4 ms·

There is a TON of opportunity in Detroit. A lot of smart money has already started pouring into the city.

by jeffepp 15y ago

kevinskii 15y ago
Care to elaborate?
- GaltMidas 15y ago
  I think Dan Gilbert spent all of his Lebron money on skyscrapers and Detroit Venture Partners for one. Pete Karmanos for two.
jjm 15y ago
I know all about that city, and let me tell you I seriously doubt it is anything close to the opportunity that exists elsewhere. Just because 'some' money is coming in doesn't mean it will come out of the slump that _IS_ Detroit. Between scandals (do i really need to cite?), poor getting even poorer (which is insane), the violence[1][2], and people leaving [3], it makes it a hard choice for anyone to want and stay. The real unemployment rate is hovering around 50%[4] for goodness sake! It will take years and hundreds of times more money that is coming in to get that city back. Until that happens the city is not going anywhere but down. Though houses are being given away for $1000[4], and stats that show it is really cheap to live in Detroit (really, i wonder why) doesn't mean it's a good deal! If your a hacker, debug your situation. Get out before you get caught in a segfault or infinite loop. A good place to start investigating: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/06/29/the-best-places-for-business-and-careers/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/06/29/the-b... [1] http://www.freep.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/107270448/Despite-dip-violent-crime-Detroit-homicides-still-rise http://www.freep.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/107270448/Despi... [2] http://www.detnews.com/article/20110808/METRO01/108080359/Detroit-will-put-desk-cops-on-street-to-stop-rising-murder-rate http://www.detnews.com/article/20110808/METRO01/108080359/De... [3] http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/24/vanishing-city-the-story-behind-detroit%E2%80%99s-shocking-population-decline/ http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/24/vanishing-city-the-story... I haven't even seen the 2011 stats yet, but 2000-2009 clearly showed a huge decline. I wouldn't be surprised if 2011's numbers are accelerated. [4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/detroits-unemployment-rat_n_394559.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/detroits-unemployme...
- jjm 15y ago
  About the houses, I didn't cite correctly. There is a missing bullet. [5] http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/08/detroit-mayor-dave-bing-offers-cops-abandoned-homes-for-1-000/ http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/08/detroit-mayor-dave-bing-of...
- jeffepp 15y ago
  It's pretty clear you don't know "all about" Detroit, it's nice that you quote a few articles though (especially one from 2009). The opportunity that I mentioned is not in residential (yet) although I would be a buyer of raw land near downtown. There are some truly awful areas, but there are also some really great areas of Detroit -- especially Midtown -- where there are very low vacancy rates and an influx of college grads who want to live in a vibrant urban environment. Billionaires are buying (with both hands) commercial buildings for pennies on the dollar. I'm going to bet they know a bit more about "opportunity" than the authors of your articles.
  - jjm 15y ago
    Well being a billionaire means you knew how to make money from a market yesterday. It doesn't really mean they know how tomorrow. Odds will be better as you have resources to try but everything is a gamble. Knowing the odds help. And so with that, I say the odds aren't so good in Detroit. The market is constantly shrinking. That is fact (see the wiki link). This spills over to exports as well. The last saving grace are the auto manufacturers, but as most economists say the reliance on them for exports must end[5]. For all you know the 'billionaires' will frack[1] all the entire land and what will you have then? Or maybe foreign nationals are buying the land to level it for agriculture, and not high tech or manufacturing which keeps jobs [2][3][4]. That would be nice, to see a farm land back on Detroit soil. Yes maybe selling that $1k piece of land for $2k would be a good deal. You just made 2x or maybe even 10x (if you could) there. But who are you going to sell it to? I've seen plenty of people and huge think tank laden corps (investment firms, banks, etc...) with massive amount of money blow it all for stupid decisions. Including during the 2008 CDO mess. Or just look at the current Euro zone situation, they're STILL bleeding. Yes what is happening to Detroit is also happening to the rest of the USA. The only thing is Detroit was ground zero. Rather than 'follow billionaires' I choose to forge my own path with my fellow entrepreneurs learning from all of this horrible mess. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing [2] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/world/americas/27brazil.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/world/americas/27brazil.ht... [3] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/grantham-says-farmland-will-outperform-all-global-assets-1-.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/grantham-says-farml... [4] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/being-like-soros-in-buying-farm-land-lets-investors-reap-16-annual-gains.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/being-like-soros-in... [5] http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/what-put-the-brakes-on-detroits-economy.html/ http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/what-put-the-brake...

There is a TON of opportunity in Detroit. A lot of smart money has already started pouring into the city.

by jeffepp 15y ago

There is a TON of opportunity in Detroit. A lot of smart money has already started pouring into the city.

kevinskii 15y ago

Care to elaborate?

GaltMidas 15y ago
I think Dan Gilbert spent all of his Lebron money on skyscrapers and Detroit Venture Partners for one. Pete Karmanos for two.

jjm 15y ago

I know all about that city, and let me tell you I seriously doubt it is anything close to the opportunity that exists elsewhere. Just because 'some' money is coming in doesn't mean it will come out of the slump that _IS_ Detroit. Between scandals (do i really need to cite?), poor getting even poorer (which is insane), the violence[1][2], and people leaving [3], it makes it a hard choice for anyone to want and stay. The real unemployment rate is hovering around 50%[4] for goodness sake! It will take years and hundreds of times more money that is coming in to get that city back. Until that happens the city is not going anywhere but down. Though houses are being given away for $1000[4], and stats that show it is really cheap to live in Detroit (really, i wonder why) doesn't mean it's a good deal! If your a hacker, debug your situation. Get out before you get caught in a segfault or infinite loop. A good place to start investigating: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/06/29/the-best-places-for-business-and-careers/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/06/29/the-b... [1] http://www.freep.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/107270448/Despite-dip-violent-crime-Detroit-homicides-still-rise http://www.freep.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/107270448/Despi... [2] http://www.detnews.com/article/20110808/METRO01/108080359/Detroit-will-put-desk-cops-on-street-to-stop-rising-murder-rate http://www.detnews.com/article/20110808/METRO01/108080359/De... [3] http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/24/vanishing-city-the-story-behind-detroit%E2%80%99s-shocking-population-decline/ http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/24/vanishing-city-the-story... I haven't even seen the 2011 stats yet, but 2000-2009 clearly showed a huge decline. I wouldn't be surprised if 2011's numbers are accelerated. [4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/detroits-unemployment-rat_n_394559.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/16/detroits-unemployme...

jjm 15y ago
About the houses, I didn't cite correctly. There is a missing bullet. [5] http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/08/detroit-mayor-dave-bing-offers-cops-abandoned-homes-for-1-000/ http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/08/detroit-mayor-dave-bing-of...
jeffepp 15y ago
It's pretty clear you don't know "all about" Detroit, it's nice that you quote a few articles though (especially one from 2009). The opportunity that I mentioned is not in residential (yet) although I would be a buyer of raw land near downtown. There are some truly awful areas, but there are also some really great areas of Detroit -- especially Midtown -- where there are very low vacancy rates and an influx of college grads who want to live in a vibrant urban environment. Billionaires are buying (with both hands) commercial buildings for pennies on the dollar. I'm going to bet they know a bit more about "opportunity" than the authors of your articles.
- jjm 15y ago
  Well being a billionaire means you knew how to make money from a market yesterday. It doesn't really mean they know how tomorrow. Odds will be better as you have resources to try but everything is a gamble. Knowing the odds help. And so with that, I say the odds aren't so good in Detroit. The market is constantly shrinking. That is fact (see the wiki link). This spills over to exports as well. The last saving grace are the auto manufacturers, but as most economists say the reliance on them for exports must end[5]. For all you know the 'billionaires' will frack[1] all the entire land and what will you have then? Or maybe foreign nationals are buying the land to level it for agriculture, and not high tech or manufacturing which keeps jobs [2][3][4]. That would be nice, to see a farm land back on Detroit soil. Yes maybe selling that $1k piece of land for $2k would be a good deal. You just made 2x or maybe even 10x (if you could) there. But who are you going to sell it to? I've seen plenty of people and huge think tank laden corps (investment firms, banks, etc...) with massive amount of money blow it all for stupid decisions. Including during the 2008 CDO mess. Or just look at the current Euro zone situation, they're STILL bleeding. Yes what is happening to Detroit is also happening to the rest of the USA. The only thing is Detroit was ground zero. Rather than 'follow billionaires' I choose to forge my own path with my fellow entrepreneurs learning from all of this horrible mess. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing [2] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/world/americas/27brazil.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/world/americas/27brazil.ht... [3] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/grantham-says-farmland-will-outperform-all-global-assets-1-.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/grantham-says-farml... [4] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/being-like-soros-in-buying-farm-land-lets-investors-reap-16-annual-gains.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-10/being-like-soros-in... [5] http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/what-put-the-brakes-on-detroits-economy.html/ http://wallstcheatsheet.com/breaking-news/what-put-the-brake...