Dick Folrida's dog and pony show

[Rolfsy]

Not rushing to Folrida's defense, but nothing in the article points to him calling Detroiters 'suckers'. He's stating an obvious fact - sometimes things break down to the point most sane people will walk away. Detroit has been a longshot for 40 years or more, and the odds just keep getting longer.

I think what he's really saying in this, if he was thinking of Detroiters as the audience specifically, is that Monster Factory Town 1942 Detroit is not coming back. Which makes sense, if only because there's no geographical reason that the entire auto industry should be located in one spot. Plus, mechanization has ruined factories as neighborhood-fillers [[maybe another reason so many advise against chasing smokestacks?).

[bailey]

Not rushing to Folrida's defense, but nothing in the article points to him calling Detroiters 'suckers'. He's stating an obvious fact - sometimes things break down to the point most sane people will walk away. Detroit has been a longshot for 40 years or more, and the odds just keep getting longer.

I think what he's really saying in this, if he was thinking of Detroiters as the audience specifically, is that Monster Factory Town 1942 Detroit is not coming back. Which makes sense, if only because there's no geographical reason that the entire auto industry should be located in one spot. Plus, mechanization has ruined factories as neighborhood-fillers [[maybe another reason so many advise against chasing smokestacks?).

Unfortunately that message still fails to penetrate the willful ignorance of most of the local leadership and populace. No matter who the messenger is... be it John "the jobs arent coming back" McCain in 2008 or Richard Florida today, people will line up to shoot him rather than addressing the issue.

[DetroitPlanner]

Not rushing to Florida's defense, but nothing in the article points to him calling Detroiters 'suckers'.

You're right, but the writer cannot say something like that and not be sued for Libel. He has however made the arguement that Florida's work may not be all that it appears to be.

[rooms222]

I think that the recession and deflation of real estate prices is hurting the least hot areas of the country, including our own. This is accurate, even if it goes against his prior statements.

Metro Detroit has been through a lot, and has both people, buildings, and assets that are not being used in an optimal or productive way. This includes large parts of the city and the suburbs. Many people also feel trapped in their homes and in the region because they are underwater or can't afford to live in a higher cost of living area. Many stores, factories, and even museums are closed due to lack of finances.

Repurposing the assets of the region is going to be important. There is the hope that our educational assets will not wither away during these hard times, and that people can be trained to become productive, with the constraints of what we have or what we can create, as the numbers of semi and unskilled jobs are unlikely to come back, and, to the extent they do, they will be lower paying and more particular about who is considered employable.

The good news is that Metro Detroit still has strengths, particularly in the reconstituted auto industry. It is not what it once was, but there will continue to be a core of engineering talent in Metro Detroit, a supplier network, a more viable Big 3 with their headquarters here, more concentrated domestic assembly facilities, and the EPA testing facilities for emissions and fuel economy in Ann Arbor [[which means every automaker selling in the US has some presence here in Metro Detroit). These assets insure some migration to Detroit, and some potential for future development along a tangential path to develop things inspired by the skills needed, but not dependent upon the auto industry.

[Gannon]

That night Florida conquered Orchestra Hall...when Kwhyme was introducing the RockStar Economist, he was heckled by someone in the crowd. The Big Diamond was boasting about the deal he had just cut with Matty Maroun about the old Train Station, and had just uttered the line, "...and you KNOW how much we love old buildings...", as someone two-thirds back in the middle hollered, "What about the Madison-Lennox?!".

I caught his reaction...