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I recently met someone who traveled to Detroit regularly for work. He said downtown Detroit was terrifying--no cars at all to be seen, and only homeless people

I recently met someone who traveled to Detroit regularly for work. He said downtown Detroit was terrifying--no cars at all to be seen, and only homeless people around him. He chose to stay in his hotel most of the time, because he feared for his safety. I wonder what fixing Detroit would look like. The city is in free fall--high crime, deteriorating infrastructure, and a declining tax base. How would this be reversed? In a time where many cities are booming (Atlanta, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Denver, etc.) Detroit is collapsing. My guess is that fixing Detroit would start with a massive cash infusion from the state or federal government to address crime and crumbling infrastructure. Nobody wants to live in a city that is unsafe and has no quality housing or reliable transportation. I'm not sure what the next steps after that would be. 2) Build a new

latj 11y ago
What makes you think Detroit has "high crime". I mean, Detroit has always been "high crime" relative to other midwest cities its size. But for years now I've only read that crime has been dropping in Detroit, probably largely due to the exodus of people who left/are leaving. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/metro-detroit/2015/01/03/violent-crimes-decline-detroit/21237927/ http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/metro-detroit/20... There are lots of ways Detroit can be rebuilt. I've had a day dream of a group of tech savy anarchist bakers gathering their artist and programmer friends and all agreeing to move in and take over a neighborhood. They have startup meetings about how to start your own startup meeting. They open unicycle repair shops and community centers with classes on mustache grooming and DIY toilet bowls. Tony Hsieh comes to visit and is jealous. But then they have kids and realize their Montessori school run by "Uncle Randy" has failed to teach their children how to add. The sewer lateral line running from their DIY toilet bowl to the city line is leaking shit, there is no insurance, and it doesnt matter, because the city lines are leaking shit too. And, they are sick of taking three buses to get to Trader Joes which takes up the whole Saturday they could otherwise spend being in an adult kick ball team. More likely, the real estate keeps dropping until a developer gathers a group of Chinese investors to buy it. They lure in a big employer near by and build a big depressing mega-business-plex. They talk the state into giving some funds and other towns are ok with it because they're hoping it will lure "urban" people back to the city. But in my heart I hope it is allowed to decay and that the ruins it leaves behind are beautiful and remind us of a time when we needed all the humans to work.
- thomk 11y ago
  http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/detroit/crime/ http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/detroit/crime/ "With a crime rate of 81 per one thousand residents, Detroit has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 12."
eru 11y ago
> He said downtown Detroit was terrifying--no cars at all to be seen, and only homeless people around him. That's somewhat funny that cars are the hallmark of civilization. I understand what he's trying to say, but I'd put the marker as `no respectable people strolling the streets'.
- _jsn 11y ago
  It's funny, but that's just how it is in the Motor City. I'm originally from there, and when my aunt visited me here in the SF Bay, she was amazed at how many people were moving from place to place not in cars. (And for reasons other than "they had multiple DUIs")
tsotha 11y ago
>My guess is that fixing Detroit would start with a massive cash infusion from the state or federal government to address crime and crumbling infrastructure. Nobody wants to live in a city that is unsafe and has no quality housing or reliable transportation. I don't see any reason we should spend federal dollars to rescue a city that's responsible, in large part, for its own plight. And it's not like we've imposed a visa system on Detroit residents, trapping them there.
- thomk 11y ago
  Detroit is something like 95% black and poor, making it the least diverse city in the country as well as the biggest to be bankrupt. People who live in the city don't stay there because of a visa system, they stay there because there are no other options. When you are poor, moving just means an added expense to just live in another poor place. Might as well just stay put.
  - tsotha 11y ago
    I'm always amazed that poor people seem to be able to afford cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol, but they can't scrape $24 together for a bus ticket to Chicago. I have nothing against people who want to stay in Detroit. It's just that I don't want to spend a bunch of money subsidizing their decision.
    - almost 11y ago
      You can't understand why someone doesn't just get a bus ticket so they can turn up in a strange city with only the things they can carry and no contacts?
      - tsotha 11y ago
        How many people don't have contacts anywhere? No family or friends, nobody from the neighborhood who joined the military and moved away? That's just inertia.
    - rmxt 11y ago

latj 11y ago

What makes you think Detroit has "high crime". I mean, Detroit has always been "high crime" relative to other midwest cities its size. But for years now I've only read that crime has been dropping in Detroit, probably largely due to the exodus of people who left/are leaving. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/metro-detroit/2015/01/03/violent-crimes-decline-detroit/21237927/ http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/metro-detroit/20... There are lots of ways Detroit can be rebuilt. I've had a day dream of a group of tech savy anarchist bakers gathering their artist and programmer friends and all agreeing to move in and take over a neighborhood. They have startup meetings about how to start your own startup meeting. They open unicycle repair shops and community centers with classes on mustache grooming and DIY toilet bowls. Tony Hsieh comes to visit and is jealous. But then they have kids and realize their Montessori school run by "Uncle Randy" has failed to teach their children how to add. The sewer lateral line running from their DIY toilet bowl to the city line is leaking shit, there is no insurance, and it doesnt matter, because the city lines are leaking shit too. And, they are sick of taking three buses to get to Trader Joes which takes up the whole Saturday they could otherwise spend being in an adult kick ball team. More likely, the real estate keeps dropping until a developer gathers a group of Chinese investors to buy it. They lure in a big employer near by and build a big depressing mega-business-plex. They talk the state into giving some funds and other towns are ok with it because they're hoping it will lure "urban" people back to the city. But in my heart I hope it is allowed to decay and that the ruins it leaves behind are beautiful and remind us of a time when we needed all the humans to work.

thomk 11y ago
http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/detroit/crime/ http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/detroit/crime/ "With a crime rate of 81 per one thousand residents, Detroit has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 12."

eru 11y ago

> He said downtown Detroit was terrifying--no cars at all to be seen, and only homeless people around him. That's somewhat funny that cars are the hallmark of civilization. I understand what he's trying to say, but I'd put the marker as `no respectable people strolling the streets'.

_jsn 11y ago
It's funny, but that's just how it is in the Motor City. I'm originally from there, and when my aunt visited me here in the SF Bay, she was amazed at how many people were moving from place to place not in cars. (And for reasons other than "they had multiple DUIs")

tsotha 11y ago

>My guess is that fixing Detroit would start with a massive cash infusion from the state or federal government to address crime and crumbling infrastructure. Nobody wants to live in a city that is unsafe and has no quality housing or reliable transportation. I don't see any reason we should spend federal dollars to rescue a city that's responsible, in large part, for its own plight. And it's not like we've imposed a visa system on Detroit residents, trapping them there.

thomk 11y ago
Detroit is something like 95% black and poor, making it the least diverse city in the country as well as the biggest to be bankrupt. People who live in the city don't stay there because of a visa system, they stay there because there are no other options. When you are poor, moving just means an added expense to just live in another poor place. Might as well just stay put.
- tsotha 11y ago
  I'm always amazed that poor people seem to be able to afford cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol, but they can't scrape $24 together for a bus ticket to Chicago. I have nothing against people who want to stay in Detroit. It's just that I don't want to spend a bunch of money subsidizing their decision.
  - almost 11y ago
    You can't understand why someone doesn't just get a bus ticket so they can turn up in a strange city with only the things they can carry and no contacts?
    - tsotha 11y ago
      How many people don't have contacts anywhere? No family or friends, nobody from the neighborhood who joined the military and moved away? That's just inertia.
  - rmxt 11y ago