Much has been made about the revival of Detroit’s oldest community but truly, much more should be said about Southwest Detroit and the residents and business owners who endured the down times and depression of Detroit.

Businesses in Mexicantown have long been anchors of the community. Corktown has had restaurants like McShane’s, Nemo’s, P.J.’s Lagerhouse, Mercury Bar, Slow’s and many others that have been there for the community long before the Michigan Central Station was bought by Ford Motor Co.

Credit could and should be given to late U.S. Sen. Carl Levin for having the vision and courage to obtain the federal funding to restore the corner of Michigan and Trumbull with The Corner Ballpark, and support businesses in the area. The Michigan Central Station may be the crown of Corktown/Southwest, but there are many other jewels as Honeybee Market, the Godfrey Hotel, Bobcat Bonnie’s, Octava Via, Momento and so many other large and small partners.

The longtime residents and property owners who have been there through thick and thin should also be celebrated as Detroit continues to grow a comeback story.

David Greenwood

Farmington Hills

Congress, do your job and represent the people

I’m pretty much fed up with our lawmakers putting party before country. For some time now we have witnessed the U.S. Congress at pretty much a standstill.

The arguments and procedures between each other ignore problems that need attention.

Now, I hear there are a group of about 10 U.S. Senators that want to grind the work at the Senate to a halt over a protest of the Trump conviction. Enough is enough. They can all go out to the playground and argue this until the day is gone.

Our policy leaders work for the people of this nation. Their job is to do the people’s work. If they want to do their parties’ work, get paid by the party, not the citizens. Just go home and let those that want to do the work for this country, stay and do their job.

Trump created his own problems by his words and actions. Now he is paying for those words and actions. We need the governing bodies of this country to get back to the job they were sent there to do, the people’s business. Enough is enough.

Gary Collins

Birmingham

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Sea levels rising means trouble for small island nations

If sea levels continue to rise, many small island nations will become collateral damage of fossil fuels and relentless pursuit of profits.

Low-lying islands such as Tuvalu, the Maldives, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands are all merely a few feet above sea level, putting their people and way of life in grave danger. The irony is that their carbon emissions are negligible; they are merely paying for the sins of the fossil fuel industry and wealthy nations, whose politicians have capitulated to them for campaign contributions.

If these island nations and others are to survive, we must rapidly transition away from fossil fuels and end subsidies thereof. Wealthy nations should also contribute to a loss and damage fund.

Luke Daniels

Rochester

We need ranked choice voting in Michigan and state law needs to be changed

Thank you to Freep contributing columnist Michael Griffie for his recent column on the mechanics of ranked choice voting, and how this form of voting would most assuredly have affected a more equitable outcome in the 2022 race for the 13th District. That particular election is a perfect example of why we should seriously consider adopting this mode of voting.

As Griffie noted, there is a growing movement to adopt ranked choice voting in Michigan. While some Michigan cities have adopted ranked choice voting, these cities cannot actually run an election under it until state law is changed.

Mary Jo Durivage

Dearborn

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Readers tackle Corktown revival and national politics | Letters