Originally Posted by
corktownyuppie
I agree with the facts you present, but I come to the opposite conclusion. Very much like the bankruptcy in Detroit is good in the long run [[shedding debts and restructuring city government to be lean and efficient will make for better residential services), the "spreading problems" of Detroit into the suburbs is finally bringing us to the point of unsustainability of urban sprawl.
As Wayne County approaches what appears to be an inevitable emergency manager, social problems which were at one point limited only to Detroit are now being shared with our suburban brethren.
Now, of course, I'm sure they don't like that. But the reality is that moving away from the problem wasn't really a solution to the problem. And perhaps to their dismay, they find themselves side by side with Detroit working together to deal with inner city problems that they've been able to thusfar avoid.
This is a de facto "regionalization" and will finally funnel larger and more coordinated resources to deal with problems.
Ah, but you say that people are just moving further away into the next ring of suburbs? Even that is hitting the end of it's rope as state budgets will simply not allow ring after ring after ring of suburbia and exurbia to continue moving further and further away, each time leaving behind a trail of destruction in exchange for a temporary and delusional "solution" to dealing with "undesirables" who are ruining it for everyone.
Just as Detroit has hit the end of its rope for borrowing Peter to pay Paul, Metro Detroit has hit the end of its rope for using geographic distance to solve social problems.
And while it will be uncomfortable...especially for those who enjoyed the luxury of saying, "Well, that's Detroit's problem, not ours"...in the end we all finally be forced to marshall our resources to rethink about how we can deal with some of our most nagging problems.
Get the popcorn out. The next 30 years will be interesting, indeed.