110
Backers
$1,779
pledged of $500 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on March 10, 2010.
Pledge $1 or more Pledge $1 or more
One square inch of land in Detroit for each dollar you inchvest! Starting as a ghost inch and materializing on land in the spring.
Pledge $12 or more Pledge $12 or more
12 square inches of land in Detroit plus a one square inch ghost deed (different than the season 1 golden deeds) with a magnifying glass will be mailed to you, *PLUS* you'll have the ability to say "I've got 12 inches in Detroit" with a straight face! Do not underestimate the value of this.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
The inches, the deed, and a Detroit Ice Potato starter kit. Seriously, a potato with googly eyes will be mailed to you. It would be awesome if you dressed it up, froze it in your freezer, and took pictures. We'll put them on http://detroiticepotato.com and into a DIP story.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
The inches, the deed, the Detroit Ice Potato, and your choice of either the "I'VE GOT INCHES IN DETROIT!" t-shirt or the Detroit Ice Potato t-shirt: http://crazycompany.spreadshirt.com
Project By
Has not connected their Facebook account.
Artist, futurist, entrepreneur, swell guy. Living in Detroit with a fair dose of travel to San Francisco and New York. Working on Crazy Company projects. If you'd like to inchvest in LOVELAND you can visit http://makeloveland.com or call me at 908-343-1981.
Despite the haters, I have to say this round has done an excellent job of showing off just how far loveland has come. Another 108 people? another $2k?! That's great news for project, great news for the non-profits you're partnering with in the spring, and great news for everyone who's put in time to help this get as far as it has.
This project is in the unique position of investing in Detroit using money that largely comes from outside the city and isn't from a government source. Keep up the good work!
I've been bouncing ideas back and forth with Jerry since this project started and I fail to see any harm in his experiment in micro-land-ownership.
He's worked tirelessly to integrate his creativity into the fabric of Detroit. He's moved to Detroit proper, which is more than I can say of many organizers of the dozens of "booster" groups with carefully designed websites, mission statements, and logos. Many of which do nothing.
I can understand choosing to not support the project but what I can understand is why people would actively trash it. Perhaps they think it's somehow absorbing resources that would otherwise go to other listed charities? Perhaps they're upset it's meeting it's meager goals?
The honest truth is there's room for over a million Jerry Paffendorfs in the city and even more ideas. Don't like someone's idea, don't support it but actively shitting on it smells like juvenile envy.
you know what's terrible/crass/despicable/gross? when people make gross assumptions about the motives behind this project without researching it themselves. as jerry stated already, he welcomes direct emails and phone calls and event visits from people who want to discuss what is on his mind. take advantage of that kids, and you will learn he's not a profiteer.
having seen this project almost from it's inception to present, i can say it has changed and evolved in so many ways that i did not even initially imagine, and it's all been been good for the project and other efforts taking place in the city.
Mr. Paffendorf has done more to restore the good name of Detroit only due to my interaction with Loveland was I able to meet and interview on my Podcast many of the great people in Detroit who are bring it back to life. I am blessed to be able to call Mr. Paffendorf a friend.
FYI Jerry is doing far more to help true grassroots efforts to restore Detroit to greatness then most.
Wayne Clingman
Indy Film Wisconsin
hi kate and sam,
my view is this, as an american mutt who loves many cities and states in this country, and now lives and works and loves in detroit:
detroit needs to invite the world back into it, and it needs new ambitious creative projects that maybe, just maybe, can launch entirely new industries and ideas now that the world has changed from what it once was. that's what i'm trying to do in my own little way, and it's one small thing among many people doing many things. it's very hard work full of tons of uncertainty and sacrifice and yes, fear (will it work? can i even pay rent this month? will people like you be yelling at me all the time? i don't believe you recognize how difficult this is...). and i'm just one person working with a small team of volunteers trying to get something cool off the ground. i don't have answers but i have some ideas, and so far those ideas have found a lot of love both inside and outside the city.
you seem to think it's "terrible/crass/despicable/gross" that there's any money coming into the project. well, i'll tell you what, when you consider that that's all the money there is, i hope you appreciate how modest it is. there is no corporation or major investor backing this project, there was very nearly zero in the bank account when we started (hello unemployment checks!) and there is no other job. this is the job! and that's not stopping us from beginning to share with other projects in the city starting in the spring. you say that that plan is somehow off the table but that's simply not true. if you've actually been following along, i apologize if my stream-of-consciousness style has misled you on that (i post about lots of things and ideas -- i have an active mind).
i wish i could snap my fingers and make you and everyone happy all at once, but sadly that doesn't seem to be part of the physics of this world. the only way i know how to do it is inch by inch. i go above and beyond to make myself personally available. my phone number is 908-343-1981, my email is jerryp[at]gmail[dot]com, you can come visit the studio at the russell, and I'll be at the lager house tonight around 12:30 for pj's birthday and the reelers show if you want me to buy you a drink (using the vast inch fortunes!) and talk about things. i'd love to hear your ideas, but I'm not really that interested in attacks or people proposing that they know what's in my mind.
come on! be more supportive to new projects in detroit than this! and if you don't like this one, go do something yourself. you can be guaranteed that if you do i won't be in your comment threads dropping turds on it. :)
i hope we get a chance to speak directly and that you become a fan of the project in the future.
thanks and much love,
Jerry
As a Detroiter who loves Detroit, I too am appalled with Mr. Paffendorf's project. I'd like to echo the below poster's sentiments. At present, you have exceeded your "goal" by over $1000 (with 22 hours to go), and I think donating a portion of the proceeds would make this project less... terrible/crass/despicable/gross. You don't need non-profit or L3C status to do the right thing...
Do the right thing, Internet People/Jerry Paffendorf.
Here are some great, established, respected nonprofits that directly benefit the people of Detroit.
http://www.heidelberg.org/
http://www.saydetroit.org/
http://www.detroitcommunity.org/
this project is exploitative and crass. in earlier interviews you mentioned the possibility of donating some of the money you received via "inchvestments" to local charities or other worthwhile causes. i see that that idea has gone by the wayside. i don't object to the idea of getting people around the world interested in the plight of detroit, but i have yet to see any evidence that you have reached out to the local community (particularly those whose neighborhoods have been ruined by the sort of urban blight you are capitalizing) in any meaningful way..
Very cool. A great idea for Detroit. Hope it brings people pack.
I think 50 square inches was bigger than my property in Virginia! I'm excited to see where this goes.
This seems exciting... I can't wait to see what happens.
I was born in Detroit. I love the idea of buying a few square inches of the city, as it returns to wilderness. Maybe I will even be able to visit my 12 square inches this summer.