Requirements for a World's Fair in the United States.

Wherebouts?

Where do you put a Fair if you're going to do one? One might think of the traditional destinations for large conventions and tradeshows...Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago. These locales have excellent transporation service, plenty of hotels and restaurants and they are used to the flow of people and commerce. But if we look at having a regional impact, we need to put the fair where it will do the most good for the local economy.

You still need several key factors in selecting a site - excellent transportation access by rail, highway, air and water. The fair requires an extraordinary amount of equipment, building materials and personnel. Visitors to the fair also need hotel space, food and entertainment. Traditionally, when a fair location is announced a flood of smaller business march in to begin preparation in the surrounding area to meet the need. The biggest question is space. A fair takes up a large contiguouus area. Many large cities don't have the available land to support such a venue. Unlike the Olympics where athletes can be housed off-site in the Olympic Village, the fair needs the largest portion of its footprint to be in a single securable space. This presents a challenge for cities with tight quarters.

The best answer is to place the fair in a city that already has the internal infrastructure for transportation of material and people but also has undeveloped or underdeveloped land where a large block can be designated as the fairgrounds.

Detroit is that city.

"It must be said that Detroit, is singular among large U.S. cities in terms of its extreme combination of continual, precipitous decline, civic mismanagement, corruption and systemic labor issues. Most big cities have those issues, but few have had so many for so long. They have contributed to a massive population exodus (Detroit went from 1.85 million residents in 1950 to an estimated 701,475 today), making it nearly impossible for the Motor City to jump-start growth." Time Magazine August 5, 2013

Detroit is waiting for a good idea. I believe the World's Fair will be part of it.

Ford and GM specifically were frequently competing for attention at the World's Fairs. The most profound exhibit at a World's Fair was the 1939 New York World's Fair General Motors Exhibit - Futurama. It portrayed the futuristic world of 1960 with interstate highways and towering skyscrapers.

There is an on-going push among Detroit's more famous natives to bring business back. Recently Kid Rock purchased the brand - "Made In Detroit" to promote his home city. According to Time Magazine, "Detroit is going bankrupt at a time when it actually has a viable plan for growth,...with businesses relocating downtown [and the] riverfront area being re-developed and medical facilities expanding.18

A World's Fair in Detroit would create an immediate demand for 10 to 20 thousand workers over a two to three year period. Architects and construction firms that have been idle can band together to build the infrastructure and physical buildings. Every facet of local government and business will be jolted into action.

Once the Fair begins, two to three thousand people will be employed directly by the Fair and many thousands more by the local community hospitality providers. New businesses will blossom and the Fair will draw many skilled laborers back to Detroit.

Quite a contrast from as little as 60 years ago when Detriot was the richest city in the country and perhaps the world.

Why Detroit? Detroit needs some love - now. The best reason to host a World's Fair there is the big 3 auto manufacturers. These companies have shown amazing resilience and would love more than anything to see Detroit on its feet again. American auto makers have a long standing history with World's Fairs, participating with impressive pavilions since the 1930's, yet there has never been a World's Fair in their own backyard. Supporting a Fair in Detroit would provide the automakers a way to give back to the city that helped builid their companies.