Article: "Turn Out the Lights, Michigan" (Detroit, Grant: real estate, foreclosures)

[Hanne]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature...9/28/michigan/

I thought some of you might find this article interesting.....

Countdown: Moving to Michigan in 2 years/2 months! Can't wait.

Hanne

[Frankawitz]

Yeah that use to be the way of life here in Michigan but now. You would be better off finding another State that has a Goverment who are there for the people not a bunch of Tax and Spend Programs this Governor wants Us to pay for. We are losing Companies like Comerica, VW and not counting all the small businesses that have moved out. Grandhole told us when she said "You'll be BLOWN AWAY in my fifth year!" Well here we are looking at a shut down Thanks Jenny

[Hanne]

Well I hope things don't get so bad that we reconsider our decision to move to MI. I'm from a town in Ohio that saw virtually all it's factory jobs leave years ago. What's left there today is nothing like how things once were......high crime, drugs, etc. have left a beautiful area swirling the bowl.

[baystater]

Interesting article and it's pretty much on point of what ails south east Michigan and perhaps some other parts of the state. Granted I'm an outsider looking in so I don't know what the "vibe" of S.E. Michigan is. But with that being said after reading this forum and a lot of news articles about the state and it's economy I have a tendency to believe the article and will concur with the author that S.E. Michigan's economy is living in the past and not heading toward the future. I also have the belief that Michigan as a whole will hit rock bottom in about 2 years or so and the outflow of people from the state should ease up.
I know, I know. I sound like a gloom and Doomer and I don't even live there. But think again. Actually I'm quite high on Michigan and I'm saving my money to buy real estate in 2 years when the R.E. market should bottom out (this is tentative date of course will have to keep sharp and up to date with analysis). There will be opportunity in S.E. Michigan again, it just going to take time. And I have the a feeling I'm not the only outsider scheming on how to make the most of a good investment. I honestly believe by about 2012 -2015 Michigan is going to "warm" if not "hot" place to buy and invest. Look at places like Detroit, So OK Detroit is close to the top of the list when I comes to home foreclosures and people fleeing. That doesn't mean that the city will be left to the ages and will soon crumble to dust. In fact by 2020 I bet some retirees, businesses, and entrepreneurs will rediscover Detroit. And realize that the city is a cheap place to buy and do business with a ready made infrastructure to boot. They will come in an gentrify parts if not most of Detroit and make it a place where a lot of people want to live again.
I also feel if the right government is in place that they will push for all types of growth industry businesses and give incentives to those businesses. Whether that is tax or something else it really does not matter. You need jobs to bring the people to the state unless you just want all retirees there. And I find retirees to be rather fickle when it comes to supporting a state's tax needs so that's not a good plan. So jobs it is. And once you start with the jobs the people follow and more than likely these people with be outsiders just like myself that will bring new and fresh ideas to the state. And those ideas will hopefully help Michigan to flourish again.
At least this is what I think.
Here's to Michigan. Here's to hope.

[MIhome]

nice observation,look where retiree's move to then look at their tax's.Bet they are nowhere near what Michigan has.As to people returning and job's?It will never happen until the proper leadership is put in play,and let me give you a hint,it's not a dem or republican.Say what you will,both parties are responsible for this catastrophe,no one else.I said for year's they need to hire real business people to run business,not these pretend business people they have.They should have looked in the major market's for this concept,but they failed to do this,now look at the mess that has occured.Sometimes judgemental ideologies for political parties need to be put on the back burner for the greater good of the people and their familes.This notion has never been taken into account by the "leader's"in Michigan.Michigan is no stranger to bad business practice,and it is notorius for being extremely unfriendly to new business.Until this mold is broken,thing's will get worse my friend's.Now is not the time to be pragmatic on issue's of any sort.Action's must be taken to secure the future of Michigan and her people.The political machine's that dwell in the hall's can take all the stat's and poll's they want,sound's good on paper..what doesn't?But that is not going to cure the disease.I surely hope the people wake up and prove me wrong,but i doubt it.i am any dem or republican's worst nightmare,because i think for myself,with this neat thing the good lord gave me called common sense.

[Blue Grass Fever]

Originally Posted by MIhome

.I said for year's they need to hire real business people to run business,not these pretend business people they have.They should have looked in the major market's for this concept,but they failed to do this,now look at the mess that has occured...

It is usually failed/wannabe business men/women that are in politics!

[and the]

nice observation,look where retiree's move to then look at their tax's.Bet they are nowhere near what Michigan has.As to people returning and job's?It will never happen until the proper leadership is put in play,and let me give you a hint,it's not a dem or republican.Say what you will,both parties are responsible for this catastrophe,no one else.I said for year's they need to hire real business people to run business,not these pretend business people they have.

They need to go down to Woodlawn Cemetery and reanimate Hazen Pingree and other reformers of that era. We probably have the technology to do it, but he'd put too many status quo types out of work. Do a google search on THAT guy. He should have been president but died too soon. He's exactly the kind of guy you're talking about. Artilleryman in the Civil War, escaped POW, successful businessman in Detroit who had no plans on running for mayor, talked into it by other businessmen who didn't like the way things were going, led Detroit through the Panic of 1893 and became governor on a reform platform.

Lets see...who do we have around like that....Ross Perot couldn't pull it off.....Jaques Nasser isn't a citizen is he? I bet Jack the knife would do a good job too.....Peter Karmanos? Nah...Dick Devos? Tried already.....they liked Jenny Twopenny better......Mel Farr?? Nah, I think he went bankrupt didn't he? Woodrow W. Woody??? Isn't he dead? Bill Bonds? He's gotta be dead.....How about Frank Stella?

[Frankawitz]

Brookes Patterson

[MIhome]

Originally Posted by and the

They need to go down to Woodlawn Cemetery and reanimate Hazen Pingree and other reformers of that era. We probably have the technology to do it, but he'd put too many status quo types out of work. Do a google search on THAT guy. He should have been president but died too soon. He's exactly the kind of guy you're talking about. Artilleryman in the Civil War, escaped POW, successful businessman in Detroit who had no plans on running for mayor, talked into it by other businessmen who didn't like the way things were going, led Detroit through the Panic of 1893 and became governor on a reform platform.

Lets see...who do we have around like that....Ross Perot couldn't pull it off.....Jaques Nasser isn't a citizen is he? I bet Jack the knife would do a good job too.....Peter Karmanos? Nah...Dick Devos? Tried already.....they liked Jenny Twopenny better......Mel Farr?? Nah, I think he went bankrupt didn't he? Woodrow W. Woody??? Isn't he dead? Bill Bonds? He's gotta be dead.....How about Frank Stella?

Yeah,definetly no Hazen Pingree's around,Especially in Detroit.Like i said before...no visionaries.

[michiganbob]

Not to discourage anyone from moving here, but just know what you are getting into.

The so called "budget deal" is going to hit people who live here twice: once in the wallet and once in a reduction in services. And even then, it is likely that the legislature will come back again in the Spring and say we still have a hole in the budget. Then what? They estimates on how much a new tax will raise are never correct and always assume people will keep spending what they always have, regardless of the additional cost.

I think we will see more people move out of state as a result, especially those who can be flexible and who either don't have jobs or don't need jobs, likel college students and retirees. They will go to where the jobs are and/or where the taxes are lower. It's already happening in Florida where housing costs, taxes on new home owners, and hurricane insurance have shot up. According to an article in the WSJ, more people will move out of that state this year than move in.