Image via WikipediaI have been amazed at all the articles that have surfaced after the Detroit census came out and I am talking articles in the new York Times, Wall Street Journal and other “national” media.
Most of the articles by columnists and various academics, discuss all the whys causing the precipitous drop in the city’s population through the years to end up today at a mere 713,000 residents.
Many are saying that the city did it to itself and in many ways that is true but what about looking forward?
I grew up in the city but hung around the suburbs where many of my friends lived. After marriage, I bought a house in my old neighborhood but after the birth of my daughter I could see the writing on the wall. Crime was rampant and educating my children in Detroit
There are many ideas floating around as to how to bring the city back and many are just pipe dreams but some, those that are brutally realistic, may have some potential.
I admire Mayor Bing for not giving up and just calling it quits. His de-sizing the city has some merit but he is being opposed by those who don’t want to change or to move (remember Einstein’s definition of insanity).
There are actually people out there, mainly young professional people, who like city life and want to move into the city; they don’t like suburban life and my daughter is one of them. She bought a condo in the Wayne State Medical Center , Veteran’s Hospital, Wayne State
To attract people, the city must become attractive and right now it is not. The services are crap, taxes are high, crime is still rampant, schools are shit and many in city government are corrupt or just plain incompetent; the culture of entitlement is still strong and unionism is entrenched.
The national economy is starting to recover but individual states are cash strapped and unable to afford handouts to municipalities. Detroit
Many are saying that the city should be put under an emergency financial manager’s control. The new powers given to these managers could easily dissolve union contracts, privatize services and dissolve locally elected boards. Many think that this dictatorial approach is the only way to really change things and who is to realistically argue against that proposition.
The only arguments being voiced against a take-over are those of the entitlement culture who want to remain in power and in control as the Titanic sinks. These are the very people who are responsible for the mess the city finds itself in today.
One possible solution to some of Detroit
We recently sold my mother’s house in Detroit to a family from Guatemala Priest School
They have been living in the house only a short time but you can already see improvements to the house and grounds. BUT if the crime around them is not controlled and the schools made viable, they too will move because they will have to.
So if Detroit
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