Strategies

After the first public meeting about the DIFT
project, in March 2001, residents and community
groups met with the Michigan Land Use Institute to discuss the project and begin to organize
community opposition. At that meeting, they formed Communities for a Better Rail Alternative (CBRA).

In the meetings that followed, CBRA formed five subcommittees. They are the steering, community outreach, environmental analysis, media/public relations and the alternative plan sub-committees.

Subcommittees have been meeting and active since May. They are working on and have accomplished the following :

Outreach Committee- has developed and distributed yard signs, petitions, and postcards. They have also been educating the community door-to-door and by phone.  Thanks in part to the outreach committee there are over 700 residents involved in CBRA activities.

Environmental Analysis Committee- is in the process of preparing an environmental justice statement, collecting data and research, and advocating for a full environmental impact statement. 

Media and Public Relations Committee- held a press conference in May and has successfully gotten ongoing media coverage about the DIFT in local newspapers including the Metro Times and Detroit News. It is currently El Centro and local newsletters

Alternative Plan  Committee- developed vision statement and alternative truck routes through industrial land, presented alternative vision to Detroit City Council