Is Detroit the worst city in the country?

[MidTownMs]

Well this thread is different than what I am used to posting but here goes.

I was just wondering is Detroit the worst city in the US?

I try to post positive thoughts and others respond with negatively slanted comments as if they can't think positively about The Great Detroit?

I was asked a similar question in an interview by Channel 7's Detroit 2020, here's my response. http://detroit2020.com/2012/10/05/ou...t-at-its-best/

So I was wondering are images like this only in Detroit!

Strong..Make up your mind...is Detroit a great place or the worse place. It can't be both. Why have you all of a sudden flipped the script on your feelings about Detroit. Is it because you did not get the response you desired with your first statement? So which one is it? Reality or Fantasy?

[Strong]

First of all, I was just asking and let me go on record, I love Detroit and think that its a great city, has great and beautiful people, and is getting better. However no way can I overlook our many problems. So I haven't flipped the script at all and I got many threads coming that highlight the positive sides of our city.

Strong..Make up your mind...is Detroit a great place or the worse place. It can't be both. Why have you all of a sudden flipped the script on your feelings about Detroit. Is it because you did not get the response you desired with your first statement? So which one is it? Reality or Fantasy?

[professorscott]

This is an interesting thread but I think the question is overly broad and it would be more helpful to break it down. I would propose the following questions, and in some cases I have a strong opinion:

1. Does Detroit have the worst crime problem among mid size cities? I think not. It's bad, but not the worst.

2. Is metro Detroit the most dysfunctional region in America? Absolutely yes. Thank our state constitution with its ridiculous "home rule", and the racial politics of the last forty years.

3. Does Detroit have the worst schools? Not at all. Some good, some frightful, on a par with other big cities.

4. Does Detroit have the worst neighborhoods? Not at all; but Detroit perhaps has more of its overall land mass swallowed by blight and abandonment than any other mid major city.

5. Does Detroit have the worst transportation? Both for the city and the region, yes; and there's not even a close second. Our roads are crumbling and our transit would be embarrassing to a third-world mayor.

There are parts of civic life where Detroit isn't bad at all, city or region: libraries, parks, museums, access to good live music, etc. But I think if we want to improve things, it is helpful to focus on our biggest problems a la Pareto, rather than just gripe about how bad we are overall. We're not bad overall; we're bad at certain critical things.

[iheartthed]

this is an interesting thread but i think the question is overly broad and it would be more helpful to break it down. I would propose the following questions, and in some cases i have a strong opinion:

1. Does detroit have the worst crime problem among mid size cities? I think not. It's bad, but not the worst.

2. Is metro detroit the most dysfunctional region in america? Absolutely yes. Thank our state constitution with its ridiculous "home rule", and the racial politics of the last forty years.

3. Does detroit have the worst schools? Not at all. Some good, some frightful, on a par with other big cities.

4. Does detroit have the worst neighborhoods? Not at all; but detroit perhaps has more of its overall land mass swallowed by blight and abandonment than any other mid major city.

5. Does detroit have the worst transportation? Both for the city and the region, yes; and there's not even a close second. Our roads are crumbling and our transit would be embarrassing to a third-world mayor.

There are parts of civic life where detroit isn't bad at all, city or region: Libraries, parks, museums, access to good live music, etc. But i think if we want to improve things, it is helpful to focus on our biggest problems a la pareto, rather than just gripe about how bad we are overall. We're not bad overall; we're bad at certain critical things.

iawtc.....

[De'troiter]

This is an interesting thread but I think the question is overly broad and it would be more helpful to break it down. I would propose the following questions, and in some cases I have a strong opinion:

2. Is metro Detroit the most dysfunctional region in America? Absolutely yes. Thank our state constitution with its ridiculous "home rule", and the racial politics of the last forty years.

I think that it is important to acknowledge that racial politics have been used for far longer than the last forty years. Detroit has never been a Utopia for race-relations. From its establishment as Fort Detroit there was fighting between races [[Native People vs White). Beyond those fights, Blacks were not recieved with open arms either, hence the 3 documented riots [[1863, 1943, 1967) and the numerous undocumented tactics used against Blacks. People always describe Detroit as this absolute paradise before Coleman Young was elected. While that may be true for Whites, that was not the reality for thousands of Blacks who were force to live in an unequal city.

It really says something about Detroit of 'Ole, when Charlie LeDeuff's own Grandparents moved to Detroit from Lousiana, built a house in a white neighborhood, and never told their children that they were actually Black, because of fear of the backlash from their "Friendly" White Detroit neighbors. What about Dr. Ossian Sweet or the 1st Black child at Bagley Elementary is the early 1960s who was taunted, threatened and harrassed by White Adult Parents? Talk about Racial Politics. The problem goes far beyond the past 40 years.

[Honky Tonk]

Not to start the 2012 riots, but there was a lot of backlash agianst whites by blacks as well. Which is why you have such a population shift, and Detroit is what it is today.

[De'troiter]

Not to start the 2012 riots, but there was a lot of backlash agianst whites by blacks as well. Which is why you have such a population shift, and Detroit is what it is today.

Lol...I agree with you Friend, but how long could we actually expect someone to continue to go along with the rules of a system, when the people who wrote the rules didn't follow them? I do not believe the riots helped Detroit as a whole, but I do believe it got the attention of the "Powers that Were."

Here's something else to ponder, if Blacks tried to co-exist and live amongst Whites in the City despite all of the hardships that they had to endure from the White Community at the time, why couldn't Whites have done the same and try to co-exist amongst Blacks? Detroit is what it is today, because Whites gave Blacks a reason to backlash. Black people did not just wake up in 1967 with the idea to lashed-out against the system for no reason. There is a cause and effect to everything that occurs.

I believe this region most come together racially in order to succeed, but it just disturbs me when I hear people talk about Detroit before the last 40years as this sort of Magic Kingdom. None of that flies when I know for a fact that, that was not the case. My own Black elderly Grandmother was pelted by rocks for walking down E. 7mile in an White exclusive neighborhood, despite the fact the she was 50%+ White, and was told not to go in that neighborhood when she told the police in the late 1950s/early 1960s. If we are gonna discuss the facts, lets discuss ALL of the facts.

[GUSHI]

I been called plenty of different names by black folk, including honky, cracker, whitey etc, you need to stop blaming white folk for the city do Detroit problems, both white and black fucked it up, the only difference is it was in black control for 40 plus years, Coleman didn't do any think to helpmdetroit either did KK, now Archer I really liked Archer.

Lol...I agree with you Friend, but how long could we actually expect someone to continue to go along with the rules of a system, when the people who wrote the rules didn't follow them? I do not believe the riots helped Detroit as a whole, but I do believe it got the attention of the "Powers that Were."

Here's something else to ponder, if Blacks tried to co-exist and live amongst Whites in the City despite all of the hardships that they had to endure from the White Community at the time, why couldn't Whites have done the same and try to co-exist amongst Blacks? Detroit is what it is today, because Whites gave Blacks a reason to backlash. Black people did not just wake up in 1967 with the idea to lashed-out against the system for no reason. There is a cause and effect to everything that occurs.

I believe this region most come together racially in order to succeed, but it just disturbs me when I hear people talk about Detroit before the last 40years as this sort of Magic Kingdom. None of that flies when I know for a fact that, that was not the case. My own Black elderly Grandmother was pelted by rocks for walking down E. 7mile in an White exclusive neighborhood, despite the fact the she was 50%+ White, and was told not to go in that neighborhood when she told the police in the late 1950s/early 1960s. If we are gonna discuss the facts, lets discuss ALL of the facts.

[MvGuy]

As an old Ex-Detroiter now living on the Island of Martha's Viveyard..... I want to have my say........ No, NO....NO...!!! Not even close.... is my opinion... What people in Detroit who take certain aspects of life as like Greektown as no biggie... To those of us stuck other places with no equivalent destination.. to US it is a treasure.... The Question really is "Has Detroit come down the farthest..?? Fortunately for you there in Detroit the good news is that Detroit still has something going on besides people shuffling around lookin down... Last time I was there [[2005/6) the Cass Corridor still held some alure I do not enjoying betting my hard scammed greenies on games of chance which were designed to fleece the dweebz of 15% of their bet over normal odds, but a downtown Casino is exciting if only to\ watch the faces of those that win and lose... There are many many cities with all of Detroit's problems but have no fun for the intrepid.. Detroit is to hard core to be petty or overtly politically correct... You can say what you want except for racist insults and brain dead disrespect... It's the Wild West in the MidWest.... The cops have REAL problems so they let you be if, you aren't stealing he wires from traffic lights... or stickin guns in peoples faces askin for money... Detroit keeps its folks on their toes.... You never really know what's gonna happen next... or who it will happen to..... But that's true everywhere.... Here where I live now, reckless fishing is a big killer, bad decisions in boats another..... People becoming vegetables after a knock on the noggin with a golf ball.... You never really know.... So enjoy the raw edge and the river and don't let them get you down... America has sold it's soul to globalization and cities and towns are goin down or dyin all around... So has Detroit... but it's still got it's fun..!!

[Strong]

As an old Ex-Detroiter now living on the Island of Martha's Viveyard..... I want to have my say........ No, NO....NO...!!! Not even close.... is my opinion... What people in Detroit who take certain aspects of life as like Greektown as no biggie... To those of us stuck other places with no equivalent destination.. to US it is a treasure.... The Question really is "Has Detroit come down the farthest..?? Fortunately for you there in Detroit the good news is that Detroit still has something going on besides people shuffling around lookin down... Last time I was there [[2005/6) the Cass Corridor still held some alure I do not enjoying betting my hard scammed greenies on games of chance which were designed to fleece the dweebz of 15% of their bet over normal odds, but a downtown Casino is exciting if only to\ watch the faces of those that win and lose... There are many many cities with all of Detroit's problems but have no fun for the intrepid.. Detroit is to hard core to be petty or overtly politically correct... You can say what you want except for racist insults and brain dead disrespect... It's the Wild West in the MidWest.... The cops have REAL problems so they let you be if, you aren't stealing he wires from traffic lights... or stickin guns in peoples faces askin for money... Detroit keeps its folks on their toes.... You never really know what's gonna happen next... or who it will happen to..... But that's true everywhere.... Here where I live now, reckless fishing is a big killer, bad decisions in boats another..... People becoming vegetables after a knock on the noggin with a golf ball.... You never really know.... So enjoy the raw edge and the river and don't let them get you down... America has sold it's soul to globalization and cities and towns are goin down or dyin all around... So has Detroit... but it's still got it's fun..!!

I really like your comment.

[BFoster]

I think that it is important to acknowledge that racial politics have been used for far longer than the last forty years. Detroit has never been a Utopia for race-relations. From its establishment as Fort Detroit there was fighting between races [[Native People vs White). Beyond those fights, Blacks were not recieved with open arms either, hence the 3 documented riots [[1863, 1943, 1967) and the numerous undocumented tactics used against Blacks. People always describe Detroit as this absolute paradise before Coleman Young was elected. While that may be true for Whites, that was not the reality for thousands of Blacks who were force to live in an unequal city.

It really says something about Detroit of 'Ole, when Charlie LeDeuff's own Grandparents moved to Detroit from Lousiana, built a house in a white neighborhood, and never told their children that they were actually Black, because of fear of the backlash from their "Friendly" White Detroit neighbors. What about Dr. Ossian Sweet or the 1st Black child at Bagley Elementary is the early 1960s who was taunted, threatened and harrassed by White Adult Parents? Talk about Racial Politics. The problem goes far beyond the past 40 years.

"What about Dr. Ossian Sweet or the 1st Black child at Bagley Elementary is the early 1960s who was taunted, threatened and harassed by White Adult Parents?"

De'troiter - There's no doubt about the horror of the Ossian Sweet story, but the Bagley incident you mentioned really caught me by surprise. Has that been discussed in print anywhere? I ask because I was a student there at the time and I remember the first black kids that came there in the early 60's very well, and all I remember is playing with them on the playground, being in classes with them and going to some of their houses after school. Some of those kids were quite well-liked.

I was only 11-12 years old at the time, and perhaps only dimly aware of tension among adults, but I don't remember it affecting the kids, or the black kids being harassed. I'm not saying that harassment by adults didn't happen or couldn't have happened, but I never heard of it until now. You mention harassment of the Bagley kids in the same sentence as Dr. Sweet, so if true, it's something that should be taken seriously. Can you point me to any articles about the incident[[s) or other sources?