Former Calgarian bullish on Detroit
Bike shop owner sees great potential in city
The way Calgary native Zak Pashak sees it, there are two sides to Detroit.
On the one hand, there is poverty, unemployment and abandoned homes. Factories sit deserted, buildings are crumbling. The Motor City — once the bustling symbol of America’s machine age — is a metropolis in financial decline.
But there is also extreme optimism, Pashak suggests, fuelled in part by entrepreneurs inspired to help change Detroit’s fortunes and bring a sense of urban renewal to its beleaguered streets.
“It’s kind of a tale of two cities here. There are people facing hard times and it’s going to take a lot to change that,” he said.
“But there is also a sense that this is a city where people will figure out what new urbanism can do. We can fix our broken cities across North America. People are coming back to Detroit: They want to take on the challenges and make it great again.”
Pashak, founder of Calgary’s popular Sled Island music festival, moved to the eastern city two years ago to launch Detroit Bikes, a bicycle manufacturing business.
He bought a 50,000-square-foot factory, hired 15 people and plans to sell casual city bikes for less than $500, both online and through independent retailers.
Some considered it a surprising place to launch a two-wheeled enterprise. Why Detroit — a municipality that has lost a quarter million of its residents since 2000?
It was a pragmatic decision in some ways, he admits. Real estate is cheap, but the city holds other alluring factors. “There are talented people here looking for work. And the location as a shipping hub is fantastic and will only improve in the next decade,” said Pashak.
Detroit’s history as a manufacturing mecca — particularly when it comes to transportation — doesn’t hurt either, he noted.
“Detroit did manufacture bicycles before cars and also made ships. It was a hub, not just for cars but all kinds of things. There is comfort in ideas of the past and I think it ties in nicely with the idea of a bicycle.”
The city’s troubles have been rising for many painful decades, culminating in Thursday’s historic bankruptcy filing.
The news —while indeed troubling — doesn’t mean residents are wallowing in despair, said Pashak, who argues many see it as an opportunity to embrace change and forge a different path for future generations.
“The mood is actually pretty positive. People see this as a step forward. It’s a chance for the city to get its house in order, to make a break with how things have been and restructure.”
In the meantime, scores of young professionals are visiting Detroit — and staying for good. “Every week, you meet someone with the same story. They drove out from Los Angeles, or Texas, and felt the pull of Detroit and never want to leave. The city is magnetic that way.”