L. Brooks Patterson gone by year’s end?

Oakland County has been moving steadily left over the past two decades. This year's election has seen the Democrats flipping and now holding a majority of the Oakland County Commission seats for the first time ever.

According to the rules if the Oakland County executive resigns or passes on the commission selects a successor.

It has been widely rumored that LBP was planning to step aside toward the end of his current term with the understanding that a Republican-majority commission would choose Sheriff Mike Bouchard to succeed him lending Bouchard the incumbent status going into the next election.

If that plan is still in place, LBP will now need to go before the new commission is seated in January.

How will Ford survive and profit in the disruptive and rapidly transforming mobility arena and move beyond being a “pickup maker with a sports car”?

Ford has recently taken several dramatic steps that question the very essence of what the company is and will become. Some examples…

The acquisition of the Michigan Central Station and the move of its edgy mobility efforts [autonomous, electric, data aggregation, ride-sharing] to Corktown has put an exclamation point on the company’s redirection intent.

On the sharing end, Ford recently acquired scooter-share provider Spin.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...et/1924303002/
Attachment 36932

On the data end we have this:
https://freep-mi.newsmemory.com/publ...reid=4d6a81156
Attachment 36933

And today? How about getting into the delivery business as Walmart’s provider?
https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...ct/1992470002/
Attachment 36934

What’s your opinion? Do you think this will work or will it lead to loss of focus and scattered distraction, reminiscent of when Ford acquired Volvo and Jaguar? Any Ford employees out there?


Personally, I like it a lot and for the good of all Detroit I hope it works.

It's no question that Harper Woods has changed in the past 20 years. In 2000, the city was about 85% white. In 2010, whites held a slim plurality at 49%. Today, Harper Woods has a black majority with 56%, though there is still a significant White minority at about 38-40%. Beyond the racial figures, household income has remained relatively steady, and educational attainment (bachelors' degree) is fairly typical of Wayne County suburbs.

With the changes that are happening, a few questions must be asked.

1. While the "GP North is declining" line has been discussed frequently on DYes, if a bit too much, is it true? Does GP North hold its own against High Schools in the area? While it has always been a step below GP South, is the decline enough to cause parents in GP to pull their kids out and send them to private schools?

2. My understanding is that most of the crime in the city is either along the Detroit border on Kelly or concentrated around Eastland Mall. Essentially, the city gets better as you move eastward from Kelly. Is that a fair assessment? Is property crime concentrated in specific pockets of the city?

3. White Flight has certainly happened in HW, as evidenced by the statistics. But is it accelerating to the degree as in other inner-ring suburbs such as Eastpointe, Redford, and South Warren?

4. Have neighborhoods on the East side of the city, specifically neighborhoods east of I-94 that touch GPW, gone downhill noticeably? Or have they held up relatively well?

Thanks in advance for any comments/thoughts. Would appreciate to hear from any Harper Woods residents on this forum.

Front Page article on the Mall Implosion.

"...some analysts have predicted that up to 25 percent of malls nationwide could close by 2022."

The article then goes on to site the core of the implosion...

"Numerous malls have lost one or more department store anchors that they haven't replaced, including Eastland Center in Harper Woods, Westland Shopping Center, Laurel Park Place in Livonia, Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights and Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/20...ls/1419217002/
That list could grow if Sears, still an anchor at several area malls, closes more Michigan stores."

Disgruntled business owner Robert Carnack, star witness in the federal government's bribery case against Detroit Councilman Gabe Leland, has gone to extreme lengths on Wednesday in an attempt to publicly shame another elected official: Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
Duggan and his wife issued a lengthy statement denying the allegation and condemning. See the end of this article:
https://freep-mi.newsmemory.com/publ...reid=512e52971

Attachment 36952

Michigan saw a blue wave that flipped the Governorship, Attorney General and Secretary of State offices from Republican to Democrat. Meanwhile the Dems retained the federal Senate seat. Additionally two federal congressional seats have flipped blue. Remarkable too is that all the winners were women.

Huge changes impend as well from the passage all three referendums.
1-Recreational Marijuana decriminalized
2-Anti-gerrymandering reform established
3-Ease of voter registration and voting reform passed

I’m interested to hear your take on what this will mean for our metropolitan family of communities and the City of Detroit in particular.

While Lansing and the City of Detroit got along fairly well in spite of a Republican-Democrat divide will that relationship become tighter and more beneficial to Detroit?