{"id":1056,"date":"2014-01-13T09:15:58","date_gmt":"2014-01-13T15:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challenge.dev2.formbox.biz\/blog\/?p=1056"},"modified":"2014-01-13T09:15:58","modified_gmt":"2014-01-13T15:15:58","slug":"fellow-spotlight-darin-mcleskey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/fellow-spotlight-darin-mcleskey\/","title":{"rendered":"Fellow Spotlight | Darin McLeskey"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this week\u2019s Fellow Spotlight, we are checking in with\u00a0Darin McLeskey<\/a>. He fills us in on what he enjoys most about living in the city, and his host company, Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc<\/a>.\u00a0
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Darin, growing up in the Metro-Detroit area, tell us about moving to Detroit?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been living in the Detroit metro area \"Kayaking\"<\/a>since I was 4 years old, but my family has fairly deep roots in the region and my grandparents have lived downriver and in Brightmoor. I grew up in the distant exurbs northwest of Ann Arbor, but I moved to the city proper just this last May after graduating.<\/p>\n

What drew you back to \u201cDetroit-proper\u201d?<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Pierce<\/a>Really, two things have motivated me to move back to the city: knowledge and opportunity. In Pinckney I saw countless farms fall to subdivision development and thought that a hour-long commute to work was normal. I was also taught that Detroit was a hell-hole that everyone is either escaping or trying to stay away from. After taking some urban planning courses and venturing into the city myself, I began to understand the reasons for its decline. I learned the mistakes of yesteryear, met great people doing amazing things, and was given potential prescriptions to solve the city\u2019s deepest ills. Aimed with a few years of knowledge and a lot of first-hand experience, I felt conflicted between the environmentally responsible and fun new-age urban lifestyle, and a more agrarian one that could put you in touch with the land and nature. Then I realized that you can have both in only a city like Detroit \u2013 and since that moment I made it my prime objective to embed myself in and endlessly promote the City\u2019s resurgence.<\/p>\n

How are you involved with both the environmental and urban aspects of Detroit\u2019s resurgence?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been told I have three hats: \"Brush<\/a>environmental engineer, urban farmer, and real estate agent\/ investor. They\u2019re related, but balanced fields that often complement each other on a day-to-day basis. At my host company, Soil and Materials Engineers<\/a>, I\u2019m often working with developers and municipalities who have environmentally sensitive property. We perform the upfront assessments, provide recommendations, and oversee the remedial actions. We\u2019re essentially helping to recycle land, which, in turn aides redevelopment of urban or previously developed areas. In my urban farming role, I\u2019m producing a lot of food locally. I co-founded a non-profit, the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative<\/a> (www.miufi.org<\/a>), that encourages urban agriculture and \"Echo<\/a>is actually experimenting with and demonstrating new methods of growing food in \u201cshrinking cities\u201d. Urban agriculture can provide food, employment, blight reduction, and environmental services in many of the \u201cfringe areas\u201d of Detroit that often get overlooked. Lastly, I\u2019m a real estate agent and have been personally investing in the city. I own 4 houses, and about two dozen vacant parcels. One is rented out, while the others are being renovated. The land is in various phases of clean-up and alternative redevelopment. I think that creating better living conditions in the otherwise \u201cdistressed areas\u201d of the city can cause pockets to flourish, and connecting these isolated pockets will gradually lift larger neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Tell us more about your host company, Soil and Materials Engineers. What is an interesting project you are working on now?<\/b><\/p>\n

Within the City, we get a lot \"drill_baby_drill\"<\/a>of work when developers come across the unexpected \u2013 drums, hydrocarbon smells, discolored soil, etc. We\u2019re generally the first to respond, interpret the issues, and recommend a solution.\u00a0 Sometimes we\u2019re working with developers from the beginning, and we can help them interpret environmental concerns and plan for them. In the ideal situation, we can support them in finding tax credits, Brownfield grants, or alternative solutions, which can improve their bottom line. My work is totally different every day. I\u2019ll be writing reports one day and drilling 40 foot soil samples in 10 degree weather the next. I travel all over the Midwest, but am often thrilled when I\u2019m able to work on a project close to home in Detroit.<\/p>\n

What do you like most about the team challenges?<\/b><\/p>\n

I like that the challenges are \"CD<\/a>both flexible and comprehensive. We\u2019re able to leverage the wide range of backgrounds to create a very thorough and high quality deliverable. At the same time, we\u2019re able to choose a role that best fits our individual interests and desires. The challenges themselves have varied so much already \u2013 from a semi-suburban retail corridor and art neighborhood to a city-wide biking framework, I\u2019m just really excited to see what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

What are you most looking forward to in Detroit?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m honestly looking forward to creating the life I\u2019ve always wanted. The city is headed in the right direction, independent of my personal actions, but I\u2019ve arrived at such a time that I can not only gain from it, but influence and contribute towards it. No other modern city has offered such urban amenities while lowering the barrier to entry as far as Detroit has. I\u2019m looking forward to showing hundreds, if not thousands of people, from my next-door neighbors to far-off immigrants that Detroit is ripe with opportunity and it is a very viable option for creating a business, growing a family, and simply fulfilling your own dreams.<\/p>\n

Check out Darin’s personal blog\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0and his spotlight video.<\/p>\n