I've got it!!! [Belle Isle]

The "new" plan for Detroit, sell Belle Isle :eek: yep you heard me! sell it to a private developer make it a gated community it will sell out in weeks.

Amenities include sunrises across Lake St. Clair, sunsets across an international border and the Detroit river, golf course, nature museum, stocked private fishing pond, baseball diamonds, racquetball courts, a beach, boat docks, a lighthouse your own personal police station complete with mounted officers, as well as a closed zoo, a burned up horse barn, aging Greenhouse,Aqaurium, grass so tall it looks like meadows until it gets cut then it looks like hay, a closed casino...

Close off MacArthur Bridge make it a gated community it's twice the size of Central Park all it needs is 2 or 3 parking garages and watch the tax coffers fill up.

Great idea but without industry in the city it will never happen.


Who's going to lay out that kind of investment in a home when there isn't even employment in the area.

How is Bob-Lo fairing now?

Old idea, bad idea. Sorry. Back in the very early casino fantasy days there was a plan for condos and casinos foisted, with a sop to the public that would leave some parkland. I wonder if anyone has a copy of the architectural rendering. I remember it being in one of the newspapers. I'm going to guess late eighties.

gated communities are not the answer.

Detroiters ain't havin it. That's all that needs to be said.

I've got a better idea.

Everyone in America buys a Ford.

Then Detroit will once again be the Paris of the Midwest, guaranteed.

Somebody's been drinking...that, or they've gone off their meds.

Tallboy, you don't have anything but a case of the crazies, son.

I know I'm beating a dead horse. The best proposition that I've heard is to run it like a metro-park. Let the People who appreciate this space also help its upkeep. This is the wrong time for any development in the housing market. Market prices for existing homes eliminate the need for new development in this area. Not to mention its is more expensive right now build an empty lot than purchase and renovate an existing structure. Selling parkland in the city is a bad proposition. Re-inventing a desolate neighborhoods [[Gated community or not) seems a better option. the infrastructure is already in place. If only we could get peoples attitude and perspective in that place, Detroit may have a chance. I like the authors enthusiasm for getting to the root of the problem. Developing parkland is a bad idea.

I say put a nominal charge on the bridge for weekends and evenings - that would keep the Friday night crowd from heading over there. The benefit is even if they do go there at least they would be contributing to a fund that could be used for the clean-up afterward. Give the DYC/Golf course people a pass so it's free for them and guests so the revenue driven businesses don't suffer.

Selling an asset outright produces a chunk of cash that disappears into the great maw of deficit spending forever. Now you have nothing and you still have a deficit. Producing income from the asset is a better idea. The community should like that better than losing the park completely.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by East Detroit

I've got a better idea.

Everyone in America buys a Ford.

Then Detroit will once again be the Paris of the Midwest, guaranteed.

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Thank you East Detroit.

What you drive drives America!
Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by East Detroit

I've got a better idea.

Everyone in America buys a Ford.

Then Detroit will once again be the Paris of the Midwest, guaranteed.

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I've got an even better idea.

Diversify our region's economy with new and varied industries so we're not dependent on one commodity to drive our livelihood. Make Detroit the new technology mecca of America.

Tying Detroit primarily to the auto is soooooo 20th century. That needs to end and we need to move beyond that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by East Detroit

I've got a better idea.

Everyone in America buys a Ford.

Then Detroit will once again be the Paris of the Midwest, guaranteed.

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Dont you mean to say that Dearborn will be the new Paris of the Midwest ?

pfffft.

They are a bunch of outsourcing bastards just like everybody else.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mauser

Dont you mean to say that Dearborn will be the new Paris of the Midwest ?

pfffft.

They are a bunch of outsourcing bastards just like everybody else.

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I spent 6 months for Ford in Hermosillo - I support that statement

/drives an Audi and not out of a job yet

I thought maybe it was an old idea but it seemed to far out. Buying a Ford will help Ford but since the auto companies in the U.S. [[foreign or not) employ Americans such as the only Mitsubishi plant in the U.S. [[about 2 hours from Chicago) and Chrysler may have had partial holdings in it and after being merged with Daimler, Fiat and who know what else? Diversification is the way to go.

Remember that old saying about putting all youe eggs in one basket? When you drop it they all break.

And if you make it an exclusive resort type gated community for the ultra rich the city collect taxes so they can continue to build parking lots on demolished building sites.

See a win/win.

*if you can't hear the sarcasm in my post then...?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DanFromDetroit

I spent 6 months for Ford in Hermosillo - I support that statement

/drives an Audi and not out of a job yet

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HINFY. Which Audi is designed and built and profits in Metro Detroit?

I drive only Ford vehicles designed, built and profits in Metro Detroit. F150, Mustang, Focus.

But I guess our self loathing and "all for me" mentality negates any pride or real sense of community.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by East Detroit

I drive only Ford vehicles designed, built and profits in Metro Detroit. F150, Mustang, Focus.

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Well, shoot don't look too closely at your radio, speakers, antenna, etc. because each of those suppliers except for maybe one makes those items in China and Japan. However, those same suppliers do have local offices in the Metro Detroit area so their metro Detroit employees do benefit from being a Ford supplier. And so do their employees in China.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by East Detroit

But I guess our self loathing and "all for me" mentality negates any pride or real sense of community.

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So, you believe that "sense of community" is tied to believing that Detroit is, and will always be, an auto town?

Sorry, but I'm not a believer in that. The sooner Detroit cuts its emotional and economic umbilical cord to the car industry, the sooner we all can move on and create a better city/metro area. It's a new era. It's time to move on to bigger things.

Why not test having a toll booth [[without a gate) from 8-5 with a voluntary suggested entrance fee, as is often done at museums? Have a sign before people reach the booth - "We're asking for 2 or 3 dollars per vehicle to help maintain our beautiful island park but please pay what you can afford." While museums may attract a higher demographic than the avg. belle isle user, very few people enter these type of places without paying something. I'm guessing you'd collect several thousand bucks a week, especially May-Sept.
Heck it makes you feel good to think you're contributing to the upkeep of the park just like dropping a couple of bucks in the Salvation Army kettle makes you feel this time of year. You could obviously have an annual membership for regular users.