Can Detroit Make a True Comeback and How (Jackson: crime, houses)

[Shrewsbury Road]

I believe it's a possiblity but how can this happen, would it make a difference to anyone? Could a spark new economic developement for the entire metro area and the state of Michigan?

[Coldjensens]

1. Get a new City Council.

2. Change the general attitude of the City

3. reduce taxes somehow without eliminating services.

4. Overcome the ruptation and general negativity about the city (this is the hard one)

5. Encourage investment and gentrification.

[Tiger Beer]

Teach local Detroiters how to be more entrepreneural...starting their own business communities, etc.

[Cliffie]

It's not just a possibility, it's a certainty. It's not like one of those tiny copper-mining towns up North that can just empty out when the boom is over and will finally be forgotten. Detroit is a major metropolitan area close to a lot of other action -- yeah, it needs some serious cleaning up and about a million new jobs right now, but that will happen. There are new movie studios and TV production companies going up as we speak, within a stone's throw of the Specs Howard School Of Broadcast Arts which has been turning out professionals in the field for decades. The Center For Creative Design is right down there, too, a terrific source for costumes, storyboard artists and set designers. As Hilary Swank is about to find out (with one of my co-workers who has been cast as an extra in her new movie), there are a lot of cool historic buildings (and not so cool ones, like Jackson Prison) that can be used as ready-made sets. There are all manner of empty factories and warehouses that can be made into soundstages and recording studios.

And that's just one new industry!

[Shazzner]

1. Robocop
...

[Christoph83]

This would be a great time to start a major renewal process, tear down old buildings, and build Detroit into the U.S.'s first true post-modern city...

[Jimmy_Two_Times]

Not in any of our lifetimes.

You can talk about companies bring certain types of jobs to the area, but well-paying jobs usually require a high level of education or certain specialized skills. The typical city of Detroit resident will not be suited for these jobs.

[kubel]

Yeah, I don't think there's much hope for Detroit either. The root issue in Detroit isn't the crime or corruption or garbage (although those are big issues that need to be fixed). But the main problem is simply a lack of work. Detroit is filled with low-income uneducated folks in a city that has no jobs tailored for them.

Detroit needs to return to its roots. Shipping, ship building, and manufacturing is what made the city. Little education is required, and many many folks would be willing to work for little money. That's the only way it will ever recover.

Once that happens, Detroit needs to downsize. We need to see more cities and towns start to annex (or just sprout out from) various places of Detroit, and then clean them up. Taxes are way too high in Detroit and the services just suck. The leadership is corrupt. It just needs to be wiped clean and start from a fresh.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Embrace capitalism without hesitation.

Upend the current tax code.

[Grenoble_slopes]

For economic developments, these will just happen in the suburbs. Why would business bother with the city? The social problems in the city are too strong. And why would business bother with the state anyway, when they can set up in the south - right to work states, with low taxes, and a large labor pool (both cheap uneducated immigrant labor and educated workers)
If the city's populace magically became very educated and lacking criminal behavior, then the city could change, but it's hard to imagine that happening in the next 50 years or more.