Detroit, the new dairy capitol of the U.S.?

Nothing official yet but it appears that the current mayor of Detroit (as opposed to the "Hip-Hop Mayor" that's in jail and his cronies are still landing in jail from the fall out) is going to try to reorganize the city. Like I said, he's not announced anything yet and says they don't have a plan in place but are looking for input from the residents (all 47 of them).
This is what's rumored.
The city is like 140 something square miles and has about 50% of the population it had just a few decades ago. When folks are that spread out city services are horribly inefficient. The rumored plan is to relocate residents into fewer specific areas so the population will be easier served by less police, firemen, garbage trucks and crack dealers. The huge expanses of the resulting vacant land could/would become farm land. This helps the local economy, get's healthier food to people without having to be trucked from 6 states away, encourages farmers markets, saves the city tons of money, makes Jeremy Clarkston like Americans for the first time. What's not to love? Heck, local population centers like that would actually encourage businesses to move in.

I used to love Detroit, born there and lived there 25 years. It's gone to hell so quick and thoroughly that something drastic has to be done or it'll be like Mad Max or something.

My questions is this, would YOU be willing to relocate, say 10-20 miles away? I assume you'd be free to stay but you would not have local firemen, police or said street corner pharmacists to serve you. No elementary schools right down the street that your kids take the bus to. No street lights or anything.
I think there's going to be HUGE resistance to this but I think it's the best solution right now. The city has lost nearly 1,000,000 residents since the 50's, population density like that can't be supported by any tax base, especially when almost 40% of that population lives below the poverty level.

People will bitch, but it is a good idea.

And I'm not sure what it would take for Clarkson to like the US... more than reorganizing Detroit, thats for sure.

neon4891 wrote: People will bitch, but it is a good idea. And I'm not sure what it would take for Clarkson to like the US... more than reorganizing Detroit, thats for sure.

There's an old series that Clarkson did in the 90s called "Motorworld" where he traveled around exploring the car culture in various places. He loved Detroit. He also loved the Chrysler LHS......

Tom_Spangler wrote: There's an old series that Clarkson did in the 90s called "Motorworld" where he traveled around exploring the car culture in various places. He loved Detroit. He also loved the Chrysler LHS......

Which only exposes Clarkson as the ratings-whore he has become. Honest people make their fortunes in more discreet and forthright ways; Clarkson (et al), not so much........

neon4891 wrote: People will bitch, but it is a good idea. And I'm not sure what it would take for Clarkson to like the US... more than reorganizing Detroit, thats for sure.

Yes, it is a good idea.

I see problems, however, when high-falootin do-gooders condemn the idea because the grazing areas are located on top of a toxic wasteland.

I'll take my bacon cheeseburger with a side of asbestos, please.

No you move the PEOPLE to the toxice wasteland, DUH!

oldsaw wrote: Which only exposes Clarkson as the ratings-whore he has become. Honest people make their fortunes in more discreet and forthright ways; Clarkson (et al), not so much........

You mean like every other TV personality?

It will not work. Once people get money for their houses they will leave the state, not move across town. The only reason everyone has not left Michigan yet is because of their mortgages.

I think the mortgage thing needs to be worked out, and I also think something needs to be done to encourage people to move (and to have their property razed).

I was driving thru The D yesterday, and it's amazing how many vacant buildings there are. Most won't ever be habitable again, so the landowner needs to tear these down. Maybe make property taxes zero if your property is properly razed, and if not, put a lien on these properties that will eventually cover the cost of the razing (after a reasonable time given to rehab/raze the property).

In many of these poor neighborhoods were some very nice, well-kept houses and properties. It's not right that these responsible citizens may have to move (and have their nice houses razed), but the aging infrastructure and deteriorating tax base won't be able to provide necessary services to the remaining homes.

Flint is included in this dilemma. I'm sure many other cities will have this problem in the future, too.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

oldsaw wrote: Which only exposes Clarkson as the ratings-whore he has become. Honest people make their fortunes in more discreet and forthright ways; Clarkson (et al), not so much........

You mean like every other TV personality?

He doesn't even write most of the stuff he spouts on Top Gear, they have writers for the show. One of the contributors to Evo magazine is a one of the writers. J.C's pay check depends on his popularity and how many views the show gets and how many places it's sold. The US doesn't have a very good image in many parts of the world so if can get ratings by dissing the U.S. he will. Stop pretending that T.G. is a car show. It's a buddy show that happens to have some cool cars in it.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Stop pretending that T.G. is a car show. It's a buddy show that happens to have some cool cars in it.

FINALLY, somebody agrees with me!

I think the concept is great, but I have no idea how it will be implemented. Some people are really stubborn and just don't want to move, no matter how bad it is, or what services they lack. If they start by centralizing schools and services and just cutting off services to parts of the city, there will still be people who wont move, even with incentives and a new/better house for no out of pocket (If that's possible). Instead they will sit there, not send their kids to school and blame the system because 'the Man' is out to get them.

I really want to find some way to make this work.

For those who've been here longer than my 16 years, how has it changed? What I saw through the 90's going down to Detroit was a massive apparent improvement with various new developments, new shops, restaurants etc going in. That came to a screeching halt about 5 years ago, but to me it did 'appear' to be improving from 94 - 05. In general my wife shares that view and she's lived here her whole life and went to Wayne State Uni.

There are some nice area's of Detroit such as Indian Village, Boston-Edison etc. I've got friends who live in CorkTown and that's a great place to be and I feel totally safe being there at night. Funny story though, one of them posted on Facebook the other day 'I live in a real City, I just saw a guy hail a passing cab on the street, and he wasn't even running away' So they have a sense of humor about where they live.

http://www.palladiumboots.com/exploration/detroit

This is an interesting Detroit film

Wasn't Detroit all about E85 a couple of weeks ago? They can put E-85 plants and grow that! I love it when those plants are in bloom, they look just like little peace signs.

why can't they just bring the city limits in towards the city center and leave the outliers to be a part of whatever township or county happens to be where they are? instead of one big city, it would be several scattered smaller communities. plant a bunch of trees and wild grasses in the open spaces- or let farmers come in and grow some crops- and that area would be an instant hit with all the greenie weenie baby boomers that are looking for an idyllic place to retire and start an organic hobby farm or something..

In reply to novaderrik:

they want to reduce the area they have to serve, but they don't want to lose those taxpayers revenues. its a delicate balance. what they'd really like to do is collect property taxes from those people without actually providing much, if anything to them.

What about GRMVille?

Come on let's go buy up blocks of the outer edge of the city and wait for the city to constrict, then get our own township started!

The east side of it would be the rich side of town, you know... Classic Motorhomes!

Adrian_Thompson wrote: I think the concept is great, but I have no idea how it will be implemented. Some people are really stubborn and just don't want to move, no matter how bad it is, or what services they lack. If they start by centralizing schools and services and just cutting off services to parts of the city, there will still be people who wont move, even with incentives and a new/better house for no out of pocket (If that's possible). Instead they will sit there, not send their kids to school and blame the system because 'the Man' is out to get them.

Hell yes they're stubborn. Anyone left in the city HAS to be stubborn or so poor they don't have options.

It's a great idea and it's got to happen to save the city, but I dunno how you convince folks to move. Government has consistently let them down, from highway and public housing construction destroying neighborhoods to the way the city gov't has been at war with the suburbs over the years. You're going to tell some 80 year old woman who has lived through the white flight and the auto industry collapse and the drugs and the gang violence and the Devil's Night fires and the complete divestment surrounding areas have made...what, exactly?

"Hey, it's time to pack it in, grandma! We're moving you to Corktown! Put on your happy face 'cause the government is here to save you!"

I'm an urban planner and I used to work downtown. I'm still close enough to the city to visit it often and I love it. It has LOTS going for it. The people who are left in the city are incredibly devoted to it and the spirit of making do with what you've got is second only to Cuba. But if you define success as Detroit being a place where you'd want to raise kids or retire or seek out good job opportunities, geez. I dunno how likely that is. No relocation of this scale has ever been tried before, to the best of my knowledge. Huge props for trying, though.

In reply to John Brown:

thought it would all be shipping container homes?

oooh Shipping container home with Ikea furniture.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Some people are really stubborn and just don't want to move, no matter how bad it is, or what services they lack.

+1 There are still people living in Centralia, PA, where the ground is on fire under them...

It is happening...

St. Cyril Church in Detroit not far from City Airport. Corner of St Cyril and Georgia Steets, Detroit.
Map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=detroit&oe=utf8&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Detroit,+Wayne,+Michigan&gl=us&ei=X3SKTLahJ8KblgfEkszCCw&ved=0CCkQ8gEwAA&ll=42.394447,-83.028467&spn=0.007892,0.019248&t=h&z=16

Blocks upon blocks of fully empty streets and the other streets are better tha half empty. Just look at Google Maps Satalite pictures. More interesting if you use the street view capability.

Some more with photos:
http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/9493.html

Also look at the neighborhoods near Grattiot and Mack.
I would say it is better than 50% empty lots there and the google maps do not even account for the buildings that are standing but empty.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=detroit&oe=utf8&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Detroit,+Wayne,+Michigan&gl=us&ei=X3SKTLahJ8KblgfEkszCCw&ved=0CCkQ8gEwAA&t=h&ll=42.356546,-83.027158&spn=0.015793,0.038495&z=15

Detroit needs a 'Katrina-esque' incident to get this started. Something that lays waste to a large part of the city and focuses the charity of the nation on Detroit. I thought that day had come a few days ago when high winds knocked down a number of power lines (possibly illegally hooked up power lines) and sparked 85 separate house fires in one afternoon that threatened to burn out of control (or the TV news people claimed it threatened to burn out of control). There were several blocks that had half of the houses burning. The Fire Department managed to keep everything under control though.

It's not just the vacant houses that are causing a problem though. The city has a 75% high school dropout rate (yes, only 1 out of 4 students graduate from high school). This leads to ridiculously high unemployment. The metro Detroit area has an unemployment rate of about 15%. The city itself, by some estimates, has an unemployment rate approaching 50%! With residents not working, the city doesn't collect any income tax (the city has a flat tax of 2.5% for residents, 1.25% for non-residents working in the city), they don't improve their houses so the property taxes don't go up (or get paid period). This leads to crime and further decay of the city. I don't know how to turn the tide, but at least Mayor Bing (and Robert Bob, the Emergency Financial Manager of the Detroit Public Schools) are offering ideas and trying to improve things. Hopefully this is the start of a renaissance of the city.

My idea is to legalize marijuana in the state, and grow it in Detroit. Oil helped Russia rise from the ashes of Communist collapse, why couldn't weed help Detroit rise from its own collapse? Either that or turn it into a giant corn field to produce ethanol for all the E-85 vehicles Ford and GM crank out.

Bob

I agree, something HAS to be done. I don't know what Schmidlap said, it needs to be drastic, like the swipe of a freaking huge eraser to start over. Sadly I think only a Katrina-esque thing will work since most Detroiters are morons I mean they voted Kilpatric BACK IN for crying out loud! They can't seem to stop hurting themselves. I'm actually afraid if Bing pitches something like this it will be his undoing even though it should be the start of his legacy.