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I don't live in the Detroit area but I have a few opinions I'd like to share.
Where do you intend for those poor people to go? You expect them (or the general issue of poverty) to just disappear? No, they will shift elsewhere and will bring the effects to those areas as well. And considering how the poor don't have all that much money, they won't go far.
Also, NYC, Chicago, and the like haven't gotten rid of the poor and the criminal element. They've just concentrated them in other parts of the city further from the center (IE South Bronx for NYC or the South Side for Chicago). The poor shifted outward, and they will do the exact same in Detroit. Don't expect the suburbs, future home of these poorer individuals, to survive this situation any better than the city has.
Also, poor people are still people. And though the criminal element is attached to poverty, they are not synonymous. So you can't just kick hundreds of thousands of people out of a city and uproot them from their homes, even if some among them are criminals. They are humans, and mass deportation of them is some kind of horrible mix between class warfare and genocide.
The best solution, really, is to try to fight poverty itself rather than its victims. And the best way to do that? Education and jobs.
Show us evidence that it can't.
No, but they have no right to complain considering how it was their decision to leave the city and flee its problems rather than stay there and fix the issues themselves.
Anyway, I personally believe that Detroit can and will be saved, one way or another. It's too big to be ignored, and is still a major player in this nation. It may be down on its luck, but Detroit just has too many things going for it to fade away forever.
However, I think there's a more sure and powerful path to Detroit's salvation than most options. Detroit needs to:
Diversify: Firstly, Detroit needs to diversify its economy. It not only needs to find industries other than the auto industry, it needs to find a future that isn't exclusively blue-collar. In other words, it needs to attract all kinds of businesses, ranging from manufacturing to finance to retail to transportation. Coincidentally, these are all industries Detroit used to have a foothold in as well-think Detroit Shipbuilding Company, Comerica Bank, Hudson's, Michigan Central (and the many other railroads that converged at Detroit-Wabash, B&O, C&O, PRR, CN, CP, GTR). Detroit is not a one-trick pony, and it never really was.
Play on strengths: Conversely, Detroit should take the same path to success they originally took-the auto industry. However, they should definitely not focus on coddling the Big Three. No, Detroit needs to encourage startup auto companies and smaller upcoming companies (think Tesla), as well as foreign companies to form and locate there. Competition drives innovation, and an oligopoly just doesn't have enough competition to drive innovation, expansion, and growth. Detroit didn't get rich with only three big auto companies driving its economy, it got rich with dozens of smaller companies and a handful of larger companies all competing for the top spot. This is what Detroit needs-a lot of little industries, not half a hand's worth of big ones (that go bankrupt!)
Use History as an advantage: Detroit has an incredible history, one that is very interesting and unique. As with all cities with their own histories, Detroit has its own unique history that identifies it and sets it apart from all the other cities. Thus, this history should be used to every end if Detroit is to gain any kind of edge over the other cities of the nation.
One way to do this is to save historic structures. The city should strive to save every single historic building it possibly can, from the smallest house to the biggest skyscraper. Any city can build new buildings, but if Detroit is to ride again it needs to prove that it isn't just "any city." Also, historic reuse is more economic and makes more sense. It's best to use what you already have rather than starting over if you're going to fix the city from the ground up.
Going off on a tangent, new construction should try to emulate older structures. Detroit generally has a unique brand of vernacular architecture, a neo-gothic 20s boom city kind of style with Victorian mansions and warehouses making an appearance, and new architecture should recognize past architectural achievements and Detroit's unique styles by emulating this as much as it can while adding a modern flair, of course (it's still a city, not a museum-you can't just replicate every single building perfectly, that just doesn't work. Acknowledge the future too). Houses should try for this too-from grand Victorian mansions, to middle-class brick family homes, to working-class wooden bungalows, four squares, and the like; they should all be emulated as a modern architectural salute to Detroit's glorious past and golden age.
Additionally, Detroit can use its history and experience with the auto industry and many other industries (Detroit did once have the general manufacturing, financial and retail industries as well, you know) as a strong catalyst for new growth and development in that sector. Experience is an important and highly valued property in today's world, and its something that the new and shiny cities in the sun belt lack. If Detroit is to win over those cities, it must take full advantage of this. When it comes to attracting businesses and residents, if you've got it, flaunt it.
History is incredibly important. No city or person can look to the future without recognizing the past.
Build from the bottom up: New businesses in Detroit should be largely created at home, from scratch. Startups should be heavily encouraged to form in Detroit. It will always be the small companies, the mom-and-pop shops, the local restaurants, the family-owned hotels, the little neighborhood factories, that will remain attached to the community. Once the businesses get big enough, they strut around and act like they own the place, whether that's the city, the state or the nation (see auto industry bailouts). They detach themselves from their places of growth, rather than reinvesting in and giving back to their communities, which leaves you with what Detroit has today.
Besides, the big corporations all started somewhere, right? They all began as small businesses, and you can only make big companies from small business. So the city of Detroit should encourage small business, rather than focus exclusively on courting the established big companies.
This also goes beyond business. If Detroit is to rise from the ashes, each individual ash must contribute. Grassroots efforts are what will save the city. Outsiders may lend a helping hand, but at the end of the day, only Detroit can save Detroit. So Detroit must save itself. Teamwork is key-families and individuals within the city must band together to keep neighborhoods intact. Residents have to work hand in hand to encourage new businesses and, more importantly, discourage crime. Neighborhoods must team up to revitalize areas. Local organizations need to form to encourage residents to do what is needed. Politicians must work closely with their constituents to ensure things get done, and to create the right formulas for growth and resuscitation of the city. Suburbanites and city residents must work together to rebuild their metro's core-just because you don't live in Detroit's boundaries doesn't mean you aren't part of the Detroit community. Everyone needs to do their part, and this needs to be stressed by the city's leadership; otherwise, it will not happen.
Offer something accessible: If Detroit is to be fixed, it must be made accessible to all. It needs to be accessible to singles, accessible to families, to retired seniors, to college grads (and undergrads), to the poor, to the rich, to the middle class. Everyone. Communities need to be built as connected and contiguous entities, that stream seamlessly from one another, not as separated blocks or subdivisions, or groups of separated and enclosed apartment structures with their own little campuses, or a bunch of separate strip malls with their own little parking lots. Detroit is many smaller communities, but also one big one, and needs to be recognized as such through the way it is rebuilt.
Walkability is particularly important-the ability to traverse neighborhoods, streetsides, and districts by foot will be very important to keep everyone involved with the people and businesses and communities around them (as opposed to whizzing by them on a highway). It certainly doesn't have to come at the cost of automobile access, but walkability should be a big factor in keeping communities accessible to one another and connected, both physically and through human interaction. It will also be important to provide access to businesses and improve traffic to them, which will thus encourage the growth of those businesses. And it will make the city accessible to those of all classes and preferences, whether they are rich and don't want to use a car, or a poor single mother who can't afford one, or a middle class family that likes to walk to the nearby park to play ball, or anyone else.
The city must also be made accessible in terms of desirability. Schools and safety must improve for people to return to the city en masse. These will likely follow once the other pillars have been fulfilled. Then with these, parks, gyms, pools, community centers, and other neighborhood amenities must appear, to ensure that communities remain tightly knit. And then the big community organizations, events, and amenities, like concert halls, theatres, ampitheatres, zoos/aquariums, sports stadiums, convention centers, casinos, etc. can come alongside these, to strengthen the local sense of identity and culture and provide a variety of ways to become involved with the community. Detroit must become a place filled with life if the city itself can rise from the dead.
So yeah, I think Detroit will certainly make a comeback. When, I'm not sure-I hope it will be in my lifetime, though. I'd love to see it come back, and hope that maybe I can even be a part of it, somehow. But I personally believe that Detroit's most stable, most reliable, and longest-lasting path to rebirth will follow these pillars I listed in some regard.
This!!!
When I finally move, I would love to start my own business. I agree with you 110%.
No, the "once proud Motor City" can not be saved, but a new city will rise in its place. With Duggan and Gilbert and a whole host of new arrivals, downtown Detroit is already on the rebound. I think that decent neighborhoods that were teetering on the edge will be saved (East English Village, for example). Many of the too-far-gone neighborhoods will be demolished and be replaced by new subdivisions or commercial centers. You see these areas in other cities: square miles of large commercial buildings uninterrupted by housing.
But it will take time (decades). I see the outward growth of the city diminishing at the same time that Detroit is being revived. Who knows, maybe one day all the poor people will be living in the outer suburbs and all the wealth people will be living in the inner city(?).
I don't live in the Detroit area but I have a few opinions I'd like to share. Where do you intend for those poor people to go? You expect them (or the general issue of poverty) to just disappear? No, they will shift elsewhere and will bring the effects to those areas as well. And considering how the poor don't have all that much money, they won't go far. Also, NYC, Chicago, and the like haven't gotten rid of the poor and the criminal element. They've just concentrated them in other parts of the city further from the center (IE South Bronx for NYC or the South Side for Chicago). The poor shifted outward, and they will do the exact same in Detroit. Don't expect the suburbs, future home of these poorer individuals, to survive this situation any better than the city has.Also, poor people are still people. And though the criminal element is attached to poverty, they are not synonymous. So you can't just kick hundreds of thousands of people out of a city and uproot them from their homes, even if some among them are criminals. They are humans, and mass deportation of them is some kind of horrible mix between class warfare and genocide.The best solution, really, is to try to fight poverty itself rather than its victims. And the best way to do that? Education and jobs.
Poor people will live the city for surrounding cities or leaving the state all together. By doing so the poverty is spread out rather than concentrated in one city. The extreme decline in Detroit stems from making the poor constitute a large part of the city. I do not support forcing anybody out – what I say is that Detroit most walk a path of gentrification and gentrification means in part displacement of some of the poor but of course not all of them. It is also means that some of the poor will find jobs and not be extremely poor anymore. I do not support uprooting them from their homes – but with rising house and land prices some people will leave the city because they cannot afford living there anymore.
I do care for the poor – but poverty in United States could have been solved by the federal government years and years ago but instead they have continued to fight wars abroad, throw money on the defense industry, out-sourced jobs to Asia and supported predatory and unsafe banking. The federal government is much worse than Detroit – but the difference is that people don’t leave United States. As you may understand - education is worth less and less in Today’s society because of gains in technological and management advancements. A college degree is the new high school diploma and plenty of more jobs will leave Western world for third world countries – were salaries are cheap or just be replaced by technology. These “I work at Wal-Mart making nothing after college” will be “I receive only food stamps and live in my parents basement after college”
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Your ideas
What you argue for is a diversified but rather local small economy and community organizing including saving historical district. This kind of business will come but they can only develop if one makes it possible for them to develop with a high level of security, low taxes and high property values (created artificially). Most small industries, retail and shops come with a strong middle class that have the know-how and the capital to invest. Not all people are fit to run their own business or would or can take the risk of invest in a business. What was great with the industrial age (before it was shipped to China) was that it was not only very profitable but working-class people would receive good salaries and benefits.
The third world is full of small businesses but they are seldom enough to feed the family. This liberal dream of mom-and-pop shops is a liberal daydream. Such shops are very seldom profitable other than in middle class areas, where people can afford paying over-prices for food or groceries. I have a few of them where I live but the medium salary is also 70K or more and they are also very central with a high turn-over. My parents has one small deli in their suburban middle-class neighborhood – it had to struggle for years but with rising house prices and more and more upper-middle class people, which can afford skipping the mall for local produced deli products – it has turned into a profitable business.
Detroit could build all these magnificent villa and houses because people could afford doing so and when people with money left – it all went to down. So, one should try to get these people come back or at least try to get people which works for little money (Latin-Americans) come. Detroit is just a mirror of late-modern United States and Western Civilization has a whole. Everybody is running to zero except the rich and upper middle class.
The solve the problem in Detroit you have to look into reality and the reality is that it is a fight over those people with good pay-checks and in the reality it means that the poor (and the growing number of people who goes from the middle class to poverty) will be deserted. It may not feel good but – that is what the political, media, financial and academic elites have done.
When Europe went from a farming-society to an industrial society – millions of people were left out. They moved to United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and European colonies – were their skills and labor was needed. When the industrial base left for Asia people entered the low-paid service industry and now the service industry is slowly declining – partly because people cannot afford to buy its products and partly because technology has replaced those jobs and will entirely replace it in the future. A lot of people went to college in hope of being a part of the administrative class but more of more of them end up in the service-industry which means displacement of the working-class which hold these service-jobs and now the service industry is dying or changing.
When the agrarian Europe turned into industrial Europe – people could leave for the expanded West but were should people go now? Surely, Asia is not keen on a high level of “multiculturalism” (which most white people are not but are forced to believe in) and care little about the struggle of the West and its people. A solution would be to lower the population but the elite wants to create an India of the West rather than a Norway.
From the background of this – I think Detroit can only be saved with those tools that is available – which is displacement of poor people. This is a reality and it is an reality that stems from global capitalism and its competitive society - but so long the current elites is in charge nothing can be changed and you have to play with their tools.
I'm sure there must be some big $ opportunities for the right kinds of investors with the right kinds of ideas re: Detroit. (i.e.; "build it and they will come.") It's like the old real estate adage: if it smells, it smells like money.
I agree they should probably consider doing a lot of bulldozing and re-drawing of the city boundaries. Call it the "new Detroit" and focus more on quality rather than quantity.
The design/engineering is done in metro Detroit. You need to do that before you assemble anything.
Subaru is expanding in Indiana. Chrysler has a new transmission plant in Indiana.
Ok, I was unaware of that, so pardon my ignorance.
Those assembly plants are almost always in rural areas, located far away from major cities and metros.
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