“In Detroit, the term “blank slate” is often used in relation to all of [the city’s] problems. It is both a nod to the physical landscape (barren, abandoned, waiting to be turned into farmland in the opinion of some) and the social landscape; the sense is that things here have gotten so bad that the city has turned into a tabula rasa. Detroit —in this blank slate mentality—is a canvas for new ideas where everything can be tried because what we have done so far hasn’t worked. Depending on who’s employing the term, this could connote anything from a fresh take on old issues to a stubborn rejection of Detroit’s history and the work that good people are still doing every day to keep the city going. But one thing is for sure: when someone says “blank-slater”, they are talking about a generation of people moving into the city, noticeably (though not entirely) white, young, and extremely vocal.”