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Governor to reveal plan for battling crime in Flint, Detroit, Saginaw, Pontiac
[$20 million will be heading to Detroit, Pontiac, Flint and Saginaw] will go for everything from physical structures, such as a $4.5 million jail in Flint, to programs such as a federal-state-local partnership to combat crime in Detroit.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/M...x/-/index.html
$20 million isn't anything, especially when divided between four cities with very high crime rates. That's not to mention that even the optics of this "help" are a joke considering this is money that cities should be getting anyway through revenue sharing that governors have been cutting to cities over a decade. Reopening Flint's jail, just as the example they give, is not a "crime plan," not even close. Any little bit helps, of course, but for him to be trotting this out as some major crime initiative is almost insulting.
Now, if he would have plowed all of this money into ONE of the smaller cities on the list [[Pontiac or Saginaw) as a king of test case to experiment with different things to see if they work, that might have at least looked creative. Dividing crumbs on the table that is seating the largest city in the state is laughable.
What I'd really love to see the state experiment with is find a way to incentivize municipal foot patrols across the state in high-crime areas. Not just getting more officers from behind the desks, but actually have them walking beats. We need more human contact with the community. Continually throwing money at facilities and technology isn't doing anything.
Michigannow.org story from Flint where Snyder will introduce his crime plan today.
Thanks to the C.S. Mott Foundation, a group called Uptown, and Dan Kildee's Land Bank, downtown Flint has experienced a resurgence much like downtown Detroit or mid-town Detroit. But there are vast tracts of wasteland, partly because of the marginal quality housing far from anything else. North side of Flint is a lot like the East, North, West side of Detroit.
http://www.michigannow.org/2012/03/0...jobs-not-guns/
Downtown Flint is in horrible shape. 100 times worse than Detroit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zaiko
If that's a resurgence, I hate to see what Flint was like back in the day.
One of the biggest problems with Flint is that the built environment is terrible. 99% of the homes are throw-away cheaply built shotgun homes and super-tiny bungalows. There's almost nothing to gentrify, even if there were a local economy that would support gentrification.
20 million > 0 > -20 million. I'm happy that they've dedicated some cash to this problem. More money needs to be allocated, but Michigan doesn't have that much extra cash. Snyder is fiscally responsible. Typically we'd use deficit spending for fixing problems, only making things worse in the long run. The state actually made money and some of that was used for a worthy cause, unlike Granholm's 'cool cities' initiative.
More money was spent on the electricity used to power the computers that were used to type out all of the complaints and criticisms of the Cool Cities program than was actually spent on the program itself.
Novine,
That sounds accurate. Granholm never put any effort into it. And she could have had light rail long built by now.
Here's an ideal to stop crime:
1. Quit using plea deals on crooks and let them serve their full sentence.
2. Don't get theives, murderers, child molesters, rapists, sex offenders, prostitutes, street pharmacists, gang members, con-artists, organized crime folks and other serial killers and terrorists, ect... short sentences and signing up for parole.
3. Don't treat the American prison system like "Club Med". Make it hard, dark, dank, hellish, ancient style enviroment so the crook would learn its lesson not to return back to prison.
4. Start neighborhood block clubs and community policing.
5. Make the prison system a "Back to Society" system after a crook dealt the years of hard time. Except for murderers and killers.
6. Parents: You are going to have to teach your kids the difference from right from wrong before the hit the world. Teach them how to survive by cooking, cleaning, sewing, taking care of their bodies, washing their clothes. So they can be prepare for the changing times. Mommy and Daddy , Aunt and Uncle and Grandma, Grandpa and cousins will not be there for your when they get into an accident or just getting senile they you must take care of them and keep them out of those covalescent homes.
7. As long we have a civilization, please OBEY the laws! Some of us don't like it, but we have to follow it. It would keep the cops from following you from the patrol cars and hunting you like weak prey.
I completly disagree with your remark about downtown Flint. When I sarted regularly going Downtown Flint back in 2002 there was literaly nothing downtown. Outside of Citizens Bank headquarters, Halo Burger, Pauls Pipe Shop, The Torch Bar and Churchills Bar [[I am sure I am leaving a couple out) there were nothing but empty storefronts. In the 10 years since we have seen major renovations of historic buildings [[First St. Lofts, Economy Building, Community Foundation Buildings, etc.), new builds [[Rowe Building and Wade Trim Building), 6 million Dollar renovation of the Bus Station, and many of those empty storefronts have been filled with businesses like Blackstones Pub, The Lunch Studio, Brown Sugar Cafe, Flint Crepe Company, Raspberries Rythym Bar, Flint City T-Shirts, WNEM TV5 studio, Garibella Salon, Pages Book Store, Flint Journal's new office, Carriage Town Antique Center, Hoffman's Deco Deli, and many others that I am sure I am missing. Add to that the opening of 2 dorm buildings, the creation of many loft apartments, and the renovation of the Berridge Hotel [[from crack den to apts getting over $1000 per month in rent) and the Durant Hotel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bham1982
Downtown Flint has always been small compared to other similar sized cities and maybe thats why you call it horrible. Also, while yes, many areas of Flint were developed in the 50's and 60's with throw away homes it is far from your estimation of 99%. Have you visited the mansions and smaller homes in the College Cultural Neighborhood? How about the Mansions along Parkside Drive near the Golf Course? There are several well preserved Victorian Homes in Carriage Town as well as many homes in the neighborhood being renovated from the brink of demolition. While I appreciate your interest in my city please do not spread you completly uneducated BS about it. We in Flint have a long way to go but progress is being made and we don't need people bad mouthing the effort.
I couldn't agree more. While much of this city [[Flint) does have cheaply built homes, especially on the east side around the state streets, neighborhoods like College Cultural along Court Street or Woodcroft Estates along Miller Road and even Mott Park on the west side by Kettering University have some amazing housing stock. Also, downtown Flint is in amazing shape compared to 10 years ago. I have several relatives attending UM-Flint [[right in the heart of downtown) and one of their biggest compliments about the university is its location. Downtown is an exciting, fun place to hang out. Do we have a ways to go as far as downtown development goes? Of course. But downtown Flint is very much in a midtown-esque spot. Still too many vacant buildings but momentum that is sure to decrease the number of vacant buildings in the next few years. Bham1982 I invite you to visit Flint and I'm sure your mind will be changed.Quote:
Originally Posted by gumby