Blighted Detroit Neighborhood Gets A Makeover

SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - AAA Michigan executives and employees spent the day out of the office, Thursday, working instead to clean up a westside Detroit neighborhood.

Residents of Brightmoor heard the sounds of brush being cleared and abandoned houses getting boarded up.

The continuing effort began five years ago when residents questioned the high insurance rates for the neighborhood.

Their concern did not go unnoticed.

Steve Wagoner, President of AAA Michigan, says he understood. He sided with the residents' concerns and decided something should be done.

"It actually started over folks in the community who just couldn't understand why they were paying insurance premiums," Wagoner said.  "And then we started to work through 'what are the things we can do together?'"

One Brightmoor resident, Tommy Roseman, was observing everything going on from the comfort of his porch.

He liked what he was seeing.

"It's looking good," Roseman said.  "I see they're trying to bring the community back."

Wagoner talked about how the five-year project has impacted he and his employees.

"There are days when we think we adopted the community," Wagoner said.  "These days, we really know that it adopted us."