[ForStarters]

Poll: Majority of Michiganders say Detroit is key to state's success | Detroit Free Press | freep.com (http://www.freep.com/article/20110306/NEWS06/103060545/Poll-Majority-Michiganders-say-Detroit-key-state-s-success?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE - broken link)

According to the poll, 72% of Michiganders think Detroit is "essential" or "important" to Michigan's success. What do you think?

[Chicagoland60426]

I would think so because its the major city in the state

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by ForStarters

Poll: Majority of Michiganders say Detroit is key to state's success | Detroit Free Press | freep.com (http://www.freep.com/article/20110306/NEWS06/103060545/Poll-Majority-Michiganders-say-Detroit-key-state-s-success?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE - broken link)

According to the poll, 72% of Michiganders think Detroit is "essential" or "important" to Michigan's success. What do you think?

Most of us would agree that the Detroit problem needs addressing. Most of us would agree that Detroit has a huge impact upon our state. Right now that impact is extremly negative. Where we dont agree is on how it should be fixed. Those who live in the city believe that more money needs to be given to them so the city can prosper. They tend to believe increased goverment programs would reduce poverty and crime. If they were right and that is all that needed to be done to fix it then I would support them. However the past 40-50 years money has been poured in and we have gotten no results. Detroit today is 1/3 abandoned, its city goverment has become little more than orginized crime, and physically the city is a wreck. Any google search titled "ruins of Detroit" will give anyone a hard view of what our largest city has become.
I am not saying Detroit should not get anymore help, what Im suggesting is that the state should manage any help they get. Since Detroit has become little more than a zone of anarchy, I believe the state has the right to revoke the citys charter. If the political entity known as the City of Detroit were to be dissolved, and a temporary outside authority developed by the state were to replace the corrupt city goverment then we may have a chance to see our tax dollars actually do good there. The people who live in Detroit now have been part of the problem, so why should they have the ultimate say on how its fixed?? Its not thier money that is going to fix the problems is it? The first thing that needs to be done is lock up the criminals, and yes we will need more prison space. We will also need dusk to dawn curfews in place for anyone under the age of 21. If we can make the streets safe then we can tackle the rest of the problems. The Detroit school dropout rate is ridiculous, children must be forced to go back to school, truancy laws need to be enforced. Abandoned neighboorhoods need to be demolished, while at the same time infrastructure and city services need to be improved in neighborhoods that are still viable. Residents living in largly abandoned neighborhoods need to be finacially encouraged to move into the areas of Detroit that are salvageable. The city needs to be much leaner and much more efficient. Tax breaks need to be given to out of state companies who wish to relocate there. Young people today are more interested in urban living than they are in suburban living, and this trend could work to Detroits advantage. Again tax breaks could be used to lure young suburban kids to move to new, or redeveloped areas of Detroit. For the city to be reborn it needs new business and new residents. A truly revived Detroit needs to be more than 2 stadiums, greektown and a casino district downtown. We dont want a Bagdad style "green zone" downtown, we need truly proserous neighborhoods. I would be willing to pay more in taxes to repair Detroit if we (the people of the state) had control over how it was done. I would never support giving a city that elected the likes of Kwame and Colman the title of mayor controll over our hard earned tax dollars. They are the ones who ruined the city, they should have no say in how we fix it. I want Detroit to be something Michigan can be proud of again. It would take years and years to accomplish, but its possible if someone had the political will to stand up to those who have enabled its current condtion.

[kcam213]

^ I know that Detroit city government WAS to corrupt but is that still the case? My impression of Mayor Bing is he is up and up and really trying to get things right in Detroit. (Remember Mr Bin, the CURRENT Mayor?)

[danielj72]

Originally Posted by kcam213

^ I know that Detroit city government WAS to corrupt but is that still the case? My impression of Mayor Bing is he is up and up and really trying to get things right in Detroit. (Remember Mr Bin, the CURRENT Mayor?)

Yes he is much better and I actually like him. I just dont think one man can change a whole system of corruption and resistance to change. He actually wants to do things that will help, (demolish largely abandoned neighborhoods) but he is meeting alot of resistance. I know he intends to be part of the solution, he is trying.

[kcam213]

^ sorry for the knee jerk reaction. I guess, I'm feeling that if we continue to judge the city by its past... the city will be unable to move forward.

You have a lot of good ideas. About the curfew. I think the majority of mayhem is not by under 18. it is the 18 - 30 age group. Curfews can't be imposed on over 21.

[Sparrow_temp]

Count me as one of the 28%. Detroit could burn to the ground and it wouldn't affect the rest of the state much any more.

[michigan83]

Here's why it's important:

To anyone who has never been to Michigan, Detroit = Michigan. This is obvious whenever I tell someone where I'm from, and they say "oh, are you from Detroit?" MOST people have a terrible sense of geography, so I don't blame them for thinking that Detroit fills up the entire land mass of Michigan. It doesn't mean they're stupid. They just don't look at maps for fun like I do.

If Detroit is the main image that most people have of my state, I don't want that image to be a bad one.

I could probably live the rest of my life in this state without even going to Detroit for anything (not saying I don't WANT to visit Detroit, but I could get by without going there). But I want my home state to have a positive national image, and that always starts with the state's major city.

Bottom line, I would absolutely love to see Detroit turn around and become a great city again. It would benefit the entire state. Anyone who doesn't see that is holding on to old, bitter feelings and is in denial. To say that Detroit could burn to the ground and it wouldn't affect the rest of the state is pure ignorance.

[michigan83]

Thats like saying the Titanic is the key to your rescue. LOL Really? The auto is very fragile and is going to take another hit if gas hits 4 a gallon in the next few months. First off who in their right mind would pay 40k for a volt that gets 25 to 30 miles on a charge in the real world tests, not the perfect tests GM preformed and then gets 40 mpg when for 22k you can buy a prius that gets 45 mpg and you can bank the 23k and use the interest to get buy the gas for the 23 miles you can drive on electric and still have enough to buy a whole car in 20 years. LOL its a joke. And this muscle car and SUV resurgence is going to go down faster than a brick in the great lakes. Yes stupid people bought them when gas dropped to 1.32 a gallon but I seem to remember at 4 and 4.5 a gallon that every corner had a Ford, Chevy or Dodge truck or SUV or Hummer on it for cheap and the cars that got 36 and up were sold out. We will see if Detroit is going to save it self which I doubt it can do not to mention the whole state.

Interesting thoughts, but this doesn't have anything to do with the topic.

The poll didn't ask "do you think the domestic auto industry has a bright future?" It asked if Detroit was important to the state.

You were so busy ranting about electric cars that you forgot to read the title of the thread.

[ForStarters]

I'm a little biased here, but personally, I feel that a state needs a big city to remain relevant in terms of commerce, culture, and influence. What would Illinois be without Chicago, Massachusetts without Boston, or Arizona without Phoenix?

At the bottom of it all, vibrant cities attract people, and people attract businesses. There are very few businesses that thrive in places without people. Most businesses either need people as customers or need them as workers, or both. Quality cities attract a high quality talent pool, and thus, usually a higher income populous. More population + higher income = more public and private investment. More investment means a nicer and more vibrant place to live, which in turn attracts more people. Successful cities feed off their own success.

Metro Detroit contains ~50% of Michigan's population. The City of Detroit's decline, while it led to the growth of the Detroit suburbs, ultimately severely damaged the region. With SE Michigan in bad shape, the State of Michigan as a whole took a beating, both in terms of economics and in terms of image.

Michigan may not necessarily need Detroit to exist, but it will never again be a powerhouse state without a vibrant Detroit. While Michigan has many great cities, only Detroit is capable of competing at the international level against other major cities.