Is there any goodwill left in this city?

[BrushStart]

To some, this topic may seem somewhat nebulous.... it is. To me, there seems to be a wave of overwhelming negativity cresting over Metropolitan Detroit. There are few optimistic and hopeful leaders, few bright stars offering solutions, few people interested in "rising to the challenge" [[for whatever that means to you).

I see a lot of stifling pessimism, self-loathing, disgruntlement, closed-off attitudes, unjustified NIMBY behavior, unreasonableness, finger-pointing, bitter apathy, melancholy, griping, stubbornness, and the undermining of others. Often times, it is not even understandable. I find that in Metro Detroit, too many people are reserved to a life of misery and get off on spreading it. People with a bad demeanor are way too common.

I don't like using current events as examples, but the demise of light rail without any public discourse, the reaction of the Troy city council to federal transit funding, among so many other examples, highlight this pervasive negativity. There is a "stick it to the other guy" mentality that is both sickening and maddening about Metro Detroit. It's Schadenfreude to the extreme.

Instead of trying to work through problems for the betterment of the collective, people seem to enjoy watching others drown and our society collapse so long as they still have a little air left in their floaties. Why? What happened to people caring about things bigger than themselves? What happened to pride? What happened to civility and civic-mindedness? What happened to our bountiful work ethic and infinite desire for innovation?

The condition of the city/metro is one thing, but the attitudes of so many people is even harder to handle. It just makes being here tiresome and depressing. I wonder if there is any goodwill left in this city...

[Matt The Deuce]

Maybe the brain drain is starting to show it brainless head.

Very short sighted, close minded, provincial decisions are unfortunately being made by people who were elected to lead.

Do these people realize that the time to invest in infrastructure, or should I say accept investment, is when the times are tough. This is when you double down - especially for needed infrastructure. Both sides of the aisle for the most part agree on this issue.

It's a matter of priorities.

Invest in the city and find the minimal money it will take to fund ongoing operations - which wouldn't end up being that much anyway.

If you want growth, you need to invest.

[old guy]

Good thought, expressed well Brushstart.

[canuck]

Brushstart, I noticed that tendency in the naysayers who keep hammering the issue of incompetency and corruption in order to convey that the problems of Detroit are out of their hands.

I call this attitude "The punitive factor". I call it that because I see it as a recurring theme in american politics on the right. I was listening to Mitt Romney last night on Charlie Rose and it was just as depressing as what you mention in your post.

[401don]

And when you think things have hit rock bottom.....

http://www.freep.com/article/2011122...text|FRONTPAGE

[gazhekwe]

Is there good will anywhere in the country these days? We seem to have lost that collective community spirit that keeps infrastructure in order and builds to a better future.

It's all about ME, mine, and watch out, anybody that needs help is a lazy slacker. Notice that the whole argument about unemployment extension is devolving into people not wanting to work, or getting overpaid.

[313WX]

To be fair, there isn't a whole lot to be optimistic about.

I mean, we've been stuck in neutral since 1970. That's nothing to be proud of.

[lilpup]

There's good will out there put it usually has its priorities straight and won't be found among public poseurs, politicians, high profile con men, the conflict loving media. et al.

Good will works quietly and on issues that *really* matter.

[KJ5]

Over 1,000 volunteers got out to look for poor little Bianca Jones. And lots of people volunteer for Angel's Night every year, too. There's your goodwill right there.

[illwill]

When our city is constantly being over shadowed by other regional cities it's hard not to feel as though Detroit is a city that's remained stagnent for the past 50 years. I don't blame Chicago and others because they're only doing what they're suppose to do. You never hear the City of Chicago bad mouthing Detroit, yet it's ALWAYS Metro Detroit bad mouthing Detroit.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/job...ld/109/#slide4

[andyguard]

There's gotta be a few sparks of sweet humanity left in this burned-out bird. We just gotta find a way to mobilize it!

[rjk]

Here's what I would put on the list:

All having served, serving, or soon to be serving jail time.
Kwame Kilpatrick
Monica Conyers
Sam Riddle
Sherry Washington [[Fraudulently billing DPS 3.3 million)
----------
Shenetta Coleman [[Fired head of the Detroit DHS-Over $200,000 meant for poor people spent on furniture)
Bob Ficano

[Bham1982]

You never hear the City of Chicago bad mouthing Detroit, yet it's ALWAYS Metro Detroit bad mouthing Detroit.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/job...ld/109/#slide4

I don't know if you've ever lived outside of Metro Detroit, but that definitely isn't the case. Detroit has a bad reputation nationwide, much worse than locally, and folks badmouth the city all the time.

That link of economically powerful cities is really silly, BTW. The San Francisco Bay Area, which has a bigger economy than Chicago or even Paris, isn't even listed. Boston, which is the 8th largest economy in the U.S., is inexplicably ranked 6th on the planet.

[313WX]

That link of economically powerful cities is really silly, BTW. The San Francisco Bay Area, which has a bigger economy than Chicago or even Paris, isn't even listed. Boston, which is the 8th largest economy in the U.S., is inexplicably ranked 6th on the planet.

Just because an eocnomy is large on a local basis doesn't mean it's the most powerful globally.

For example, Detroit by default has the largest economy of any location in Michigan. But would you say it has one of the most powerful economies globally.

[ordinary]

There's good will out there put it usually has its priorities straight and won't be found among public poseurs, politicians, high profile con men, the conflict loving media. et al.

Good will works quietly and on issues that *really* matter.

This is what I believe also. What people need to do every once in a while is to avoid listening to the news for a while. I'm not saying to stick your head in the sand but with the 24-hour news going on, i.e. "the conflict loving media", it's hard to not become depressed.

I think I was born too late. I would have been better in the era, when the politicians came into town, spewed their bullshit, and then left.

[illwill]

I don't know if you've ever lived outside of Metro Detroit, but that definitely isn't the case. Detroit has a bad reputation nationwide, much worse than locally, and folks badmouth the city all the time.

That link of economically powerful cities is really silly, BTW. The San Francisco Bay Area, which has a bigger economy than Chicago or even Paris, isn't even listed. Boston, which is the 8th largest economy in the U.S., is inexplicably ranked 6th on the planet.

Hey Bham,

I personally think Detroit has a bigger economic impact than the city of Chicago. In fact I argue that we have the number 1 or 2 impact in the US and globally as well. I'm not so quick to give all the glory to New York. If the automobile industry died then the world would be STUCK in time.

But unfortunately the Automotive industry is no longer ONLY centered in Detroit so the industry can still hum along even though Detroit remains the same. I think we should have stock markets right here in Detroit because this should be ground zero for the industry. Unfortunately the markets are in NY.

[cman710]

Hey Bham,

I personally think Detroit has a bigger economic impact than the city of Chicago. In fact I argue that we have the number 1 or 2 impact in the US and globally as well. I'm not so quick to give all the glory to New York. If the automobile industry died then the world would be STUCK in time.

While it depends on how you define "impact," I think it is hard to argue that metro Detroit has a bigger economic impact than Chicago It may be the case that Detroit's contributions are more visible [[i.e., cars), but Chicago is a far larger city and metro area, with a much larger economy. For example, Chicago's services economy [[finance, insurance, real estate) is one of the largest in the country, whereas Detroit's is comparatively tiny.

In 2010, the Chicago metro area had a GDP of about 532 billion, whereas the Detroit metro area had a GDP of about 198 billion. Suffice it to say that both are very significant, though.

[lilpup]

While it depends on how you define "impact," I think it is hard to argue that metro Detroit has a bigger economic impact than Chicago It may be the case that Detroit's contributions are more visible [[i.e., cars), but Chicago is a far larger city and metro area, with a much larger economy.

Not all that long ago Detroit was the city that exported more than any other in the US [[probably all of GM's exports were counted as from Detroit). I think Houston is now, due to shipping out oil exploration equipment. And no one can dispute the amount of international trade that crosses the border here, going to our #1 trading partner Canada.

GDP arguments are kind of bogus in that they don't reflect how much of the activity is confined locally vs how much goes out of state, more or less out of the country. California brags about the size of its economy but much of that business never leaves California and thus doesn't benefit others, so who else cares?

[Bham1982]

I just noticed that LA, which has the world's third largest economy, isn't even on that list. Silicon Valley, probably the most envied economic center on earth, isn't on the list.

But Stockhom, an economic pipsqueak compared even to Detroit, is on the list.

The list appears to be garbage, with no rhyme or reason. It isn't raw economic size, it isn't wealth, it isn't corporate HQ. I don't know what it is.

[Danny]

The only goodwill left in Detroit is those who sacrifice their 'me' time to provide for the 'we' timers. Detroit has 718,000 people or more, There are over 550,000 African Americans left its very large ghettohoods. 90,000 white folks, 10,000 Asians, and 48,000 Mexican-Hispanics in their SW Detroit barriohoods.

The suburbs has over 4 million middle class whites, out of the middle class whites is close to million poor whites. There are over 200,000 middle class blacks. Out of the middle class are over 70,000 poor blacks. I see the goodwill of white folks and ant other ethnic folks and few blacks from the suburbs put their sacrifices into Detroit's infrastructure. They are well aware of the constant violent crimes all ove the ghettohoods to the SW barriohoods. I want to see all of Detroiters put their goodwill into the city and the suburbs. Even into the new year. Don't cry to the feeble hope to your leaders. Thye are in a lot of pressure to reform and uphold the law, taxes and regionalization. Show some goodwill to other people on Jesus' birthday and hopefully Detroitand the suburbs will improve for years to come.

[lilpup]

I just noticed that LA, which has the world's third largest economy, isn't even on that list. Silicon Valley, probably the most envied economic center on earth, isn't on the list.

But Stockhom, an economic pipsqueak compared even to Detroit, is on the list.

The list appears to be garbage, with no rhyme or reason. It isn't raw economic size, it isn't wealth, it isn't corporate HQ. I don't know what it is.

No, this is the exact "large economy" bs argument I addressed above. Just because an economy is large it doesn't necessarily have global impact. The auto industry's reach is truly worldwide.

In sheer eyeball count Bollywood probably far outpaces Hollywood now.

[guito13]

Perhaps the people who used to pass along that goodwill you speak of have been jaded by the policies of the past 30 years. It seems that the people who do the right thing are the ones who end up getting the short end of the stick. Maybe they have given up, after scores of attempts to "be the good guy" maybe they have finally learned that it dosent pay?

[iheartthed]

I don't know if you've ever lived outside of Metro Detroit, but that definitely isn't the case. Detroit has a bad reputation nationwide, much worse than locally, and folks badmouth the city all the time.

I think Detroit's reputation is pretty bad nationwide, but I don't think it's worse than the local perception. I also think it's the suburban perception that has helped drive the national perception of Detroit. The suburban perception of the city may be slightly more nuanced [[i.e. differentiate between Comerica Park and everywhere else in the city), but not much.

From my perspective living outside of Detroit, a lot of people view Detroit as a hell-hole and measure the state of Michigan by their perception of Detroit. I even have friends who wouldn't give serious consideration to attending U-M because of their perception of the state of Michigan... which is tied to the image of Detroit.

[Bham1982]

No, this is the exact "large economy" bs argument I addressed above. Just because an economy is large it doesn't necessarily have global impact. The auto industry's reach is truly worldwide.

I would argue that Hollywood, and the general pop culture that eminates from LA, has huge global impact. LA is probably the closest thing to a global entertainment capital [[or maybe co-capital with NYC), and entertainment is big business, whether Hollywood, music, adult business, etc.

And certainly the Bay Area has a huge and global economic impact. Apple, Google, Intel, Facebook, Adobe, Cisco, EBay, HP, etc. Does an industry get any bigger or more global than Silicon Valley?

[lilpup]

I would argue that Hollywood, and the general pop culture that eminates from LA, has huge global impact. LA is probably the closest thing to a global entertainment capital [[or maybe co-capital with NYC), and entertainment is big business, whether Hollywood, music, adult business, etc.

Most Americans don't even realize how much Hollywood steals from foreign markets and influences and regurgitates for American consumption. Hollywood influence is nowhere near as dominant as it used to be. Some places actively work against it. While NYC might be a media hub it, too, has been diluted over the years, particularly due to the narrow vision of the utter crap it spews.

We're lucky here in that we can flip on CBC tv or listen locally to BBC World News for at least part of the day so that one can escape the American noise and get a much better and broader perspective of what's going on. I'll bet most Americans rarely even explore foreign news websites, defaulting instead to the repetitive snooze of CNN, MSNBC, et. al. online.