8 ms·

Detroit is such an amazing opportunity for anyone with money. Buy up a shit ton of property for extremely low prices - it already has city infra, power, water,

Detroit is such an amazing opportunity for anyone with money. Buy up a shit ton of property for extremely low prices - it already has city infra, power, water, etc. Install solar on lots. Bui;d a fucking datacenter for pennies on the dollar compared to other places. Install municipal wifi with UBNT equipment and transform the abandoned parts of the city for extremely cheap and reap the benefits both socially and financially in ten years. If you have money to speculatively invest in real-estate -- buy everything you can in detroit. Then get celeb detroiters to join and help back you. Detroit is just ripe for innovation and can become a tech hub with LOW COST housing ASAP. FUCKING CANNABIS is legal in MI now -- build a huge extraction lab there easily and cheaper than ANY other state in the nation.

hinkley 7y ago
I've forgotten which movie now, but there's a big scene in a blockbuster where they destroy a building for real. The studio made a deal with the town to take a dilapidated building, destroy it, then build the town a new building to replace it. When I used to watch the Walking Dead I kept thinking there was a missed opportunity to do something similar in Detroit with any post-apocalyptic show and some abandoned neighborhoods. Even razing the properties afterward and paying for disposal would be an improvement in safety.
- eplanit 7y ago
  In RoboCop, crime-ridden "Old Detroit" was to be transformed by OCP Corporation into "Delta City"[1]. One can imagine a newer version of the story, with OCP replaced by "The FAANG Group". [1] https://robocop.fandom.com/wiki/Delta_City https://robocop.fandom.com/wiki/Delta_City
- codeisawesome 7y ago
  Yeah but think about the optics - “our city is a perfect setting for the zombie apocalypse with no extra work needed”...
- twic 7y ago
  Peripherally related: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16858535 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16858535
rootusrootus 7y ago
Consider for a moment that there are lots and lots of properties in Detroit with an advertised price of less than $10K. How many people in the USA have the financial resources to speculate with that kind of money? Millions? Tens of millions? And yet ... they don't. There is probably a reason nobody else is snapping up these properties. I actually know someone who bought a house for 6K. He did not buy it from the land bank so he might be able to sit on it, theoretically, and hope it gains some value. But do your due diligence because there may be big taxes, unpaid utility bills, etc, encumbering the property.
- bilbo0s 7y ago
  >there may be big taxes, unpaid utility bills, etc, encumbering the property The reason no one buys is actually a lot simpler than that, if you buy, you have to bring the place up to code. Further, the city watches like a hawk to make sure no one games the system or takes advantage of the poor people living there. So in short, the real price is nowhere even close to the USD1000 that you heard about on the news. These guys got some exemptions from rules because: "agriculture". Most people would not be getting that exemption. It's just too much work and you could never change and say, "Oh, I want to build a building there now!"
  - nitrogen 7y ago
    Can one buy multiple properties, combine them, and build a subdivision or apartment community with more modern designs and materials? I mean, if Detroit wants to save Detroit, seems like that would be better than letting houses rot.
    - bilbo0s 7y ago
      Who would you sell these homes to? It's one thing to renovate one home in squatter and abandoned zones for yourself. Another thing entirely to bank on entire subdivisions of people wanting to move into such an area. Who's going to buy the home you build next to the squatters? And keep in mind, if no one buys and moves in, you're still liable for upkeep on each and every one of the lots. For as long as it takes to sell. Which may never actually happen.
leesec 7y ago
There's alot of opportunity there but it's not this easy. -- someone who owns and is currently renovating property in Detroit.
bregma 7y ago
> FUCKING CANNABIS is legal in MI now I tried that but it left the cannabis too soggy and hard to light.

hinkley 7y ago

I've forgotten which movie now, but there's a big scene in a blockbuster where they destroy a building for real. The studio made a deal with the town to take a dilapidated building, destroy it, then build the town a new building to replace it. When I used to watch the Walking Dead I kept thinking there was a missed opportunity to do something similar in Detroit with any post-apocalyptic show and some abandoned neighborhoods. Even razing the properties afterward and paying for disposal would be an improvement in safety.

eplanit 7y ago
In RoboCop, crime-ridden "Old Detroit" was to be transformed by OCP Corporation into "Delta City"[1]. One can imagine a newer version of the story, with OCP replaced by "The FAANG Group". [1] https://robocop.fandom.com/wiki/Delta_City https://robocop.fandom.com/wiki/Delta_City
codeisawesome 7y ago
Yeah but think about the optics - “our city is a perfect setting for the zombie apocalypse with no extra work needed”...
twic 7y ago
Peripherally related: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16858535 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16858535

rootusrootus 7y ago

Consider for a moment that there are lots and lots of properties in Detroit with an advertised price of less than $10K. How many people in the USA have the financial resources to speculate with that kind of money? Millions? Tens of millions? And yet ... they don't. There is probably a reason nobody else is snapping up these properties. I actually know someone who bought a house for 6K. He did not buy it from the land bank so he might be able to sit on it, theoretically, and hope it gains some value. But do your due diligence because there may be big taxes, unpaid utility bills, etc, encumbering the property.

bilbo0s 7y ago
>there may be big taxes, unpaid utility bills, etc, encumbering the property The reason no one buys is actually a lot simpler than that, if you buy, you have to bring the place up to code. Further, the city watches like a hawk to make sure no one games the system or takes advantage of the poor people living there. So in short, the real price is nowhere even close to the USD1000 that you heard about on the news. These guys got some exemptions from rules because: "agriculture". Most people would not be getting that exemption. It's just too much work and you could never change and say, "Oh, I want to build a building there now!"
- nitrogen 7y ago
  Can one buy multiple properties, combine them, and build a subdivision or apartment community with more modern designs and materials? I mean, if Detroit wants to save Detroit, seems like that would be better than letting houses rot.
  - bilbo0s 7y ago
    Who would you sell these homes to? It's one thing to renovate one home in squatter and abandoned zones for yourself. Another thing entirely to bank on entire subdivisions of people wanting to move into such an area. Who's going to buy the home you build next to the squatters? And keep in mind, if no one buys and moves in, you're still liable for upkeep on each and every one of the lots. For as long as it takes to sell. Which may never actually happen.

leesec 7y ago

There's alot of opportunity there but it's not this easy. -- someone who owns and is currently renovating property in Detroit.

bregma 7y ago

> FUCKING CANNABIS is legal in MI now I tried that but it left the cannabis too soggy and hard to light.