What would Detroit be like ten years from now? (St. Louis: rental, mover)

[CommonFire]

I've been often reading news about Detroit from the sidelines I never been there personally, mainly keeping track of things like bankruptcy, demographics/population loss, The city's downtown area revival, (which is something I wish I could be a part off)

So my question boils down to this where do you see Detroit ten years from now???

What would the demographics be like? would the city still be of 80% African American, or would it be more diverse?

Would the city be able to stop to actually grow its population or at least stop the bleeding?

Would the new streetcar being under construction currently does anyone feel it would be expanded to a larger system by then? (if successful)

I guess the last question would be what would Detroit suburbs be like in ten years from now, and would the inner ring decline like many other burbs in the US ?

[detwahDJ]

Since you are secretive about your own town, why not explain your interest in Detroit?

[CommonFire]

Originally Posted by detwahDJ

Since you are secretive about your own town, why not explain your interest in Detroit?

Oh I guess i should of mentioned im from St. Louis, a city with less so but similar issues, mainly population loss in percentage it is more then Detroit's in the last 50 years!! and I find Detroit interesting, because it always seems to sum up the best and worst of America,and I feel like If Detroit's problems can be solved then our county's probably can be solved.

[Retroit]

Originally Posted by CommonFire

I've been often reading news about Detroit from the sidelines I never been there personally, mainly keeping track of things like bankruptcy, demographics/population loss, The city's downtown area revival, (which is something I wish I could be a part off)

So my question boils down to this where do you see Detroit ten years from now???

What would the demographics be like? would the city still be of 80% African American, or would it be more diverse? Probably African Americans will continue to leave the more run-down areas and move to the suburbs. Young suburban whites will continue to move into Downtown and Midtown. Probably an overall drop in population and a slight shift from black to white.

Would the city be able to stop to actually grow its population or at least stop the bleeding? I doubt it. Many of the neighborhoods are non-salvageable (although some are). And the housing in Detroit really can't compare with that of the suburbs (except in a few cases).

Would the new streetcar being under construction currently does anyone feel it would be expanded to a larger system by then? (if successful) I doubt it. I foresee huge cost over-runs, lengthy delays, and technical issues.

I guess the last question would be what would Detroit suburbs be like in ten years from now, and would the inner ring decline like many other burbs in the US ? A certain amount of decline is to be expected with anything that ages. However, the inner ring suburbs have taken and are taking measures to prevent what happened in Detroit from happening in the suburbs, for example stricter laws on rental housing.

I believe the new leadership of Detroit will bring improvement over time in city services, but it still won't be enough to be competitive with the suburbs, so Detroiters will still flee. And the crime doesn't have any chance of waning due to the breakdown in society. I think it will take a huge social movement on the part of the remaining Detroiters to bring about change.

On the other hand, as large areas of the city are cleared out of population and the abandoned buildings are torn down, opportunities are created for new investments like commercial parks, recreation areas, new housing subdivisions, etc. These have yet to materialize, though.

[zthatzmanz28]

here has been little change since 1967. I do not expect much of any change in the next 40 years. EXCEPT privatization of education, most municipal services and changing the name to ILLICHVILLE.

[ThePage]

What would Detroit be like 10 years from now?
Pretty much the same.
I remember some 16 years before the bankruptcy people saying "Detroit is coming back" , then Boooom! we got hit by the bankruptcy not to count the drive-by shooting that reached its height somewhere around 2000 and 2001.

[jonnynonos]

Downtown will look more like Chicago.

Neighborhoods will be in worse shape than any other urban area i the history of the United States and possibly the western world.

[ThePage]

To lift up Detroit, water should be free. Also heat bill and gas prices should be reduced by 50% and there shouldn't be any more increase on those prices.
Get the fat tax- greedy- government out of people's back.

[Retroit]

Water is free. Go down to the Detroit River with a bucket and take all you want.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by CommonFire

I've been often reading news about Detroit from the sidelines I never been there personally, mainly keeping track of things like bankruptcy, demographics/population loss, The city's downtown area revival, (which is something I wish I could be a part off)

So my question boils down to this where do you see Detroit ten years from now???

What would the demographics be like? would the city still be of 80% African American, or would it be more diverse?

Would the city be able to stop to actually grow its population or at least stop the bleeding?

Would the new streetcar being under construction currently does anyone feel it would be expanded to a larger system by then? (if successful)

I guess the last question would be what would Detroit suburbs be like in ten years from now, and would the inner ring decline like many other burbs in the US ?

I was there back in the mid 90s for a few weeks.

This is where I see Detroit ten years from now. More middle easterners, fewer Blacks, more Whites. More high-rises. Better connected transportation wise; either light-rail or heavy-rail. Hopefully they will get rid of the people mover. That city needs about a good 15 lines, at current scale, perhaps more if they can move it out into suburbia. They could get by with 5 or 10, which is probably all the economy there could sustain until more people begin to move there.

Detroit suburbs won't change; they may absorb people that get priced out of the city, but other than that I see little change outside of the need for increased self-reliance and less reliance on the city itself economically, which is probably already going on as we speak.

The best option would be for suburbia to absorb large chunks of the city, IMHO. Would never happen with existing suburbs (hell or high waters) but perhaps new suburbs would be created.

Urban farming is an option for Detroit, but large scale urban farming may either be unsustainable, or would not deliver the profits necessary for private individuals to capitalize upon it. I suspect large corporations would take over large swaths of land and use it for farming. Because of the farms, population density would concentrate over smaller parts of the city. I would also put in new public parks.

The city needs to remove all of the blight. Detroit has a chicken and egg scenario where the blight needs to be removed, but no one really wants to pay for it to be removed, but if it is not removed there will never be progress.

The only way to stop the bleeding is to shrink the city to around 3/4 to 2/3 its initial size and turn over the rest of the land. Detroit could run very well as a smaller city the size of Cincinnati or St. Louis, but not at current levels. Between now and the next ten years you are going to see midsized Midwestern cities shrink well below 300,000 (and even 100,000 in some extreme cases) while cities like Indianapolis, Chicago, Columbus and a few others, perhaps Minneapolis or Madison, WI continue to absorb the loss. Detroit could very well become one of those cities. State capitals will fare well; everyone will have to fend for themselves.