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Is there a PR firm behind the effort to make stories about Detroit appear here from time to time, or is it actually that compelling of a city-story? I have to

Is there a PR firm behind the effort to make stories about Detroit appear here from time to time, or is it actually that compelling of a city-story? I have to think that there are many US cities equal to or superior to Detroit in just about any balance of livability metrics one could produce, including cost. Very abstractly speaking, I can't even see it being a local maxima for any particular basket of criteria...help?

graeme 12y ago
People find Detroit interesting because it was once a leading city, and then feel into a deep decline. People like stories of rise, fall and rise again. A city that is merely "better than Detroit" is not particularly interesting. The anchoring bias is certainly at play here. I imagine others contribute as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring People also are interesting in the potential of Detroit. Detroit was founded where it was because it is on a river and the Great Lakes. It has good farmland (I'm guessing on that point). It is amidst other major cities. It has history. So if Detroit recovers, there is a natural support structure around it that will make it an interesting city.
- kelukelugames 12y ago
  When was the last time Detriot was a leading city? Early 90s to late 80s? I'm surprised most people on here are old enough to remember that.
TwiztidK 12y ago
I live just over an hour outside of downtown Detroit (with no traffic), almost took a job there a few months ago, and plan on spending a decent amount of time there in the over the next year. Detroit definitely isn't the best city, but there are lot of people heavily involved in making it a lot better. If the local government can miraculously get its act together, the city stands a chance to significantly improve over the next 10-15 years. Also, I see many more negative articles about Detroit than positive. The city water fiasco that is currently ongoing comes to mind.
potatolicious 12y ago
Anecdotally I know some artists who have moved out that way for an abundance of cheap space - not empty office buildings as another poster pointed out, actual cheap art space. There's a real potential for Detroit to develop major bohemian settlements now that every major urban center in the US is squeezing that demographic out rapidly (SF, Brooklyn, Seattle, Portland, etc). There can be a spectacular cultural resurgence for the city. Speculators are probably hoping they can turn this into a Brooklyn-type situation. Get an influx of artists and creatives attracted by cheap, plentiful space, and then flip said property to wealthy professionals who are more bohemian in their own heads than in reality. The problem is that Detroit doesn't really have that strong of a white collar job base. You can get the broke artists in, but there isn't really a ready pool of professionals to flip to. In that sense it might be ideal - it's possibly an ungentrifiable fortress for creatives.
- Apocryphon 12y ago
  "The problem is that Detroit doesn't really have that strong of a white collar job base." A cheap place for startups to set up shop at?
  - frandroid 12y ago
    If you need a long runway, yes, otherwise you're far from investors, so cheap is not useful if you're not ever getting money...
personZ 12y ago
Most of the stories you read about Detroit are deeply negative. We've seen "ruin porn" on here, the whole water issue (where having a service turned off for lack of payment somehow got cast into something greater). It gives a baseline for a story like this -- and the contrast -- to appear.
- king_jester 12y ago
  > We've seen "ruin porn" on here, the whole water issue (where having a service turned off for lack of payment somehow got cast into something greater). The water issue is much greater than just a few people experiencing water cut offs because of bills. Nearly 70,000 residential accounts are going to have their water cut off through the end of September. Why should such a huge portion of a cities population have their water cut off because of financial hardship? Water is essential to survival and removing access to water for these people is extremely cruel.
  - personZ 12y ago
    >Nearly 70,000 residential accounts are going to have their water cut off through the end of September. No they won't. Detroit faced an endemic issue where people simply felt that they didn't have to pay their water bills because there was no consequence. Now that they've instituted this plan, lots of people have found the ability to pay their bill, or to make arrangements to pay it eventually, or to credibly make a case for why they can't. Pretty much every city charges for water, and pretty much every city cuts you off if you don't pay your bill.

graeme 12y ago

People find Detroit interesting because it was once a leading city, and then feel into a deep decline. People like stories of rise, fall and rise again. A city that is merely "better than Detroit" is not particularly interesting. The anchoring bias is certainly at play here. I imagine others contribute as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring People also are interesting in the potential of Detroit. Detroit was founded where it was because it is on a river and the Great Lakes. It has good farmland (I'm guessing on that point). It is amidst other major cities. It has history. So if Detroit recovers, there is a natural support structure around it that will make it an interesting city.

kelukelugames 12y ago
When was the last time Detriot was a leading city? Early 90s to late 80s? I'm surprised most people on here are old enough to remember that.

TwiztidK 12y ago

I live just over an hour outside of downtown Detroit (with no traffic), almost took a job there a few months ago, and plan on spending a decent amount of time there in the over the next year. Detroit definitely isn't the best city, but there are lot of people heavily involved in making it a lot better. If the local government can miraculously get its act together, the city stands a chance to significantly improve over the next 10-15 years. Also, I see many more negative articles about Detroit than positive. The city water fiasco that is currently ongoing comes to mind.

potatolicious 12y ago

Anecdotally I know some artists who have moved out that way for an abundance of cheap space - not empty office buildings as another poster pointed out, actual cheap art space. There's a real potential for Detroit to develop major bohemian settlements now that every major urban center in the US is squeezing that demographic out rapidly (SF, Brooklyn, Seattle, Portland, etc). There can be a spectacular cultural resurgence for the city. Speculators are probably hoping they can turn this into a Brooklyn-type situation. Get an influx of artists and creatives attracted by cheap, plentiful space, and then flip said property to wealthy professionals who are more bohemian in their own heads than in reality. The problem is that Detroit doesn't really have that strong of a white collar job base. You can get the broke artists in, but there isn't really a ready pool of professionals to flip to. In that sense it might be ideal - it's possibly an ungentrifiable fortress for creatives.

Apocryphon 12y ago
"The problem is that Detroit doesn't really have that strong of a white collar job base." A cheap place for startups to set up shop at?
- frandroid 12y ago
  If you need a long runway, yes, otherwise you're far from investors, so cheap is not useful if you're not ever getting money...

personZ 12y ago

Most of the stories you read about Detroit are deeply negative. We've seen "ruin porn" on here, the whole water issue (where having a service turned off for lack of payment somehow got cast into something greater). It gives a baseline for a story like this -- and the contrast -- to appear.

king_jester 12y ago
> We've seen "ruin porn" on here, the whole water issue (where having a service turned off for lack of payment somehow got cast into something greater). The water issue is much greater than just a few people experiencing water cut offs because of bills. Nearly 70,000 residential accounts are going to have their water cut off through the end of September. Why should such a huge portion of a cities population have their water cut off because of financial hardship? Water is essential to survival and removing access to water for these people is extremely cruel.
- personZ 12y ago
  >Nearly 70,000 residential accounts are going to have their water cut off through the end of September. No they won't. Detroit faced an endemic issue where people simply felt that they didn't have to pay their water bills because there was no consequence. Now that they've instituted this plan, lots of people have found the ability to pay their bill, or to make arrangements to pay it eventually, or to credibly make a case for why they can't. Pretty much every city charges for water, and pretty much every city cuts you off if you don't pay your bill.