Ideas to help Detroit Recover

[rjlj]

NO taxes on businesses for 15-20 years.

[renf]

Kevyn Orr played some role in helping to establish a Detroit Land Bank that is funded, I believe, with about 34 million federal dollars. I believe they are
going to help assemble land that may be used for commercial or residential purposes. There are some advocates who claim that Land Banks have been very effective in some cities including Flint and K-Zoo. Does anyone know
what the Detroit Land Bank has accomplished thus far? It aims, I believe, to put vacant or unused or foreclosed land in the city back on the tax roles.

[MotorCityTrikes]

The only way to rise from the ashes is barter what we do have in exchange for what we need most. Put some pride back in this once proud town too. We don't need hookers or more casinos we need nice looking neighborhoods. I went by the house I grew up in recently this is what it looks like now..........sad.

[MotorCityTrikes]

You can't see it but on the back wall through the open window is written the name "Jesus" how appropriate.....need Him now more than ever.

[Artistic]

People need to move to city.....we need more working and tax paying people..that should help

[MotorCityTrikes]

I would love to own that old house again... it's in Brightmoor wonder if my neighbors would be cool with that???????

[DetroitPlanner]

Surely this is a joke. All the development currently underway in Midtown would melt away as it became brothelville. To quote Richard from Casablanca, "I don't believe in the buying and selling of human beings."

It is a joke. It used to be the redlight district not too long ago. When I was a kid this area was full of hookers, drug dealers, transvestite stip bars, many of the aprtment buildings would have prostitutes on the steps waiting for people to drive by, all the stuff that would not be welcome elsewhere.

It is a nod to those who remember it to realize that things change over time. It may take a while, but things are better here than they once were.

[nain rouge]

There's a simple way to fix Detroit. Move there. Pontificating from afar gets us nowhere. Of course Detroit has problems. But if people move there, make the best of it, and demand better, we'll get to were we need to. Everything else is a waste of time. Patronizing a restaurant or stadium won't save the city. It only helps the greater city if it encourages people to move in, bottom line.

Metro Detroit, last I checked, had over 4 million people. We have the people to populate Detroit. We just lack the will to fix the problems.

[Dan Wesson]

The only way would be to do away with all the suburban city boundaries. Create one big Megalopolis. Throw the population into a blender then pour. Take every person out of their comfort zone. Let the fun ensue. See if social engineering would work or be trumped by animal instincts, Survival of the Fittest.

The solution to pollution is dilution.

But alas didn't they try that before? A small attempt in the scheme of things, Forced Busing of School Children. How did that turn out?

It's like that old axiom... You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

Nature versus nurture and all that.

It ain't gonna happen in our somewhat free society but it can under a different set off rules.

What would you rather have?

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Author: Emma Lazarus

Or

A walled in city ala "Escape from New York City"


PS. Don't take this post too seriously, Thank you.

I don't see how your gonna improve Detroit with out a reeducation and
re-purposing of the entire population of Southeast Michigan. You are all in one big boat and this boat has 1st, 2nd, 3rd Class accommodations followed by steerage below deck and the twain shall never meet.

[erikd]

There's a simple way to fix Detroit. Move there. Pontificating from afar gets us nowhere. Of course Detroit has problems. But if people move there, make the best of it, and demand better, we'll get to were we need to. Everything else is a waste of time. Patronizing a restaurant or stadium won't save the city. It only helps the greater city if it encourages people to move in, bottom line.

Metro Detroit, last I checked, had over 4 million people. We have the people to populate Detroit. We just lack the will to fix the problems.

Getting more people to move into the city is ultimately the only way that our problems can be resolved, but the question is how do we make that happen.


IMO, the solutions to our problems in the city are simple. We don't need to embark on some kind of complex grand experiment where we turn half the city into farmland, or make the city some kind of tax-free zone, or spend billions of dollars to demolish everything in some futile attempt to eliminate "blight.'


It seems that most people are looking for some magical "solution" to address the symptoms, while mostly ignoring the root causes.


It doesn't matter how many vacant houses we tear down if we don't do anything to address the root causes of why people continue to vacate their houses in the first place. It doesn't matter if we have some huge blight removal crew that goes around clearing away weeds and illegally dumped debris if we don't do anything to prevent illegal dumping and find a way to prevent these lots from becoming overgrown again.


The only solutions that will work are the ones that are very basic and simple. We need to PROVIDE BASIC CITY SERVICES. It's not complicated. If we had basic, reliable, city services in Detroit, it would have a dramatic positive impact.


We need timely, and quality, police response, and we need basic city infrastructure maintenance.


I'm not sure when Detroit stopped doing these basic things, which are taken for granted pretty much everywhere else in the developed world, but it was a long, long time ago. I have lived in the city for 17 years, and these basic city services were shit long before then. Some of the old- school Detroiters on this forum may remember a time when broken streetlights got fixed in a timely manner, and DPD would show up and actually do something about crime in a timely manner, but nobody in my generation does. These city service failures go back well over 20 years, and probably started at least 30-50 years ago.


Until we fix the basic city service delivery problems in our city, all of these grand schemes will prove to be futile. I think that we will continue to see redevelopment and growth in the core city areas regardless, but there won't be any kind of significant large-scale, city-wide improvement until the basics are taken care of.

[Schoolcraft]

I hate to bring it up again, but the quickest thing we can do to help Detroit is bring back the residency rule. I know that this topic makes for a long discussion, but changing that would mean immediate jobs for Detroiters, revenue [[through both income and property tax) and an immediate population boost for both neighborhoods and a reduction in crime. Detroit is an 80+% black city. Large black areas in this country usually equate to poverty and joblessness. If we can't get at least some of these people jobs we're going to continue to struggle.

[Schoolcraft]

And because I know that residency will never happen again, I think Detroit seriously needs to look at getting rid of its income tax or at least reducing it to something miniscule like [[0.3%). After bankruptcy is over and the emergency manager is gone, Detroit will have lost, sold or given away each of its money making assets [[the water dept., DIA, Belle Isle etc.) to regionalization. Asking Detroiters to pay an income tax for amenities they don't even have control of while the surrounding cities don't have a pay a nickel of their income is basically just begging people to leave this city. Before Detroit can even think about drawing people back, they have to be on an even playing field with its surrounding cities. I think this is actually a realistic solution after bankruptcy, because if Detroit's budget is balanced, they can make a plan to move forward without the old revenue streams they had to use in the past. Getting rid of taxes is something that most Republicans don't oppose so Detroit would probably be able to get it done legislatively too.

[erikd]

I hate to bring it up again, but the quickest thing we can do to help Detroit is bring back the residency rule. I know that this topic makes for a long discussion, but changing that would mean immediate jobs for Detroiters, revenue [[through both income and property tax) and an immediate population boost for both neighborhoods and a reduction in crime. Detroit is an 80+% black city. Large black areas in this country usually equate to poverty and joblessness. If we can't get at least some of these people jobs we're going to continue to struggle.

Bringing back the residency requirements wouldn't do much to solve the city's problems. The city currently has fewer than 10,000 employees, and we are losing residents at a rate of 20,000-30,000 per year.

Even if there were 10,000 city employees living outside of the city [[which there isn't) forcing all of them to move back into the city would only offset 3 to 6 months of our population decline. It wouldn't change anything other than slightly slowing down the population drain for a couple of months. Reinstating residency as a way to combat our population decline is like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound.

[illwill]

I hate to bring it up again, but the quickest thing we can do to help Detroit is bring back the residency rule. I know that this topic makes for a long discussion, but changing that would mean immediate jobs for Detroiters, revenue [[through both income and property tax) and an immediate population boost for both neighborhoods and a reduction in crime. Detroit is an 80+% black city. Large black areas in this country usually equate to poverty and joblessness. If we can't get at least some of these people jobs we're going to continue to struggle.

I agree with you and I've also been saying this for years. I do believe it's possible to overturn the residency law. From my understanding, it would have to happen at the State level.

The city of Chicago announced this past week that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is rewriting their outdated city codes and bringing them up to modern times. This is a VERY difficult task but rewarding in the end. So the reversal is possible. The State just has to be committed to doing the difficult work that it takes to reverse the law. It'll pay off in the end.

[Hermod]

After bankruptcy is over and the emergency manager is gone, Detroit will have lost, sold or given away each of its money making assets [[the water dept., DIA, Belle Isle etc.) to regionalization. Asking Detroiters to pay an income tax for amenities they don't even have control of while the surrounding cities don't have a pay a nickel of their income is basically just begging people to leave this city.

I wasn't aware that DIA or Belle Isle were such tremendous profit centers for the city. I thought that they were consumers of resources.

[Schoolcraft]

Bringing back the residency requirements wouldn't do much to solve the city's problems. The city currently has fewer than 10,000 employees, and we are losing residents at a rate of 20,000-30,000 per year.

Even if there were 10,000 city employees living outside of the city [[which there isn't) forcing all of them to move back into the city would only offset 3 to 6 months of our population decline. It wouldn't change anything other than slightly slowing down the population drain for a couple of months. Reinstating residency as a way to combat our population decline is like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound.

I was thinking more along the lines of having more revenue from the folk who move back to the city would allow us to hire more officers and firefighters, pay them better for the jobs they do, and have better equipment which would make the city safer and create stronger neighborhoods which would in turn bring more people into the city that don't work for the city.

[Schoolcraft]

I wasn't aware that DIA or Belle Isle were such tremendous profit centers for the city. I thought that they were consumers of resources.

No I agree, they weren't profit centers for the city. That's why ownership was changed, but the opportunity for them to be profitable was there with better management. For example, the DNR will be making a profit off of Belle Isle through recreation passports. Cobo made a profit this year. My point is that Detroit doesn't own them anymore so they shouldn't be paying special taxes for them.

[Schoolcraft]

I agree with you and I've also been saying this for years. I do believe it's possible to overturn the residency law. From my understanding, it would have to happen at the State level.

The city of Chicago announced this past week that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is rewriting their outdated city codes and bringing them up to modern times. This is a VERY difficult task but rewarding in the end. So the reversal is possible. The State just has to be committed to doing the difficult work that it takes to reverse the law. It'll pay off in the end.

You're right, it would have to happen at the State level, but you know that ain't happening. Too controversial, too many Republicans. Detroit is going to have to meet the folks running the State on their terms at this point. The best way to help Detroit and all of MI's urban centers will be through legislation, so we're going to have to come up with something that lawmakers will agree to.

[erikd]

And because I know that residency will never happen again, I think Detroit seriously needs to look at getting rid of its income tax or at least reducing it to something miniscule like [[0.3%). After bankruptcy is over and the emergency manager is gone, Detroit will have lost, sold or given away each of its money making assets [[the water dept., DIA, Belle Isle etc.) to regionalization. Asking Detroiters to pay an income tax for amenities they don't even have control of while the surrounding cities don't have a pay a nickel of their income is basically just begging people to leave this city. Before Detroit can even think about drawing people back, they have to be on an even playing field with its surrounding cities. I think this is actually a realistic solution after bankruptcy, because if Detroit's budget is balanced, they can make a plan to move forward without the old revenue streams they had to use in the past. Getting rid of taxes is something that most Republicans don't oppose so Detroit would probably be able to get it done legislatively too.

First off, the water department, DIA, and Belle Isle are not money making assets for the city. The water department is a separate entity, and any money that is made or lost by DWSD doesn't affect the city's revenues or expenses. The DIA and Belle Isle used to cost the city millions of dollars every year to operate, and now that they are being funded by the state and the region, instead of the city. Detroit is saving many millions every year while still retaining all of the benefits of these assets.

Secondly, your assertion that Detroiters are paying city income taxes to support amenities that they don't have control of is factually incorrect. Now that the city is no longer funding Belle Isle, the DIA, and Cobo Hall, none of our city income taxes are being used to pay for these assets. In fact, the reality is exactly the opposite. Tens of thousands of suburbanites who work in the city pay city income taxes that solely go to the city of Detroit. Detroiters pay city income tax to fund city services and debt, which is mostly controlled by our elected city officials. The tens of thousands of suburbanits who work in the city, but live elsewhere, pay taxes that are used to fund the city, yet they have no vote or say in how their tax dollars are used.

Cutting the city income tax would do very little to stop the population loss out of the city, and it would do very little to attract new residents into the city, but it would be devastating to the city's budget.

Instead of forgoing one of the largest sources of revenue in a futile attempt to make living without basic city services more attractive, the city should simply provide basic services like the rest of the developed world, and then the taxes wouldn't be that big of an issue.

Think of it this way: If your streetlights have been burned out for six months, the police don't show up when you call, and your neighborhood park down the street has been left to become overgrown with weeds and garbage, would you rather have a small tax reduction, or would you rather continue paying the same taxes but have those things taken care of?

The vast majority of people will choose better services over a tax reduction. We need to fix the city services in Detroit. Without that nothing else will matter.

[Jimaz]

... Detroit is an 80+% black city. Large black areas in this country usually equate to poverty and joblessness. If we can't get at least some of these people jobs we're going to continue to struggle.

Don't stop there. Let's aim higher than that!

[erikd]

No I agree, they weren't profit centers for the city. That's why ownership was changed, but the opportunity for them to be profitable was there with better management. For example, the DNR will be making a profit off of Belle Isle through recreation passports. Cobo made a profit this year. My point is that Detroit doesn't own them anymore so they shouldn't be paying special taxes for them.

1. Ownership of Belle Isle, the DIA, and Cobo Hall has not changed. The city of Detroit still owns all of them.

2. Cobo has never made a profit, and it never will. Convention centers are funded by huge tax subsidies [[mostly coming from things like hotel and car rental taxes) and then further subsidied by direct government funding. The city of Detroit used to spend about $13 million every year out of the general fund to cover the annual operating losses of Cobo. Now that Cobo is funded and operated regionally, they have reduced the amount of money that they lose every year, which results in less direct subsidy over and above the special tax that they collect, but they have never, and will never turn a profit.

3. The DNR will not make a profit on Belle Isle. Even after years of budget cuts, the city was still spending $6 million a year on Belle Isle, which wasn't enough to even do basic grass cutting, tree trimming, or keep the bathrooms open. The state DNR will be spending significantly more money on Belle Isle than the city did.

It is simply not possible for the DNR to make a profit on Belle Isle. Even if EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN DETROIT paid for the annual recreation passport it would be 700,000 Detroiters x the $11 annual fee= $7.7 million per year for the DNR.

The DNR will be really lucky to sell 200,000 - 300,000 recreation passports to Detroiters, which would get them about half the amount that the city was spending to not really maintain Belle Isle. In reality, I would be shocked if the DNR got 100,000 Detroiters to buy passports, which would get them a little over a million bucks a year. Belle Isle will be a huge money loser for the state DNR, but it is a huge win for Detroiters.

[MotorCityTrikes]

6 million bucks and they can't even cut the grass!!!!!!!! Borrow some hungry cows for God sake!! I could buy a years worth of TP at Costco for 5-G's better yet everybody bring your own. What do they spend the money on there's nothing there?

[Schoolcraft]

1. Ownership of Belle Isle, the DIA, and Cobo Hall has not changed. The city of Detroit still owns all of them.

2. Cobo has never made a profit, and it never will. Convention centers are funded by huge tax subsidies [[mostly coming from things like hotel and car rental taxes) and then further subsidied by direct government funding. The city of Detroit used to spend about $13 million every year out of the general fund to cover the annual operating losses of Cobo. Now that Cobo is funded and operated regionally, they have reduced the amount of money that they lose every year, which results in less direct subsidy over and above the special tax that they collect, but they have never, and will never turn a profit.

3. The DNR will not make a profit on Belle Isle. Even after years of budget cuts, the city was still spending $6 million a year on Belle Isle, which wasn't enough to even do basic grass cutting, tree trimming, or keep the bathrooms open. The state DNR will be spending significantly more money on Belle Isle than the city did.

It is simply not possible for the DNR to make a profit on Belle Isle. Even if EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN DETROIT paid for the annual recreation passport it would be 700,000 Detroiters x the $11 annual fee= $7.7 million per year for the DNR.

The DNR will be really lucky to sell 200,000 - 300,000 recreation passports to Detroiters, which would get them about half the amount that the city was spending to not really maintain Belle Isle. In reality, I would be shocked if the DNR got 100,000 Detroiters to buy passports, which would get them a little over a million bucks a year. Belle Isle will be a huge money loser for the state DNR, but it is a huge win for Detroiters.

1. Ownership of Belle Isle, the DIA, and Cobo Hall has not changed. The city of Detroit still owns all of them.

If you don't make final decisions on what happens to them and somebody else is making money off of them then you don't own them. I don't care what anybody tells you.

2. Cobo has never made a profit, and it never will.

It just did this past year: http://www.cobocenter.com/news/detai...13-fiscal-year

3. The DNR will not make a profit on Belle Isle.

That's a difference in opinion between you and I, but I promise you that with this governor in charge, the State is not going to be losing money on anything. The State has only budgeted $2.5 million this year for Belle Isle. They aren't spending anywhere near 6 million to take care of the island. The city estimates that 2 million cars drive on and off the island every year. Many of those people don't live in Detroit OR Michigan. Anybody who visits Belle Isle from out of state will pay $8 a trip to enter Belle Isle. Anybody from out of State who pays for a yearly passport because they might want to visit more than once will pay $28. It's a debatable point, but we'll see.

I pay 2.4% of my income just because I live inside Detroit's boundaries, when I could live in the burbs, pay none of my income and get the same if not better services in the burbs. If somebody who lives in the burbs wants to let me know what amenities that Detroiters should be getting that they don't get because of the extra taxes please let me know. If you think that doesn't make a difference when I pay pretty much higher everything [[home/car insurance, property tax) else than people in the burbs I don't know what to tell you.

[DetroitPlanner]

2. Cobo has never made a profit, and it never will. Convention centers are funded by huge tax subsidies [[mostly coming from things like hotel and car rental taxes) and then further subsidied by direct government funding. The city of Detroit used to spend about $13 million every year out of the general fund to cover the annual operating losses of Cobo. Now that Cobo is funded and operated regionally, they have reduced the amount of money that they lose every year, which results in less direct subsidy over and above the special tax that they collect, but they have never, and will never turn a profit.

Au Contraire http://www.cobocenter.com/news/detai...13-fiscal-year

Belle Isle, if managed properly can be as big of a drawing card for the State [[and the City) as Mackinaw Island.
http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/artic...h#.UsneO_RDuQA

If you look at Belle Isle so narrowly as a selling of passports then you won't see the impact that it will have in providing jobs to concessionaire [[who will also pay fees), or to nearby eateries, hotels, bars. With that kind of analogy, then Dequindre Cut was a waste as it cost $20 million, but people use it for free. Same is true with the Riverfront.

Your calculation is wrong. Passports are for cars, people get in free. How many cars in Detroit? But then again, who cares? If it brings people in from outstate or from somewhere else in the world, then it is a success. Those folks will spend and provide jobs.

[coracle]

Why would a family with jobs and child responsibilities WANT to move to Detroit?