potential 400 miles of non-motorized trails and he wants to reestablish the SMART shuttle system and connect it to Wayne State University and the University of Detroit.

“We have a lot of things for people to do,” he said. “A quick connection to and from the city will help bring people in.”

He said there are also a lot of industrial opportunities as the GM Volt plant begins to take shape. Through data collected by Wayne County and the City of Detroit about burgeoning industries in the area, Friedmann said he could take that, see what works and apply it to Hamtramck.

“There are big opportunities here,” he said. “There is so much land available, either vacant or redevelopment opportunities, that we need to look at.”

He understands the economy is strapped, but he believes Hamtramck has the ability to grow its jobs and population with its underdeveloped properties.

Marketing Hamtramck is another thing he thinks is lacking and plans to improve while director.

“Hamtramck is like Brooklyn, or the Mission (in San Francisco) or Chicago’s Wicker Park,” he said. “But we need to market that better. We need to let people know that Hamtramck is the place to be.”