In today’s Detroit News, columnist Amber Arellano asks “Will we lose the craft of automaking? She compares the recent popularity of craft making and the practices of urban gardening with Michigan carmaking, focusing on the idea of authenticity in each.

Here’s a few excerpts:

“Gen Xers and Yers — seeking crafts deeply rooted in heritage and tradition — also crave authenticity in an era of global homogenization and contrived, corporate product.
…
The irony is, as this trend grows, Michigan’s own authentic craft of building autos and the craft’s associated intergenerational practices — from tool and die to design — is dying.”

You can read the full article here.