Why hasn't Detroit ever owned up to its urban planning blunders?

[ghettopalmetto]

According to Retroit, the implication is that Detroit hasn't made ANY planning blunders in its history. The current state of Detroit was inevitable, given that it serves as the home of the auto industry [[which I guess goes hand-in-hand with decline? you tell me.).

Y'all just don't get it. People WANTED everything to turn out this way. And if they didn't, it was gonna happen anyway, no matter what anyone did. That's why the lifestyle Detroit offers is far preferable to anything else on the face of God's green earth.

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All I know, is it must be nice to live in a world without consequences--or consequence.

[Retroit]

According to Retroit, the implication is that Detroit hasn't made ANY planning blunders in its history. The current state of Detroit was inevitable, given that it serves as the home of the auto industry [[which I guess goes hand-in-hand with decline? you tell me.).

Y'all just don't get it. People WANTED everything to turn out this way. And if they didn't, it was gonna happen anyway, no matter what anyone did. That's why the lifestyle Detroit offers is far preferable to anything else on the face of God's green earth.

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All I know, is it must be nice to live in a world without consequences--or consequence.

No, I'm not suggesting that it was inevitable and would have happened anyway. I'm suggesting that it happened because it is how people wanted it to happen or made it happen due to the circumstances beyond their individual control. You seem to think that everything has been and has to be controlled by the Urban Planning Authority and that people have no free will to decide how they want to live.

Frankly, I'd be willing to bet that most superbanites are quite happy with their world, cars and expressways included. It sound like most of the dissatisfaction on this forum is from people who want to live in a Manhattanized Detroit and just can't bring themselves to accept Detroit as it is.

[ghettopalmetto]

Frankly, I'd be willing to bet that most superbanites are quite happy with their world, cars and expressways included. It sound like most of the dissatisfaction on this forum is from people who want to live in a Manhattanized Detroit and just can't bring themselves to accept Detroit as it is.

Are your people happy with traffic jams and congestion? Are they happy that their taxes always increase? Are they happy that their kids can't afford to live in the same town in which they grew up? Are they happy that waterways are so full of E. coli bacteria, that the beaches are closed for half the season?

Yeah, it's most certainly the role of government to manage fiscal outlays of public monies in a prudent manner, and to preserve property values. The creation and preservation--By Any Means Necessary--of continued suburbanization and easy motoring throughout the metropolis on the part of Detroit and the State of Michigan hasvebeen a colossal failure in this regard.

[Retroit]

Are your people happy with traffic jams and congestion?

We don't have traffic jams and congestion out here. That's a Detroit problem.

Are they happy that their taxes always increase?

Detroit has a higher millage than any suburb. We control our tax rates out here.

Are they happy that their kids can't afford to live in the same town in which they grew up?

Kids do live in the same town in which they grew up, unlike Detroit.

Are they happy that waterways are so full of E. coli bacteria, that the beaches are closed for half the season?

And there wouldn't be health problems if 4.4 million people lived in the city of Detroit?

Yeah, it's most certainly the role of government to manage fiscal outlays of public monies in a prudent manner, and to preserve property values. The creation and preservation--By Any Means Necessary--of continued suburbanization and easy motoring throughout the metropolis on the part of Detroit and the State of Michigan hasvebeen a colossal failure in this regard.

According only to the few.

[ghettopalmetto]

We don't have traffic jams and congestion out here. That's a Detroit problem.



Detroit has a higher millage than any suburb. We control our tax rates out here.



Kids do live in the same town in which they grew up, unlike Detroit.



And there wouldn't be health problems if 4.4 million people lived in the city of Detroit?



According only to the few.

I-75 isn't congested? I-696 isn't congested? Big Beaver isn't congested? I-275 isn't congested? In my experience, the City of Detroit has LESS traffic congestion than the suburbs, primarily due to massive disinvestment in the city.

You control your tax rates in the suburbs? How do you build all those massive new schools that are required when subdivisions get constructed willy-nilly? Are those free?

Kids in the suburbs live in the towns in which they grew up? Which 20-somethings do you know that are buying houses in Troy and West Bloomfield?

If the region's population were concentrated in Detroit, I can assure you that Lake St. Clair and the northwestern lakes in Oakland County wouldn't be polluted from automobile and agricultural runoff that occurs because every damned acre has been paved with asphalt.

[crawford]

I-75 isn't congested? I-696 isn't congested? Big Beaver isn't congested? I-275 isn't congested? In my experience, the City of Detroit has LESS traffic congestion than the suburbs, primarily due to massive disinvestment in the city..

No, none of these roads are remotely congested. They are all basically free-flowing compared to other major cities around the world.

One can get from downtown Detroit to Troy in 20 minutes. During rush hour, no less.

You control your tax rates in the suburbs? How do you build all those massive new schools that are required when subdivisions get constructed willy-nilly? Are those free?

Yes, it's called home rule. Voters get to decide on their school systems. The State doesn't run the schools, and the Feds don't control the police like in corrupt Detroit.

And no subdivisions are constructed "willy-nilly". Every suburban jurisdiction has a zoning code.

Kids in the suburbs live in the towns in which they grew up? Which 20-somethings do you know that are buying houses in Troy and West Bloomfield?

Yes, they do. I have many friends in their 20's who own homes in suburbs like Troy, Rochester Hills, and Birmingham.

If the region's population were concentrated in Detroit, I can assure you that Lake St. Clair and the northwestern lakes in Oakland County wouldn't be polluted from automobile and agricultural runoff that occurs because every damned acre has been paved with asphalt.

I have no idea how you can "assure" the health of lakes based on some arbitrary development boundary.

Gee, if your Detroit-only 140 square mile scenario were further condensed into a superconcentrated 10 miles approximating the slums of Mumbai, I "assure" you that the Detroit River would be drinkable and moose would roam 6 Mile Road.

[iheartthed]

No, none of these roads are remotely congested. They are all basically free-flowing compared to other major cities around the world.

One can get from downtown Detroit to Troy in 20 minutes. During rush hour, no less.

You can get to Troy from downtown in 20 minutes because there aren't many people going from downtown to Troy. If 696 is "free-flowing" during rush hour, especially between Orchard Lake Rd. and 275, then a lot has changed since I've been away.

[Detroitnerd]

Frankly, I'd be willing to bet that most superbanites are quite happy with their world, cars and expressways included. It sound like most of the dissatisfaction on this forum is from people who want to live in a Manhattanized Detroit and just can't bring themselves to accept Detroit as it is.

Haha. Are you happy to accept Detroit as it is? A disinvested, decaying inner city surrounded by a built environment that probably can't survive another 50 years? Ho-ho-ho. That's rich.