Accenture opens new corporate office in Detroit's downtown

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...wn/2161253002/

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Dan Garrison, Accenture managing director in Detroit, said on Friday the company was located in downtown Detroit in 1997 when he first joined the business. A visit to Detroit last year motivated company officials to return."We were inspired by what was happening in Detroit," Garrison said. "It was visible that this was a different city, and a city we wanted to be more a part of."
Moving downtown gives the company the opportunity to work with start-ups and many of its clients, Garrison said, as well as community organizations.
"Part of us moving downtown and bringing this space to life is to retain the incredible talent we have and tap into the talent Detroit has to offer, talent that is hungry, imaginative, creative, that perseveres," Garrison said.

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Nice.

"Accenture believes Detroit has the DNA to become known as the Silicon Valley of the Midwest, and we want to be here to write those future chapters of Detroit's history," he said.

I share their vision

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Originally Posted by SammyS

Nice.

"Accenture believes Detroit has the DNA to become known as the Silicon Valley of the Midwest, and we want to be here to write those future chapters of Detroit's history," he said.

I share their vision

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I'm as big of a Detroit booster as anyone, but to say that Detroit might become the Silicon Valley of the Midwest is a bit of a stretch IMO. We lack the deep tech talent pool of places like Silicon Valley, Seattle, Austin, and Chicago. And I'm not sure how we compare when it comes to venture capital deals and easy access to venture capital. That's another critical component of a thriving tech ecosystem. While it's nice to see local tech companies move downtown and invest downtown, we aren't drawing much in the way of outside [[national and international) investment. Something that is really hurting us is our lack of a functioning regional mass transit system.

All of that said, it's nice to Accenture, Tata, Microsoft, Amazon [[their regional office in 150. W. Jefferson), LinkedIn, and Google come to the city. Hopefully there will be more to come. But I think Chicago will rightfully have a firm hold on the title of Silicon Valley of the Midwest for many years to come. Their tech ecosystem DWARFS metro Detroit's.

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Originally Posted by Mind field

I'm as big of a Detroit booster as anyone, but to say that Detroit might become the Silicon Valley of the Midwest is a bit of a stretch IMO..

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^^^Quite possibly the biggest understatement ever.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

^^^Quite possibly the biggest understatement ever.

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Did you expect any of those mentioned tech companies [[with the exception of Amazon) to be in Detroit only a few years ago? I don’t think anyone did a I don’t think anyone is sure what’s coming.

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Originally Posted by SammyS

Did you expect any of those mentioned tech companies [[with the exception of Amazon) to be in Detroit only a few years ago? I don’t think anyone did a I don’t think anyone is sure what’s coming.

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With exception to Amazon and LinkedIn, most of them were already in *Metro* Detroit. The fact that they're relocating downtown is the equivalent of shuffling a deck of cards.

But besides that, these are very tiny back offices with only a few hundred people at most. It would be great for a small town or suburb, but simply pales in comparison to the huge operation centers, regional HQs and even global HQs with thousands or even tens of thousands of employees in places like Chicago.

^^
Well, this could only draw other tech companies in. It’s how they poach talent from one another.

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Originally Posted by SammyS

^^
Well, this could only draw other tech companies in. It’s how they poach talent from one another.

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Detroit has a LONG ways to go before its ecosystem is that mature enough.

Something no one here wants to talk about; our weather is a major negative when it comes to attracting top talent from Silicon Valley; if you are an extremely sought-after engineer, would you rather live in Californa's climate, or trudge through slush for 6 months a year in Michigan?

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Originally Posted by EGrant

Something no one here wants to talk about; our weather is a major negative when it comes to attracting top talent from Silicon Valley; if you are an extremely sought-after engineer, would you rather live in Californa's climate, or trudge through slush for 6 months a year in Michigan?

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That doesn't seem to hurt Chicago, Boston, Toronto or even Minneapolis and Pittsburgh.

It's a straw that breaks the camel's back and it adds insult to injury, but only on top of Detroit's other numerous problems.

more tech companies should outreach Detroit's urban schools for talent development programs.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

That doesn't seem to hurt Chicago, Boston, Toronto or even Minneapolis and Pittsburgh.

It's a straw that breaks the camel's back and it adds insult to injury, but only on top of Detroit's other numerous problems.

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I’d rather live in DT Detroit than in an incubator or my car in Silicon Valley

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/si...143222578.html

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Originally Posted by SammyS

I’d rather live in DT Detroit than in an incubator or my car in Silicon Valley

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/si...143222578.html

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That's *IF* [[big fat *IF*) you can find a job with comparable wages/office culture in DT Detroit and aren't concerned about long term career growth or living in an already vibrant location full of amenities.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

^^^Quite possibly the biggest understatement ever.

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I don't agree that this is entirely implausible. Looking at what Detroit already has in terms of large/ growing businesses that could help win the title of "Midwest Silicon Valley" we have some good building blocks. Quicken was the 14th largest mortgage lender in the US in 2010, today they are sitting on top of that pile mostly due to technology innovation and dominating online lending. We also have the GM, Ford, and if they are successful in looking beyond their history and succeed in becoming "mobility companies" rather than car companies I think they will have a lot to do with bringing more tech to the region.

Comprehensive mass transit and strides in public education with a focus on STEM and skilled trades would go a long way to making this area all it can be.

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Originally Posted by K-slice

I don't agree that this is entirely implausible. Looking at what Detroit already has in terms of large/ growing businesses that could help win the title of "Midwest Silicon Valley" we have some good building blocks. Quicken was the 14th largest mortgage lender in the US in 2010, today they are sitting on top of that pile mostly due to technology innovation and dominating online lending. We also have the GM, Ford, and if they are successful in looking beyond their history and succeed in becoming "mobility companies" rather than car companies I think they will have a lot to do with bringing more tech to the region.

Comprehensive mass transit and strides in public education with a focus on STEM and skilled trades would go a long way to making this area all it can be.

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Problem is, when removing all of the facades, they're still not tech companies. They don't have nearly the amount of cash on hand to successfully compete with the real tech companies in Silicon Valley when it comes to attracting talent as well as building/marketing innovative products.

But I could be wrong. Maybe you'll be right with your optimistic expectations.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

That doesn't seem to hurt Chicago, Boston, Toronto or even Minneapolis and Pittsburgh.

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Those areas aren't tech centers analogous to Silicon Valley, though. I don't doubt weather hurts.

Really only Boston is a serious tech center, and that's largely due to the universities and legacy of microcomputer innovation. The other cities aren't known for tech, at all.

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Originally Posted by SammyS

Did you expect any of those mentioned tech companies [[with the exception of Amazon) to be in Detroit only a few years ago? I don’t think anyone did a I don’t think anyone is sure what’s coming.

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Those companies are in every major metro. Firms like Google are everywhere. And a lot of bigtech staffing in Detroit is due to auto industry advertising. It isn't like they're hiring tons of software dudes.

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Originally Posted by Bham1982

Those areas aren't tech centers analogous to Silicon Valley, though. I don't doubt weather hurts.

Really only Boston is a serious tech center, and that's largely due to the universities and legacy of microcomputer innovation. The other cities aren't known for tech, at all.

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The point was those cities all have a more established and thriving tech ecosystem than Detroit and, compared to Detroit, they have less of a problem attracting tech talent.

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Originally Posted by EGrant

Something no one here wants to talk about; our weather is a major negative when it comes to attracting top talent from Silicon Valley; if you are an extremely sought-after engineer, would you rather live in Californa's climate, or trudge through slush for 6 months a year in Michigan?

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Have you been to San Francisco? Yeah their winters aren't as bad as here but the weather there generally sucks year round. It's never warm and rains a lot. The warmest month of the year there has an average high temp of 71.

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Originally Posted by drjeff

Have you been to San Francisco?...the weather there generally sucks year round. It's never warm and rains a lot...

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Que?

San Francisco

Average Yearly Rainfall = 23.65"
Percent Possible Sunshine = 69
Mean Monthly Sunshine Hours = 3,062

Detroit

Average Yearly Rainfall = 33.47"
Percent Possible Sunshine = 55
Mean Monthly Sunshine Hours =2,436

Yeah, I've been to San Fran many times. It has remarkably better weather than Michigan. Not even a discussion.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

Que?

San Francisco

Average Yearly Rainfall = 23.65"
Percent Possible Sunshine = 69
Mean Monthly Sunshine Hours = 3,062

Detroit

Average Yearly Rainfall = 33.47"
Percent Possible Sunshine = 55
Mean Monthly Sunshine Hours =2,436

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San Francisco only has one season, which would be similar to mid-April in Detroit. Everybody loves it in January and hates it in July.

However, Silicon Valley has much better weather than San Francisco itself. Silicon Valley has weather that is more similar to stereotypical California.

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Originally Posted by Bham1982

Those areas aren't tech centers analogous to Silicon Valley, though. I don't doubt weather hurts.

Really only Boston is a serious tech center, and that's largely due to the universities and legacy of microcomputer innovation. The other cities aren't known for tech, at all.

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Yeah, Boston is the closest thing to a Silicon Valley in the east. I could see a case for Pittsburgh being a very, very, very distant second. But Pittsburgh is so distant that it is anyone's game.

Pittsburgh benefits from having the major universities actually in the city. Silicon Valley ended up where it is because Stanford is there. It has only been in the past decade or so that tech has meaningfully spilled out of the Valley and gone into San Francisco.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

However, Silicon Valley has much better weather than San Francisco itself. Silicon Valley has weather that is more similar to stereotypical California.

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Well of course.

It's in a valley [[compressional heating from downsloping) and also doesn't get an onshore flow as often as SF.

Detroit's path to being the next Silicon Valley is to do all in its power to have the next big thing get created in Detroit. The way to do this is to create an environment to help out promising startups in all the ways that the city possibly can. Get all of the deep pockets in the region together to create capital funds focused on companies based in Detroit. Get the deep pocketed companies in the region to fund open and low cost work spaces.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

Detroit's path to being the next Silicon Valley is to do all in its power to have the next big thing get created in Detroit. The way to do this is to create an environment to help out promising startups in all the ways that the city possibly can. Get all of the deep pockets in the region together to create capital funds focused on companies based in Detroit. Get the deep pocketed companies in the region to fund open and low cost work spaces.

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Thank you for actually proposing a specific viable course of action to improve the Detroit area economy and attractiveness , unlike the Atlanta 313WX, who only denigrates, denigrates, and denigrates, and who is negative in every single post.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

Que?

San Francisco

Average Yearly Rainfall = 23.65"
Percent Possible Sunshine = 69
Mean Monthly Sunshine Hours = 3,062

Detroit

Average Yearly Rainfall = 33.47"
Percent Possible Sunshine = 55
Mean Monthly Sunshine Hours =2,436

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Do you have stats on how much shit each city has on its streets? :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by SammyS

Do you have stats on how much shit each city has on its streets?

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What does that have to do with the difference in weather between SF and Detroit? :confused:

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Originally Posted by 313WX

What does that have to do with the difference in weather between SF and Detroit? :confused:

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Nothing but while we’re shitting on cities....

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It’s an empirical fact: San Francisco is a crappier place to live these days. Sightings of human feces on the sidewalks are now a regular occurrence; over the past 10 years, complaints about human waste have increased 400%.

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https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...y-homelessness

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Originally Posted by SammyS

Nothing

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Oh, ok.

What a weird thing to ask.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

Silicon Valley ended up where it is because Stanford is there. It has only been in the past decade or so that tech has meaningfully spilled out of the Valley and gone into San Francisco.

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Another "talent recruiting" factor has to do with the pervading culture. For decades, the Bay Area & SoCal have historically been welcoming to both domestic and international immigrants. Along with fellow "gateway" cities like NYC, London, Miami, Toronto, etc. people around the world know most urban centers in CA offer a place where newcomers have an opportunity to experience the best of both worlds. Since virtually every culture is represented, they can find a sense of of community by connecting with like-minded people [[and food!) from the same corner of the world as "home", while simultaneoulsy interacting with others from an entirely different culture.

Like academia, this environment fosters thought-exchange, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation.


When people take the plunge to relocate [[especially from outside the US), they want to feel welcome--not ostracized, marginalized, and viewed with suspicion. This is a "chicken-or-egg" situation. The open culture inspires the innovation--and the innovation inspires the open culture.

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Originally Posted by 313WX

Oh, ok.

What a weird thing to ask.

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Not sure if it's common knowledge yet, but San Francisco's quality of life has taken a big hit in recent years, and it's beginning to show. Needles and human feces all over the place. Not sure how or if this will impact SF's desirability as a business center and tourist hub.

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Originally Posted by Mind field

Not sure if it's common knowledge yet, but San Francisco's quality of life has taken a big hit in recent years, and it's beginning to show. Needles and human feces all over the place. Not sure how or if this will impact SF's desirability as a business center and tourist hub.

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Time will tell.

No place is perfect and people have different tolerances for things. Maybe the positive of SF outweighs its imperfections.

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Originally Posted by Mind field

Not sure if it's common knowledge yet, but San Francisco's quality of life has taken a big hit in recent years, and it's beginning to show. Needles and human feces all over the place. Not sure how or if this will impact SF's desirability as a business center and tourist hub.

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The Tenderloin has long been San Francisco's vice containment area, where things are allowed that are not permitted anywhere else. I don't think it's any worse today than it was in years past. In fact, it's getting much better, with soaring real estate prices, nearby tech companies, and more and more trendy bars, restaurants, and shops. The main difference seems to be tourists used to avoid the area, and now they don't, and so they see that which was always there.

313WX, ever since you moved away to Atlanta you seem to relish posting negative opinions about Detroit, and positive opinions about the South, or just about anywhere else. Congratulations if moving was the right decision for you. And many of your criticisms are valid. But it sure gets tiresome how often you seem to be trying to justify your decision on this forum. Are you sure you're not overcompensating for something?

Please don't take offense.

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Originally Posted by bust

313WX, ever since you moved away to Atlanta you seem to relish posting negative opinions about Detroit, and positive opinions about the South, or just about anywhere else...And many of your criticisms are valid...

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I don't see it that way.

The fact that I'm offering criticism at all means I still care about Detroit and Michigan. I really do want better for it, yet I can't help but voice frustration when I see other places doing everything boosters claim Detroit/Michigan is *trying* to do, except so much better/faster and Detroit/Michigan fails to emulate what those places are doing to become the attractive places they are to live/work/play.

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Originally Posted by bust

313WX, ever since you moved away to Atlanta you seem to relish posting negative opinions about Detroit, and positive opinions about the South, or just about anywhere else. Congratulations if moving was the right decision for you. And many of your criticisms are valid. But it sure gets tiresome how often you seem to be trying to justify your decision on this forum. Are you sure you're not overcompensating for something?

Please don't take offense.

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Detroit and Michigan are both living in his mind rent free. It's beyond obsessive and sad, glad I'm not him.

Detroit is not the next silicon valley. There are a lot of engineering jobs for the automakers. And that's about it. Google/Twitter/etc have some ad sales staff here. Those are tech jobs in the same way that being an accountant for Burger King is a culinary job.

Sure, there are some tech jobs here, but there are tech jobs EVERYWHERE. Pretty soon, we will stop calling them tech jobs and start calling them jobs, because guess what, every single business in the world uses technology.

If you're a software/hardware engineer, Detroit is not a great place to be. There are lots of better options, even in the midwest.

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Originally Posted by Mind field

Not sure if it's common knowledge yet, but San Francisco's quality of life has taken a big hit in recent years, and it's beginning to show. Needles and human feces all over the place. Not sure how or if this will impact SF's desirability as a business center and tourist hub.

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You do realize that the same things exist in Detroit, right?

It probably isn't "big news" because the non-poor aren't exactly walking such Detroit streets, and no one would find it newsworthy that Detroit streets are dirty.

SF has had bums and street crap forever, BTW. It's actually much less sketchy than 20 years ago. And SF is more desirable than ever.

There are no needles or feces anywhere in central Detroit, that's completely fake news and alternative facts. Also the city's homeless population is likely the lowest in the country, and you best believe "non-poor" are walking the streets.

Kind of relevant here since it proves that the rental market in Detroit is getting stronger. Sure it’s outpacing income but I see it as a leading indicator of growth, not regression.

https://detroit.curbed.com/2018/12/6...gest-increases

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

...Also the city's homeless population is likely the lowest in the country...

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Can you pleaae provide a source to back up your claim?

For what it's worth, homeless people seem far more visible in SF than in Detroit. But not sure if that says about Detroit what some people think it might. If Detroit had better public services, better public spaces, better public transit, more pedestrian activity, etc., then I'm sure there would be more homeless visibility, as is the case in pretty much every major city that does well in those categories.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

For what it's worth, homeless people seem far more visible in SF than in Detroit. But not sure if that says about Detroit what some people think it might. If Detroit had better public services, better public spaces, better public transit, more pedestrian activity, etc., then I'm sure there would be more homeless visibility, as is the case in pretty much every major city that does well in those categories.

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This is all completely made up fan-fiction nonsense. it's not visibility. Detroit's homeless population is in fact very small and they're almost all sheltered.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/articl...for-third-year

I'm not sure where you get off accusing the city of not having good public services since it's the success of the public initiative to help homeless in the city that is responsible for the population being so low and rapidly declining every year. Incompetent, expensive and corrupt cities like San Francisco struggle, not surprising.

Detroit has great public spaces, more nonsense.

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

Incompetent, expensive and corrupt cities like San Francisco struggle, not surprising.

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Good to know that all those McNamara, Kwame, and CAY associates just magically disappeared!

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

This is all completely made up fan-fiction nonsense. it's not visibility. Detroit's homeless population is in fact very small and they're almost all sheltered.

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Not sure why you think my statement is in disagreement with that.

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

I'm not sure where you get off accusing the city of not having good public services since it's the success of the public initiative to help homeless in the city that is responsible for the population being so low and rapidly declining every year. Incompetent, expensive and corrupt cities like San Francisco struggle, not surprising.

Detroit has great public spaces, more nonsense.

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You really need to get out more if you think Detroit has great public spaces.

I've visited/lived in cities all over east and west. Campus Martius, Grand Circus Park, Capital Park etc. all great public spaces that most cities don't have.

The reality is homelessness is not really a problem for Detroit and Detroit streets are very clean, the haters can get over this massive blow.

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

...Also the city's homeless population is likely the lowest in the country...

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^^^I pulled the actual raw data from 2017 to back up the ridiculous claim by the above poster and of course, it's bullshit.

In reality, Detroit is solidly in the middle when it comes to its homeless population in absolute numbers. And to be completely fair, I narrowed the list to only the top 50 major cities [[just as HUD does when presenting their annual report to Congress).

1. Virginia Beach CoC 349
2. Raleigh/Wake County CoC 884
3. Milwaukee City & County CoC 900
4. Louisville/Jefferson County CoC 1,034
5. Tulsa City & County/Broken Arrow CoC 1,074
6. El Paso City & County CoC 1,193
7. New Orleans/Jefferson Parish CoC 1,301
8. Albuquerque CoC 1,318
9. Oklahoma City CoC 1,368
10. Omaha/Council Bluffs CoC 1,389
11. Colorado Springs/El Paso County CoC 1,415
12. Memphis/Shelby County CoC 1,426
13. Charlotte/Mecklenberg CoC 1,476
14. Tucson/Pima County CoC 1,574
15. Kansas City, Independence, Lee’s 16. Summit/Jackson, Wyandotte Counties, MO & KS 1,671
16. Columbus/Franklin County CoC 1,691
17. Indianapolis CoC 1,783
18. Long Beach CoC 1,863
19. Jacksonville-Duval, Clay Counties CoC 1,869
20. Fort Worth/Arlington/Tarrant County CoC 1,941
21. Fresno/Madera County CoC 2,016
22. Austin/Travis County CoC 2,036
23. Detroit CoC 2,078
24. Nashville/Davidson County CoC 2,337
25. Baltimore City CoC 2,669

The full list/breakdown was pulled from the spreadsheet in the link below titled "2007 - 2017 PIT Counts By COCs"

https://www.hudexchange.info/resourc...ta-since-2007/

It's ok to be passionate about boosting your city, but if you must make up facts to do so, you lose credibility.

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

Campus Martius, Grand Circus Park, Capital Park etc. all great public spaces that most cities don't have.

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LMAO!!! I repeat...

"It's ok to be passionate about boosting your city, but if you must make up facts to do so, you lose credibility."

I can't think of a major US city [[let alone the world) that doesn't have "great public spaces" [[whatever that's supposed to mean).

2,078?

Is that some kind of per capita figure? Certainly there are more than 2,100 homeless people in Detroit. I might believe 21,000. Or don't they count those squatting in shelled out remnants of what used to be homes?

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

..Incompetent, expensive and corrupt cities like San Francisco struggle, not surprising...

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San Francisco expensive?

No argument here. I have absolutely no desire to live there and live with a bunch of roommates in shoe box.

That being said, Its metro area has added nearly 400,000 people in the past decade, so for a lot of people, the high costs aren't enough to deter them from living there [[this is part of what drives the COL BTW, supply vs. demand). Furthermore, for everyone else, there are quite a few options in terms of "bang for your buck" between expensive San Francisco and Detroit, so I'm not sure how this fact alone necessarily makes Detroit look any better. Just as San Francisco is expensive for a reason, the inverse also applies as Detroit is cheap for a reason.

San Francisco corrupt?

Yeah, I don't think people in glass houses should throw stones. A study was recently by the University of Illinois at Chicago that rankrd the 15 most corrupt cities in the US by the number of federal corruption convictions. San Francisco is nowhere to be found on the list, but guess what city landed at #8?

https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/1...for-2018.html/

Now, one could say the corrupt leaders in San Francisco just haven't got caught. That's possible, but what that suggests to me is they're apparently a lot more competent at their jobs if they have avoided corruption charges, which brings us to the next item...

San Francisco incompetent?

True, San Francisco has budget problems as a result of its long-term debt obligations [[like most big legacy cities), but Detroit isn't that much better off. The bankruptcy helped it to kick the can down the road some by restructing its pension obligations, but it's still suffering from the fundamental problems of an unstable/non-diverse economy and a relatively small middle class/corporate tax base. Plus, the quality of services it offers still range from mediocre by first world standards to third world-like. San Francisco, on the other hand, is still able to offer its citizens excellent level of services for their tax dollars [[amongst the top 25 in the country in terms of quality).

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.inm...n-america/amp/

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Originally Posted by Meddle

2,078?

Is that some kind of per capita figure? Certainly there are more than 2,100 homeless people in Detroit. I might believe 21,000. Or don't they count those squatting in shelled out remnants of what used to be homes?

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It's a "Point-In-Time" estimate. Basically, cities across the country pick some random day/night to have shelters provide a ball-park figure of how many peope they're housing right then and there.

It's obviously flawed, but it is the "official" number the Federal Government uses, so why not go with it for the sake of this discussion. It doesn't change my point

313WX, your posts are great. It shows that Detroit is back in the conversation. The fact that you do it from another city shows how far Detroit has come in terms of being in the conversation. Some see you as negative, but it shows much more as far as Detroit's come back, this is great for the city and keep up the great work!!! The stats that you show don't stunt the growth of the City, or stop the many people who move in and enjoy the great spaces and parks. Keep up the great work that you do!!! It shows more and more that the city you live in is not that interesting as the great city of Detroit!!!

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Originally Posted by bragaboutme

313WX, your posts are great. It shows that Detroit is back in the conversation...

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Thank you.

I'm not sure what you mean as far as your second sentence. Detroit has never been "out" of the conversation.

That said, the reality [[as proven in this thread) is that people do severely oversell the good things happening in Detroit. It's great to celebrate the "progress" that has been made over the past half-decade, but the truth is Detroit and Michigan continue to lack in a lot of ways [[in terms of QOL) compared to other major cities.

Instead of thumbing your noses at natives who have left the region and care enough to offer their unpopular opinion, why not embrace their constructive feedback and focus on taking the aggressive steps to address the things being criticized?

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Originally Posted by Meddle

2,078?

Is that some kind of per capita figure? Certainly there are more than 2,100 homeless people in Detroit. I might believe 21,000. Or don't they count those squatting in shelled out remnants of what used to be homes?

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I'm pretty sure that count only includes people city government employees personally found in their "point in time count" survey, walking around trying to find people living in the street. That doesn't include people taking shelter in the abundance of abandoned homes. And last year they conducted the survey in the dead of winter, on January 31. The low temperature was 12 degrees that night! In other words a tiny tiny tiny fraction of the reality. [[If you think the census undercounts the homeless...)

Tasha Gray, Executive Director of the Detroit Homeless Action Network, said that’s the lowest count they've seen “in a number of years.” But she also said Detroit's actual homeless population is around 14,000.

I don't have a bone to pick in this debate, but you probably know by now I'm a stickler for facts.

Among the many reasons the homeless are much more visible in San Francisco is abandoned homes are practically nonexistent, the city is four times denser, unused space barely exists, and the weather never gets so cold.

Also, services for the homeless in San Francisco are pretty great compared to most cities'.

According to Jeff Kositsky, director of San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, there are about 20,000 homeless people living in San Francisco at one time or another per year.

Detroit has a population of 673,000. San Francisco's is 884,000 [[in an area less than a third as big as Detroit). Using Gray and Kositsky's numbers that puts Detroit's per capita homeless population at 2.1%. And it puts San Francisco's at 2.3%. That's not much of a difference, despite all the good reasons why it's better to be homeless over there.

Detroit leaders credit "housing first" strategy with reducing homelessness
http://www.michiganradio.org/post/de...g-homelessness

What it really costs to help the homeless. And how businesses can do more
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...s-13178743.php

Wow, we're off topic, eh?

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

There are no needles or feces anywhere in central Detroit, that's completely fake news and alternative facts. Also the city's homeless population is likely the lowest in the country, and you best believe "non-poor" are walking the streets.

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LOL! I hope this is satire. No bums or street poop in Detroit, "obviously". The 27 dudes I see asking for money every time I head downtown are all figments of my imagination, and the streets are obviously sparkling clean! Hell, I regularly eat dinners right off the Cass Corridor pavement.

And rich folks obviously are strolling the ghetto on a regular basis. Bloomfield swells, in their parasols and top hats, regularly promenade through Dexter Davison.

^ the only thing satirical here are you and your la-la-land fantasy posts from an alternate universe.

Beggars exist in every city in America, that's just a fact of big cities, that in no way is proof of homeless and feces being a significant problem in Detroit at least nowhere near the level of a place like San Francisco. The facts are there the stats are there, what you think and feel is meaningless. Detroit doesn't have a homeless/fecal matter problem, end of story.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 313WX

^^^I pulled the actual raw data from 2017 to back up the ridiculous claim by the above poster and of course, it's bullshit.

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That's not accurate data, lol legit the article I posted shows it's well below 2,000

That's not middle pack at all, you're comparing Detroit to cities significantly smaller, pure manipulation and you wanna talk about credibility? get real.

Here's an actual comparison of all the major cities, Detroit being at the very bottom, lmfao.

https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/defa...7_homeless.png

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

That's not accurate data, lol...

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It's data from literally the same source referenced in the Crain's article you posted earlier.

The Crain's article puts the homeless count at 1,769 which is a 15% decrease from last year.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

The Crain's article puts the homeless count at 1,769 which is a 15% decrease from last year.

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Still waiting for you to back up your BS claim that Detroit has the lowest homeless population in the country.

What raw data from HUD are you comparing that claim to? Or will you just admit you were wrong?

FYI Zerohedge pushes conspiracy theories and is almost certainly part of the Russian propaganda network.

Media Bias Fact Check: ZeroHedge
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/zero-hedge/

Prop or Not: ZeroHedge
http://www.propornot.com/2016/10/zero-hedge.html

JPMorgan has pulled ads from Zero Hedge that ended up there by accident
https://qz.com/1067868/jpmorgan-remo...on-zero-hedge/

Facebook is promoting conspiracy theory website Zero Hedge in Trending topics
https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/20...-topics/219160

Here are the conservative media outlets and figures pushing the outlandish theory that Christine Blasey Ford misidentified her attacker
https://www.mediamatters.org/shows-a...ons/zero-hedge

https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/1...for-2018.html/

I had no idea there was a place more corrupt than Chicago, but not surprised to learn it's DC. I lived in Chicago for about 20 years, and after complaining several times about certain issues in what was generally consider a nice area, it was carefully mentioned to me that I should consider a donation to my alderman. Said I thought that's what property taxes were about, i received a snicker. Wish i was on the phone and had that recorded.

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Originally Posted by Bham1982

Those companies are in every major metro. Firms like Google are everywhere. And a lot of bigtech staffing in Detroit is due to auto industry advertising. It isn't like they're hiring tons of software dudes.

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Except if you go look at what Accenture is hiring for in Detroit, a lot of it is techie/dev jobs.

Bham wrong again...

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Originally Posted by 313WX

Instead of thumbing your noses at natives who have left the region and care enough to offer their unpopular opinion, why not embrace their constructive feedback and focus on taking the aggressive steps to address the things being criticized?

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You bailed. If you are not willing to "focus on taking the aggressive steps to address the things being criticized", why do you think others should?

Furthermore, you rarely give any suggestions on how to make the region more attractive. Georgia is more attractive because of its climate, the lower taxes, and the lack of unions. Michigan can't do anything about its climate, we need to raise taxes to improve our roads & our public transit & our public education, and unions have less and less impact, but they still are a necessity to ensure good wages and benefits.

So what exactly is Detroit/Michigan supposed to do to become like Georgia?????

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

Except if you go look at what Accenture is hiring for in Detroit, a lot of it is techie/dev jobs.

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I think what Accenture did is set up their technical back office in Livonia and that might be what you're seeing ads around. This is a trend for large consulting firms. My firm set up something similar about 8 or 9 years ago down and it has been a huge success.

If that is indeed what's in Livonia, then it is different from the client-facing office that is moving downtown. Every major city will have a client-facing office, and those usually go in the business centers, in order to be near the clients. The technical back office operations usually go to low cost some suburban office park, but there is typically only one per domestic market.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by masterblaster

So what exactly is Detroit/Michigan supposed to do to become like Georgia?????

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I answered your question once before.

If you want to know my response, please review the Amazon HQ2 where I quoted you specifically in my response.

I'm not repeating myself.

More tech expansion...

PwC adding 125 jobs in Detroit for cybersecurity team

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PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has established a cybersecurity center in its downtown Detroit office

About 125 employees will be added to PwC's office at One Detroit Center

Most of the jobs will be entry-level college graduate recruits

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is adding 125 information-technology workers over three years to its downtown Detroit office for a new internal cybersecurity team the global accounting firm began building last year.
PwC chose Detroit for a new Network Information Security office and Security Operations Center because of the region's lower cost of living, access to IT talent and its geographic location in the Eastern Time Zone, said Ray Telang, managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's Michigan operations.

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https://www.crainsdetroit.com/servic...rsecurity-team

Not in the city but a hundred more in A2

Silicon Valley company hires 100 in Ann Arbor

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PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - Software development company Nexient has promised to bring 300 jobs to the Ann Arbor area by 2020 and has already hired more than planned in the first year.
The company aimed to fill 60 jobs in 2018 but reached 100 with help from a $1.5-million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Nexient aims to hire jobs in digital product design, development and quality engineering, according to a news release.

“Michigan’s vibrant tech economy is attractive for fast-growing companies like Nexient,” said Jeff Mason, MEDC chief executive officer. “Michigan is the place where high-tech talent demands can be met, and tech companies can grow. With a strong culture of innovation and learning, our state is a magnet for the software talent they need.”

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https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor...ann-arbor.html

A few hundred jobs is peanuts if the city wants to brand itself as a Silicon [blank]. My view continues to be that the best strategy is to build upon existing strengths in manufacturing. Cars are already just sophisticated computers with wheels, so it's really about integrating software with heavy machinery. How can advanced manufacturing and the software that is integrated with it, continue to grow here?

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Originally Posted by Worldsgreatest

Not in the city but a hundred more in A2

Silicon Valley company hires 100 in Ann Arbor



https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor...ann-arbor.html

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Ann Arbor, not Detroit, is at least Michigan's, if not the Midwest's [[maybe) tech hub.

https://www.clickondetroit.com/all-a...n-arbor-center

And it is getting f-ing expensive to live here as a result. No longer a hippie university town, it is now pretty yuppified and bland IMO - and extremely livable [[if you can afford it).

Royal Oak and Grosse Pointe home prices expensive? *Laughs in Ann Arbor*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by casscorridor

A few hundred jobs is peanuts if the city wants to brand itself as a Silicon [blank]. My view continues to be that the best strategy is to build upon existing strengths in manufacturing. Cars are already just sophisticated computers with wheels, so it's really about integrating software with heavy machinery. How can advanced manufacturing and the software that is integrated with it, continue to grow here?

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Agreed completely.

Not to forget the average SF temperatures that are never too hot and never too cold, seldom more than a 30 degree range between winter and summer.

Umm, these are just a few examples. The point is it's a solid sign of a healthy tech ecosystem in Michigan which is obviously growing. Ford's campuses are adding thousands of tech-related jobs as well but nothing is good enough for DetroitYes negative nancies.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by casscorridor

A few hundred jobs is peanuts if the city wants to brand itself as a Silicon [blank]. My view continues to be that the best strategy is to build upon existing strengths in manufacturing. Cars are already just sophisticated computers with wheels, so it's really about integrating software with heavy machinery. How can advanced manufacturing and the software that is integrated with it, continue to grow here?

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I agree but I think that the idea is to get away from the Automotive Industry and start new industries inside Detroit. Complimenting or assisting the Big 3 will be nice but having them as the only client would be ass backward