The World is Watching Detroit

[PeachLaser]

Detroit is getting a lot of attention these days!

Much of it is positive after decades of negativity.

Detroit, you have seen the best and the worst, what does the future look like?

The world wants to hear what you have to say and...

see how you vote. : )

Go Detroit!

Speak and vote your conscious and let the world know what is ahead in the future of Detroit.

You are making progress, what is working?

[Mikeg]

Detroit is getting a lot of attention these days!

Much of it is positive after decades of negativity.

Detroit, you have seen the best and the worst, what does the future look like?

The world wants to hear what you have to say and...

see how you vote. : )

Go Detroit!

Speak and vote your conscious and let the world know what is ahead in the future of Detroit.

You are making progress, what is working?

Somebody's been watching too many Chrysler commercials.

Excuse us, but half-time is over and we've got some serious work to do. The outcome is still in doubt.

[Occurrence]

The possibility of a financial manager taking over the city doesn't really strike me as positive. Not to mention the current state of the DPS.

The Chrysler commercials are nice and all, but people need to get back to reality here.

[tweb]

I don't think that very many people have overdosed on the Chrysler ad happy pills, particularly the last one, which was some overly sentimental boosterism that was more about "morning in America" than it was about Detroit. Still, accentuating the positive goes a long way to getting places like LA, PHX, SD, and MIA where they are. Seriously, Miami? Hurricanes, swamps, and gators...but people get wrapped up in the hype, and it grows. Phoenix? I lived there; it's nice, but a desert is a desert is a desert. Detroit has SO much more going for it!
I hope that the mayor, politicians, planners, and residents will take this moment in the City's venerable history to step back and create a bold vision for the future and then SELL IT!

[Artistic]

Nothing stays the same
Change is inevitable
Positive energy outstrips negative energy - even if it takes time

Detroits future? You just read it.

[Detroit68]

Having traveled quite a bit during the past year for work [[NY, LA, SF), I am amazed how often people make positive comments about Detroit's come back, specifically about the number of artist who are moving into the city. I also think the return of the automotive industry has had a lot to do with the positive impression people have. I have always believed that Detroit was a "leading indicator" for the national economy and this past recession has supported this claim - i.e., the housing crisis started in Detroit/Michigan and the rest of the country followed. Now it appears Detroit and the auto industry / manufacturing may lead the rest of the country out of the recession.

[Mikeg]

....what does the future look like?
The world wants to hear what you have to say....
You are making progress, what is working.....

Instead of "tooting our own horn", we first need to be judged by our actions and results and so far the hardest actions have yet to be taken.

......it appears Detroit and the auto industry / manufacturing may lead the rest of the country out of the recession.

Really? Yesterday, General Motors froze the pensions of 19,000 of their workers, something which typically only happens during a bankruptcy.

[Lowell]

The world and the nation are indeed watching Detroit, and not just the City of Detroit, but Detroit as the metropolitan whole and "Detroit" as = the American auto industry and manufacturing.

This focus significantly turned on us during the 2008 collapse when the rest of the country, and a lot of the world, discovered that they lived in Detroit too, in the sense of the job loss, home loss and recession we had been going through for a few years already at that time. It was as if they were making a journey to the source.

I have experienced this, due the the high visibility of DetroitYES, in the form of frequent and increasing contacts by media reporters, arriving visitors, artists, those wanting to move here, potential investors and the curious. Just yesterday I took a US bureau chief for a major London paper for a spin on the People Mover. Later on it was a visit with the Cultural Historian of Chicago.

All seem to be impressed by our resiliency, awed by the ruins, inspired by the 'under the radar' energy that they find whether in community gardens, neighborhood alliances, art venues, hackerspaces or other of the many spirited efforts we on this forum know well.

Now that our industries are racking up major profits, due to cooperative spirit of labor and management, and the core of the City of Detroit is vigorously rebounding as witnessed by all rentals being taken up and new developments rising, the physical and psychological appearance of those most impressionable faces of our metropolis add to an upbeat / comeback perception.

I would argue that the Chrysler ads are not creating a image of Detroit, they are reflecting an already existing fact. The genius of their marketing staff is touch on that vibe without sugar-coat and fluff.

We have not reached the promise land, but we can at least get a glimpse of it. These are encouraging times.

[cramerro]

Instead of "tooting our own horn", we first need to be judged by our actions and results and so far the hardest actions have yet to be taken.


Really? Yesterday, General Motors froze the pensions of 19,000 of their workers, something which typically only happens during a bankruptcy.

Detroit and the nation have a long way to go, but the auto industry is making huge strides in my opinion.

If the GM story is your silver bullet, then maybe we are doing even better than I thought. They didn't eliminate the pensions, they'll still get what they earned to this point, and they are replacing it with a 401[[k) program, something which typically happens in the vast majority of workplaces in the country. And they also reported thier largest yearly income, ever, I think I read union staff will get ~$7,000 each profit sharing.

[Mikeg]

....If the GM story is your silver bullet, then maybe we are doing even better than I thought. They didn't eliminate the pensions......

I didn't say that they eliminated them, they froze them. This example is simply indicative of our tendency to defer making the hard and difficult decisions, which end up having to be made later on anyway and just delay the overall recovery. If GM had gone through a managed bankruptcy under a Federal Judge, that decision would have been made two and a half years ago and GM's bottom line would be even healthier. When is GM going to have to make a similar decision on the pensions for the remainder of their employees?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Somebody's been watching too many Chrysler commercials.

Excuse us, but half-time is over and we've got some serious work to do. The outcome is still in doubt.

Well played.

[Lowell]

I didn't say that they eliminated them, they froze them. This example is simply indicative of our tendency to defer making the hard and difficult decisions, which end up having to be made later on anyway and just delay the overall recovery. If GM had gone through a managed bankruptcy under a Federal Judge, that decision would have been made two and a half years ago and GM's bottom line would be even healthier. When is GM going to have to make a similar decision on the pensions for the remainder of their employees?

I keep hearing this coulda-shoulda-woulda argument lately. Weren't there two Republican candidates for President in Detroit yesterday saying just that? Both Mr. "Let Detroit Die" Romney and Mr. we-should-have-let-Detroit-die Santorum were touting that sour grape line. And that the on the day after GM announced is largest profits ever!

Both would have cast GM and Chrysler to the wolves and vagaries of bankruptcy that very possibly could have led to the complete liquidation of both and a resulting disaster for metro Detroit and Michigan. Instead they try to create a rosy illusion of what might have happened while ignoring the of the great success of what really happened staring them in the face.

We are clearly in better and improving times.

[TKshreve]

I keep hearing this coulda-shoulda-woulda argument lately. Weren't there two Republican candidates for President in Detroit yesterday saying just that? Both Mr. "Let Detroit Die" Romney and Mr. we-should-have-let-Detroit-die Santorum were touting that sour grape line. And that the on the day after GM announced is largest profits ever!

Both would have cast GM and Chrysler to the wolves and vagaries of bankruptcy that very possibly could have led to the complete liquidation of both and a resulting disaster for metro Detroit and Michigan. Instead they try to create a rosy illusion of what might have happened while ignoring the of the great success of what really happened staring them in the face.

We are clearly in better and improving times.

Lowell, Couldn't agree more. Why even bother coming to MI to campaign if that is what you have to say? Just skip the state. Trying to double-down on their past claims [[to Detroiters) is borderline insane. We are no-nonsense people here. I think just about everybody knows the potential extent of damage that was on the line.

Add to this, they have no facts to back up their prophetic claims that bankruptcy would have been [equal to or greater] than the actual outcome.

These guys will say anything......

[Mikeg]

.....the wolves and vagaries of bankruptcy....

a.k.a. "the rule of law"

[jbd441]

The article "Target at Post-Bailout GM: Earning $10 Billion a Year" [[page one, Feb. 6) indicates that now that General Motors Co. has gone through a quick bankruptcy restructuring which wiped out its debt, the company is enjoying the reward of making a handsome net profit and will be aiming at becoming even more profitable in the future. The article also notes that the company will pay no federal corporate taxes for years, as part of its bailout by the government.
What a sad picture. I find it offensive that the word "profit" is used to refer to GM's affairs. It is relatively easy to make a "profit" when debt and taxes are simply forgotten.

[mtm49269]

I was watching ABC National News last night and was pleased by three [[3!) pretty pleasant mentions of our area. First, needless to say, was the GM profit announcement and how it would pour $$s into our local economy. They actually interviewed workers on the line at the Lake Orion plant tht had previously closed and the interviewers and workers were VERY upbeat. [[Usually, when the nationals talk about the auto industry, they interview workers in IL, OH, WI, anyplace but metro Detroit.)

Second, they talked about the "Presidential" candidates campaigning in the area and talked about how both were ready to let Detroit die. But the bailouts and determination of labor AND management kept the big three going and growing.

Finally, a bit of humor: they aparently drove around the metro area and came upon the most bizarre speed limit sign they had ever seen. Don't remember the exact area but there are three schools in the neighborhood and the speed drops from 45 to 25 when students might be present. The schools start and stop at different times so the sign said something like 25mph 7:28-7:48, 8:02-8:22, 8:30-8:50 and similar for departures. One person aparently had to stop and get out of his car to make sure tht he was going the right speed at the right time.

[antongast]

I find it offensive that the word "profit" is used to refer to GM's affairs. It is relatively easy to make a "profit" when debt and taxes are simply forgotten.

Are you equally offended by companies that dodge most or all of their federal tax burden using various types of accounting gimmicks?

[Hermod]

Are you equally offended by companies that dodge most or all of their federal tax burden using various types of accounting gimmicks?

And who would that be?

[antongast]

And who would that be?

You've never heard of corporate tax-dodging? Here's Facebook, GE, Google, and a whole section of Bloomberg's webpage dedicated to the phenomenon, all of which I found in about five seconds of searching the web.

[TKshreve]

Are you equally offended by companies that dodge most or all of their federal tax burden using various types of accounting gimmicks?

Bullseye! Why should the Big 3 be the whipping boy here? Their loans were chicken scraps compared to the exorbitant bailouts the fat cats on Wall Street took.

[maxx]

Romney is probably upset that he couldn't take some million dollar bites out of GM's dying carcass.

peachlaser: Conscious is the opposite of unconscious.

[PeachLaser]

Romney is probably upset that he couldn't take some million dollar bites out of GM's dying carcass.

peachlaser: Conscious is the opposite of unconscious.

Whoops. Let's try conscience.

I do like the positive spirit that I hear in many of your posts. That will get you a long way.

I've suggested Detroit as the site of an annual conference several times and people do question me with, "Why?" I think if the positive news keeps happening, they will understand.

[Detroit68]

I didn't say that they eliminated them, they froze them. This example is simply indicative of our tendency to defer making the hard and difficult decisions, which end up having to be made later on anyway and just delay the overall recovery. If GM had gone through a managed bankruptcy under a Federal Judge, that decision would have been made two and a half years ago and GM's bottom line would be even healthier. When is GM going to have to make a similar decision on the pensions for the remainder of their employees?

Huh? GM [[and Chrysler) did go through a managed bankruptcy. Haven't you heard Mitt Romney taking credit for suggesting the idea to Obama? How else did they come out of bankruptcy within 2 months of entering? And I'm not sure how much "healthier" their "bottom line" could be. Bankruptcy allowed GM to liquidate its non-performing assets and come out with virtually no debt. Their profit margins are bigger than they ever been due to the reduce debt service and reduced post-retirement [[i.e., legacy) costs.

As mentioned by another poster, GM is doing what most companies have done long ago - replace their pension plan with a 401[[k) plan [[also gave salaried employees an extra week's vacation). This move only affects employees hired before 2001.

[Mikeg]

Huh? GM [[and Chrysler) did go through a managed bankruptcy.....

I wrote that GM should have gone through a managed bankruptcy under a Federal Judge. Instead, it was "managed" by the Executive Branch of the US government through one of President Obama's big campaign contributors, Steve Rattner. Big difference!

What I wrote in my 10:04 AM post is not very different from what Rattner is now admitting.

After his [Dec. 2011] speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Rattner told reporters that in hindsight, he wished the auto task force had stressed more concessions from workers or creditors.

"If we had more time, we might have asked all the stakeholders to sacrifice a little bit more," Rattner told reporters. "We didn't ask any active worker to cut his or her pay. We didn't ask them to sacrifice any of their pension and we maybe could have asked them to do a little bit more."

[PeachLaser]

The world and the nation are indeed watching Detroit, and not just the City of Detroit, but Detroit as the metropolitan whole and "Detroit" as = the American auto industry and manufacturing.

We have not reached the promise land, but we can at least get a glimpse of it. These are encouraging times.

Lowell, you are one of the reasons for Detroit's turnaround.

You have allowed the good, bad and ugly to be openly presented and discussed on this board and have supported those who have positive visions for the city and region.

That's why people from around the world are seeking your perspective.

Good job.