Why can't Detroit annex neighbouring cities to regain its population?

[Stosh]

I and the vast majority of Detroiters weren't around in 1928 so your statment is pointless and a pretty feeble attempt at humor.

As for Detroit taking on the bulk of the region's homeless, menatlly ill and impoverished impacts the bottom line for the city. It hurts neighborhoods, property values, safety and puts a large strain on city resources. The fact that we live in a region that is comfortable sticking the bulk of the mentally ill, and homeless in Detroit is an issue both socially and financially to the city. I agree it is an issue that needs to be addressed at the state level but the SE Michigan region is and has been very happy with pushing those problems into Detroit and turning a bling eye that they exist. Out of sight, out of mind works for most of the region which is a big issue.

I've seen plenty of pointless comments here lately, you don't seem to have a problem with those, I guess. It's a valid point. Point of view changes. Once it was desirable to be part of Detroit, now, not so much.

I wonder if the homeless weren't a problem downtown that this topic would even be discussed. I hear mostly bitching about Cass Park and panhandlers downtown. If they were elsewhere, in a suburb, probably not a peep.

[stasu1213]

I think the idea of giving back old redford to redford and parts of the eastside to grosse pointe and harper woods would be a good for cutting down detroit's deficet. It would be hard to get the renters out of those homes in the areas giving back to their rightful owners. It would save detroit a lot of dough. As far as the mentally ill, drug addicts and aggresive panhandlers are concern; take them to the countryside. Building a rehabilitation community with agriculture and let them learn how to plant and grow food. Have counselors and mental health doctors there to see after them and help bring them back to reality again. Also make them clean up their own apartment, small home or whatever they would be living at in the countryside. Maybe they would be right to comeback into the meanstream. Many people whom are homeless doesn't fit into this category and shouldn't be shipped out there. Just the ones who fit under the categories above

[tangerine]

Talk about rewarding failure. I think Detroit should be federalized as its problems are too great for the State to handle let alone the adjacent counties.

[professorscott]

This is an interesting discussion but there is an air of unreality about it.

I have seen metropolitan style government in other places, and no doubt it has its benefits. However, the Detroit area has precisely as much chance of becoming a unigovernment metro region as I have of becoming Pope.

Look, so many things are working against it: Michigan's unflagging insistence on home rule, the carcinogenic racism that continues to pile-drive our economy and liveliness, the institutionalized corruption of so many municipal agencies. Imagine someone in Livonia or Rochester Hills waking up and finding that there was to be a tri-county municipal government! To paraphrase other posts, they would leave scorch marks on the pavement on their way to One Million Mile Road.

Since you can't force people to live in your Unigoverned Greater Metro Detroit Regional Thingy, and there's not exactly a huge supply of jobs keeping people here, such a thing [[if it were even possible, which it's not) would just drive more people to move to Atlanta or Indianapolis or San Diego or Vancouver or wherever the hell everybody is moving to nowadays.

If I'm wrong, no prob; come visit me in the Vatican and we'll do lunch.

The Prof.

[davewindsor]

Imagine someone in Livonia or Rochester Hills waking up and finding that there was to be a tri-county municipal government! To paraphrase other posts, they would leave scorch marks on the pavement on their way to One Million Mile Road.

Why?

And, if not a tri-county unigovernment, why not consolidate Wayne County with Detroit to rename Wayne County the new City of Detroit like they did with Louisville, Kentucky? You'd now have a city with 2 million people like it was back in the 50s and there's gotta be significant tax savings in a Wayne County-Detroit consolidation. I look at the Wayne County website and see a Wayne County Sheriff's Department that handles narcotics enforcement in the City of Detroit and then there's a Detroit Police Narcotics Unit. There's a Wayne County Parks and Rec Dept. and a Detroit Rec Department. There's gotta be significant tax dollar savings by consolidating all those departments into one entity.

[crawford]

Why?.

Are you serious? There was a huge drop in inner suburban property values in the 1970's following court-ordered busing. Once the busing was overturned on appeal, the property values rose again.

Can you imagine what would have happened if the ruling were upheld?

Yes, correlation does not imply causation, but it's generally agreed that [[given the fact that the only municipalities which experienced property value drops were within the proposed metropolitan school district) that what was perceived as the threat of metro-wide ghetto schools was enough to send people to other communities.

And, if not a tri-county unigovernment, why not consolidate Wayne County with Detroit to rename Wayne County the new City of Detroit like they did with Louisville, Kentucky? .

This would be even worse, because instead of forcing people to move from generally desirable areas like Oakland County, you would be inviting people to move from generally undesirable areas in Wayne County.

And it's much easier to abandon Wayne County than abandon the entire tri-county area.

[davewindsor]

Are you serious? There was a huge drop in inner suburban property values in the 1970's following court-ordered busing. Once the busing was overturned on appeal, the property values rose again.

Can you imagine what would have happened if the ruling were upheld?

Yes, correlation does not imply causation, but it's generally agreed that [[given the fact that the only municipalities which experienced property value drops were within the proposed metropolitan school district) that what was perceived as the threat of metro-wide ghetto schools was enough to send people to other communities.

Forced bus service is gonna cause significant declines in property values?! Come on! Where do you pull this stuff from?

This would be even worse, because instead of forcing people to move from generally desirable areas like Oakland County, you would be inviting people to move from generally undesirable areas in Wayne County.

And it's much easier to abandon Wayne County than abandon the entire tri-county area.

Consolidating Detroit with Wayne County is gonna cause everybody to leave Dearborn and Grossee Pointe? Give me a break! How do you figure? There's no Berlin Wall. If they were gonna move, they'd have moved long ago.