Possible New Life for Michigan Central Station? Ford Motor Co. a Buyer? YES!

[davewindsor]

Not to worry; Amazon isn't coming to Detroit. Read their criteria.

What qualifies you to make the claim that Amazon isn't coming to Detroit? Do you know Mark Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, personally and he told you??

You might quote an article from a fake news tabloid like the NY Times that today's Free Press quoted this morning saying it's Denver. But it's completely unreliable because the site won't be picked until spring of next year and these papers have nothing to do with Bezos.

The Washington Post [[probably the most reliable source here because it is owned by Bezos and is his personal propaganda machine) stated in an article dated September 8th that Detroit is still in the running while eliminating 79 other possibilities because they didn't meet the criteria: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.2db7de4d1e42

Mayor Duggan can also give them Roosevelt Park for extra parking like he traded the Morouns a city park so they could have the land to complete their bridge. Don't worry about parking and public transportation. For 50,000 jobs, it's all negotiable.

The parcels for future development don't need to be touching each other. It can be 100 acres of broken parcels spread out from Corktown to downtown.

So, stop making claims here you can't back up unless you want to be called out as a fraud.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

What qualifies you to make the claim that Amazon isn't coming to Detroit? Do you know Mark Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, personally and he told you??

So, stop making claims here you can't back up unless you want to be called out as a fraud.

Well, Davewindsor, as charming and classy as your post was, I would point out just a few things. First, is Mark Bezos any relation to Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon? Second, I don't think Professor Scott was trying to imply inside definitive knowledge about the situation, just that based on announced criteria Detroit is unlikely to get this development.

I would go on to agree with what you rather correctly, if callously and indirectly, pointed out are excessive giveaways to corporate interests in pursuit of development. I think that while every project should be looked at for its specific costs/benefits, the city does better by making things easier and less expensive for all than to just carve out individual deals.

I think Detroit is in the running, and while we have shortcomings, we also have a lot of assets [[affordable land is one for sure), but we are a long shot. Among other reasons- as I wrote last week- Jeff Bezos probably has a preferred city in mind. The whole "make your city's pitch" game is really about getting the best possible deal from the city he wants to build in, rather than identifying where they actually want to build.

[professorscott]

I don't think Professor Scott was trying to imply inside definitive knowledge about the situation, just that based on announced criteria Detroit is unlikely to get this development.

Spot on, and thanks for the assist.

Jeff Bezos probably has a preferred city in mind. The whole "make your city's pitch" game is really about getting the best possible deal from the city he wants to build in, rather than identifying where they actually want to build.

Quite cynical, and therefore likely correct.