Federal support for the auto industry and its consequences for the city of Detroit

[renf]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/op...davidfirestone

David Firestone, an editorial page writer for the New York Times, contributed a thoughtful essay about finances in the city of Detroit. The comments about the futility of EFMs are appropriate. I am disappointed that our new governor did not raise fundamental questions about the state's flawed tax system and the need to reorganize local governments.

[DetroitPlanner]

I would have iked to have seen a better job done on this. There was not really anything concrete in the editorial about the bail-out and its impact on the city directly. All of the plants he named were up and running long before the bail-out, what about the secondary businesses? Does moving a job to Sterling Heights or Warren have the same impact on Detroit as moving them to say S Korea or California, my guess is no.

Cherry picked facts and lots of assumptions. Looks to me as a re-hash and a divisive piece to slam government in general. Detroit's number one problem is not the bail out, its the lack of jobs. Yes the industry has shrunk considerably, but Detroit was not the only place that lost jobs, as a matter of fact the region has a greater percentage of auto jobs as before. That worries me even more because the next time the economy nose dives we will be in even worse shape. There should have been talk about reducing the dependancy of the local economy on one sector.

Detroit's population loss is not a mystery. Everyone who could leave the often ingored neighborhoods did for greener pastures, leaving the city to sadly become even more over run by crime. Whne it got to the point where you can live in a safe suburb cheaper than living in an area with substandard schools and overloaded police and fire departments, people made a rational choice. An what a fine mess they left.

[casscorridor]

A nice idea to visit the question of the "state's flawed tax system and the need to reorganize local governments." But I think people forget that Snyder is a Republican. He is not going to do anything that benefits the city of Detroit at the expense of suburban municipalities [[even if it's actually in their interest). His base of support is in conservative areas like northern Oakland County and Grand Rapids. And he won every county accept Wayne, Wasjtenaw [[ironically, his home), Ingham [[Lansing), Genesee [[Flint) and one sparsely populated UP county. Point is, he doesn't give a hoot about working-class cities or counties, and especially not Detroit. Just listen to whenever he talks about Detroit, its always in the vain of "Michigan's cities" not Detroit specifically, even though it is [[and historically has been) the only major city in Michigan or he is talking more generally about "metro" Detroit AKA Oakland/Macomb county. Now considering that 2/3rds of the proposed "Rapid Rolling Transit" systen is in those two counties, despite having nowhere near that ratio of current ridership, it makes a whole lot of sense. Fact is, Snyder isn't going to willing do shit for Detroit, so we should just stop thinking he will. Unless of course, people FORCE him to.

[Wesley Mouch]

...Fact is, Snyder isn't going to willing do shit for Detroit, so we should just stop thinking he will. Unless of course, people FORCE him to.

I see him addressing Transit in Detroit.
I see him addressing schools in Detroit.
I see him addressing city financial woes in Detroit.

You may not agree with his approach, but to say he doesn't care isn't accurate at best -- and at worst is a disingenuous political statement.

[iheartthed]

Now considering that 2/3rds of the proposed "Rapid Rolling Transit" systen is in those two counties, despite having nowhere near that ratio of current ridership, it makes a whole lot of sense.

I hesitate to say that Snyder doesn't give a shit about Detroit, but regarding the transit proposal this is spot on. The vast majority of the "110 miles of transit" for this BRT system is outside of the city of Detroit. The proposed system has 27 stops and 9 are in the city of Detroit. But of those 9 stops in the city of Detroit only 2 are located outside of downtown and Midtown. This transit service is not intended to serve Detroit residents.

[1953]

Right, but again you are disagreeing on strategy only. Snyder makes the argument that a region connected by transit will connect people with employment centers. I, and perhaps you, would just prefer that all the investment were in the city center.

[iheartthed]

Right, but again you are disagreeing on strategy only. Snyder makes the argument that a region connected by transit will connect people with employment centers. I, and perhaps you, would just prefer that all the investment were in the city center.

Is this plan really connecting employment centers? Do employment centers in Metro Detroit really exist outside of downtown?

[bartock]

Is this plan really connecting employment centers? Do employment centers in Metro Detroit really exist outside of downtown?

Good question. Troy's Mag Mile perhaps, Southfield in the Town Center area. Along the M-59 route in Auburn Hills maybe, but no real "centers."

[rb336]

The most interesting thing in the article was towards the end -- giving the EFM the ability to merge the tax bases of Detroit and the burbs to save the region. Wonder how the pro-EFM burbs would feel if that were to happen. no, i really don't wonder -- it is easy enough to predict

[Hermod]

The most interesting thing in the article was towards the end -- giving the EFM the ability to merge the tax bases of Detroit and the burbs to save the region. Wonder how the pro-EFM burbs would feel if that were to happen. no, i really don't wonder -- it is easy enough to predict

The problem there will also be merging the "political power" in the new city. Detroit will only have about 17% of the seats in the city council of "Greater Detroit" if the new city is made up of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb. They will have a smaller percentage of seats if you add Washtenaw and/or Livingston. If the merger is seen as a "grab" by the suburbs, you can bet the council members elected from suburban districts will be alert to stop "Old Detroit" from being a sinkhole for the budget.

[Patrick]

Detroit's number one problem is not the bail out, its the lack of jobs

What about lacked of skilled labor? Is that an issue in Detroit proper?