Detroit's Agony

[rhythmc]

The key word is "here." Things have only gotten worse here, despite Coleman's crude defiance. However the theme of that piece was as a warning to other cities. Apparently other cities heeded that warning, because DC, NYC, and Chicago are vastly better places than they were in 1990, while Detroit - and Metro Detroit - is vastly worse. Great job everyone.

I don't think other cities have heeded these warnings at all. I don't think they had to. If you go to Chicago, vast areas of the southside [[further south than Hyde Park) are very similar to Detroit with respect to decay and crime. The same can be said for DC and NYC. The difference between these cities and Detroit is that business did not fly the coupe for the 'burbs in any of these towns. Many of these other cities suffered in much the same way as Detroit historically with racial turmoil and whatnot. I would venture to say the thing that kept many of these other cities afloat and served to relieve much of the despair during down economies of the past was the diversification of their economies. Wallstreet would give way to Madison Ave and such. Businesses would always need elevator operators, high end apartments would have doormen, commuter trains and subways would need operators, etc. However, each city's top industry did not suffer the same extreme lows as Detroit. This turmoil put people out of work leaving some with few options other than criminality.

Metro Detroit would be better served to having downtown Detroit return to its place as the center of the regions commerce. The current arrangement in the US is that suburbs house much of our wealth whereas cities are home to higher rates of poverty. In many European cities, it is nearly the complete opposite. Neither way works. Detroit can improve, but the city must be remade in a way that allows everyone to survive in a way fitting their abilities. I'm not talking about giving anything to anyone. I simply believe a city can be affordable according to everyone's tastes.