News, Detroit library criticized for renovations (Portland, Coleman: mover, how much, new home)

[JD59]

DETROIT, April 23 (UPI) -- The Detroit Public Library is drawing criticism for spending $2.3 million revamping a wing of the main building amid widespread branch closings.

Critics of the overhaul, which includes spending $1,092 apiece on 20 yellow and orange European lounge chairs, said it amounts to reckless spending after library officials recently announced 18 of its 23 neighborhood branches would be closed and 191 of 333 workers would be laid off due to finances, The Detroit News reported Friday



Read more: Detroit library criticized for renovations - UPI.com

[errhuh]

Too expensive and overstated but it's not the cause of the current problems. And if it was half as expensive, little would change with the layoffs. Maybe a year delay for some.

I don't really mind investments in core infrastructure like the Main Branch. No matter what happens with the city the Main Branch will still be there.

[Coldjensens]

Perhaps if they make the library more pleasant, more people will use it and they can help avoid further closings and layoffs. However that does seem a bit excessive. Who pays $1000 for a chair?

[Shinhiryuu]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Perhaps if they make the library more pleasant, more people will use it and they can help avoid further closings and layoffs. However that does seem a bit excessive. Who pays $1000 for a chair?

the bald guy from monopoly

[ForStarters]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Perhaps if they make the library more pleasant, more people will use it and they can help avoid further closings and layoffs. However that does seem a bit excessive. Who pays $1000 for a chair?

I really don't think Detroit's libraries suffer from a lack of usage. In fact, usage has been up for the past few years.

I hate to say it, but these updates to the main branch do seem extravagant. Sure, the main branch needs updating, especially the temporary computer lab they have set up, but there's no need to go overboard. I'd much rather see even one or two other branches stay open in the neighborhoods than the main branch get a bunch of excessive upgrades. I mean, it's a library, not a palace.

[Retroit]

Well, I don't hate to say it: this is despicable and all involved should be fired immediately. The expensive furnishings should be returned to the manufacturer if at all possible, or sold.

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding about how to run a city. From this to the new Marine Terminal to Light Rail and going back to new stadiums and casinos and the People Mover, RenCen, Ford Auditorium, etc. It never ends. No one seems to realize that outside of the 2 square miles of downtown, there are 137 miles that are crumbling to the ground due to neglect.

I pity this city. Hopefully sometime in the near future someone with some common sense will bring some discipline to the Coleman A. Young Building. Ha!

[ForStarters]

Originally Posted by Retroit

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding about how to run a city. From this to the new Marine Terminal to Light Rail and going back to new stadiums and casinos and the People Mover, RenCen, Ford Auditorium, etc. It never ends. No one seems to realize that outside of the 2 square miles of downtown, there are 137 miles that are crumbling to the ground due to neglect.

As usual, we agree on the surface, but that's about as far as it goes...

Detroit needs infrastructure. I'd argue that the lack of infrastructure built in the city over the years is a primary contributor to its problems. Other cities have built 10x the infrastructure Detroit has over the years, and while they saw continued development, Detroit saw decline.

Mass transit is a critical piece of infrastructure, and the People Mover can hardly be considered adequate. It should have been extended deep into the city neighborhoods as was originally planned. Every developed city in the world has some type of rail system to allow mobility. The initial stretch of Woodward light rail should be only the start of much larger, regional mass transit system.

The new port being built is a similar type of infrastructure. Detroit is a port town. The fact that it went so long without having a port is astonishing. Chicago has a port, NYC has many ports, Boston has a large port, Seattle has a port, San Francisco has a port, Portland has a port... Every city built along a body of water has a port, except for Detroit. If you don't have a port, you can't expect to capture any of the income that ports generate. For thousands of years, cities have been built along bodies of water just so they could... you guessed it... BUILD PORTS!

Ford Auditorium was a fine idea, but it was a bad design that rendered it practically useless right from the start. However, Ford Auditorium was built at a time when Detroit was flush with cash and the city could afford to build such civic projects.

You're right about the RenCen. It does not constitute infrastructure in my opinion. When it was built, there was no high demand for office space and firms were leaving for the suburbs. Cities should not be building commercial buildings, there's private developers for that. With that said, the city got lucky with the RenCen, as it has become a beacon of success in downtown in recent years.

The stadiums were public-private partnerships. They were also investments. How much money do you think Joe Louis Arena has generated for the City over the years? Probably an insanely large amount. Stadiums also bring people into the city on a weekly basis who in turn spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year in the local economy. You can make the argument that all stadiums should be privately funded, but they generate so much cash that municipalities will pay almost anything to get them. The Palace is pretty rare exception, but even then, Oakland County made a lot of expensive provisions to accommodate the stadium.

The casinos are private businesses and pay for themselves. I have no opinion on them one way or the other.

I am a firm believer that if you make downtown a world-class place to live and do business, the benefits will overflow into the neighborhoods. This is the way almost all cities began, even Detroit. You start with a small bustling core, and eventually you expand out slowly from the center to accommodate more and more people. Detroit's future again begin at its core.

[detroitlove]

Here goes Retroit committing on a place he doesn't live in again smh

What I find funny is, people down Kwame but the only time I remember new homes being built and businesses opening in the areas outside of "greater downtown" is when he was in office hmmmmmm

[reni]

Originally Posted by errhuh

Too expensive and overstated but it's not the cause of the current problems. And if it was half as expensive, little would change with the layoffs. Maybe a year delay for some.

I don't really mind investments in core infrastructure like the Main Branch. No matter what happens with the city the Main Branch will still be there.

This. Detroit is less than half its former size and still shrinking, I'd bet most of the branches were opened to service a much larger population.

[Slappy san]

Originally Posted by detroitlove

Here goes Retroit committing on a place he doesn't live in again smh

What I find funny is, people down Kwame but the only time I remember new homes being built and businesses opening in the areas outside of "greater downtown" is when he was in office hmmmmmm

Please don't bring Kwame up. Anything he did that was good was outweighed by the bad. He and his cronies no doubt made a profit off it all anyway.