Is Detroit the worst city in the country?

[Strong]

Well this thread is different than what I am used to posting but here goes.

I was just wondering is Detroit the worst city in the US?

I try to post positive thoughts and others respond with negatively slanted comments as if they can't think positively about The Great Detroit?

I was asked a similar question in an interview by Channel 7's Detroit 2020, here's my response. http://detroit2020.com/2012/10/05/ou...t-at-its-best/

So I was wondering are images like this only in Detroit!

[Crumbled_pavement]

If we're not the worst big city in the nation, we certainly give a good competition for that position.

As far as the negativity around here, it is the mindset on both sides of 8 Mile. This is not an area where positive ideas circulate much. No side will budge and neither side will stand for progress. We'll continue to bleed population as we continue with our self fulfilling prophecy.

A positive 'we can conquer our challenges' attitude instead of a defeatest attitude would have helped the metro area decades ago and we would not be where we are now. But at this point, I think we're way past just needing a positive attitude.

[poobert]

Worst is pretty subjective, of course.

I would say we are pretty easily the worst "big" city in the country, for all the obvious reasons. That is, if we can even be counted as a big city anymore. I'd also make the argument that we're the worst major metropolitan area. You essentially get a choice between blight and sprawl. Horrible city/suburb and race relations. No transit to speak of. STILL lousy economy unless you're a car guy. Cost of living is relatively low, but largely because there is so little demand to live here, and so much oversupply of housing/space. People here are generally closed-minded and mean-spirited, and everyone seems to be a breath away from running you off the road or blowing your brains out. Any significant change or innovation is met with not only rejection but derision [[serious conversations that need to be had about transit quickly degenerate into mocking of 'choo-choos')

However there are plenty of smaller cities and rural areas in the US that are in much worse shape [[Flint, Gary for example) and don't have the big city positives that we've managed to hold on to.

[Detroitnerd]

Well this thread is different than what I am used to posting but here goes.

I was just wondering is Detroit the worst city in the US?

I try to post positive thoughts and others respond with negatively slanted comments as if they can't think positively about The Great Detroit?

Strong! I thought you were only going to post happy thoughts about Detroit! This is quite a change! Now you ask if Detroit is the worst city in the United States! Why the complete 180?

Honestly, Strong, I've lived in Detroit for 10 years. I think you can't just categorically say you're not going to listen to negative statements about Detroit. And you can't demand that other people only say nice things about Detroit.

What you should do, if you want to improve Detroit, is be honest about Detroit. Accept criticisms of Detroit when they are true, and deny them when they are false.

To put it another way, if you started having car trouble, would you just say that it's a great car and demand everybody say it's a great car and not consider taking it to the shop to get fixed? You'd just be heading for worse trouble with your car, right? Then, once it's fixed, it's important to remember what kind of trouble you had in case it breaks down again. Not that you dwell on what broke, but you need to know and be honest about that.

Detroit has some strong suits and some problems. In all honesty, right now it has more problems than strong suits. That is why we post here, to discuss the problems. Some people are more engaged and informed than others, but I do think we have to be frank about what those problems are and what has caused them.

To use the car metaphor: If you're driving a brand-new car with all the latest features and it runs like a top, everybody wants a ride and says how great it is. If you're driving a beaten-up old car that makes awful noises and hardly goes, everybody wants to look under the hood and say what's wrong.

Detroit is the beaten-up car, not the brand-new one.

Thanks for listening.

[Motor City Sam]

Worst is pretty subjective, of course.

I would say we are pretty easily the worst "big" city in the country, for all the obvious reasons. That is, if we can even be counted as a big city anymore. I'd also make the argument that we're the worst major metropolitan area. You essentially get a choice between blight and sprawl. Horrible city/suburb and race relations. No transit to speak of. STILL lousy economy unless you're a car guy. Cost of living is relatively low, but largely because there is so little demand to live here, and so much oversupply of housing/space. People here are generally closed-minded and mean-spirited, and everyone seems to be a breath away from running you off the road or blowing your brains out. Any significant change or innovation is met with not only rejection but derision [[serious conversations that need to be had about transit quickly degenerate into mocking of 'choo-choos')

However there are plenty of smaller cities and rural areas in the US that are in much worse shape [[Flint, Gary for example) and don't have the big city positives that we've managed to hold on to.

That's a good post, Poobert. When this kind of question comes up, what I generally say is that in my experience, having traveled all over the US for business, is that Detroit is the most dysfunctional bit City in the country. Hard to point out anything that the City does well these days.

[southen]

you found a way to promote what you are doing without being all rah-rah-rah... the question posed still has the same amount of substance as the "eastern market is awesome" thread and comes off like the only reason you say anything here is to promote what you are doing...

[MidTownMs]

Well this thread is different than what I am used to posting but here goes.

I was just wondering is Detroit the worst city in the US?

I try to post positive thoughts and others respond with negatively slanted comments as if they can't think positively about The Great Detroit?

I was asked a similar question in an interview by Channel 7's Detroit 2020, here's my response. http://detroit2020.com/2012/10/05/ou...t-at-its-best/

So I was wondering are images like this only in Detroit!

Strong..Make up your mind...is Detroit a great place or the worse place. It can't be both. Why have you all of a sudden flipped the script on your feelings about Detroit. Is it because you did not get the response you desired with your first statement? So which one is it? Reality or Fantasy?

[brizee]

Worst is pretty subjective, of course.

I would say we are pretty easily the worst "big" city in the country, for all the obvious reasons. That is, if we can even be counted as a big city anymore. I'd also make the argument that we're the worst major metropolitan area. You essentially get a choice between blight and sprawl. Horrible city/suburb and race relations. No transit to speak of. STILL lousy economy unless you're a car guy. Cost of living is relatively low, but largely because there is so little demand to live here, and so much oversupply of housing/space. People here are generally closed-minded and mean-spirited, and everyone seems to be a breath away from running you off the road or blowing your brains out. [/b]Any significant change or innovation is met with not only rejection but derision [[serious conversations that need to be had about transit quickly degenerate into mocking of 'choo-choos')[/b]

Pretty much this.

Have you ever seen the movie Devil's Advocate? Main character's wife is seeing demons everywhere she looks. She is dismissed and mocked whenever she reacts appropriately to a fucked up situation.

It's like we're now paying for 100 years of fucked up leadership and decisions all at once. And people look at you like you're stupid when you suggest the way we've done things isn't the way it should be. Especiially that choo-choo shit. I automatically skip over a post when I see it.

Detroit could be great it's just the peope here that makes it suck and ensures it won't get any better.

[313WX]

Pretty much this.

Have you ever seen the movie Devil's Advocate? Main character's wife is seeing demons everywhere she looks. She is dismissed and mocked whenever she reacts appropriately to a fucked up situation.

It's like we're now paying for 100 years of fucked up leadership and decisions all at once. And people look at you like you're stupid when you suggest the way we've done things isn't the way it should be. Especiially that choo-choo shit. I automatically skip over a post when I see it.

Detroit could be great it's just the peope here that makes it suck and ensures it won't get any better.

Yep.

If you don't have incompetent or corrupt "leaders" running things, you have provincial ones.

FWIW, when Detroit became the great city it was in the early 20th century, it was built by immigrants.

[Hermod]

Gary, East St Louis, and Newark give you some competition.

[rb336]

So I was wondering are images like this only in Detroit!

absolutely not. go to Chicago, Cleveland, LA, NY, Bahston, Nashville, Minn/st paul, Dallas

[GUSHI]

Detroit is like a old rusty crappy car, but it's my old rusty , crappy , car so back off Bitches.

Detroit needs to be broken up, eastside, Detroit farms, keep downtown area, ci of Detroit, Palmer woods area Detroit heights, south west, the city of southwest Detroit, have Detroit heights include highland park, leave hamtrmack alone, city let hamtrmack annex part of the east side, split up the police and fire department, assign precints to those new cities and that it, break up dps,

have the archdiocese of Detroit reopen Catholic schools in the city, if the parents decide to send there kid to catholic school, the school should get the money instead of dps, GET Rid of school of choice!

let's the nuns educate the kids of Detroit, and break up the city in order to save it!

[313WX]

MAJOR city, yes.

[maverick1]

It is the worst city in America. I don't consider Detroit a big city anymore. So it's contemporaries are Flint, Gary, Camden, etc. Honestly it's not about having a negative viewpoint of the city. This is my home. I was born and raised here. It's about being honest. Personally I feel insulted when I hear people do the "rah rah Detroit" thing and I look around and see dysfunction. I'm not talking about just the city. I mean all of Metro Detroit. Just look at the recent ad by the Republicans of Oakland County. As if the whole country knows "Detroit sucks but Oakland County, right on the Detroit border, is a destination on par with Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, etc." This region is devouring itself from within by us keeping people that make ads like this in power. When I travel to actual big cities[[which we once were) and see what we have in comparison Detroit doesn't come close. I want all of SE Michigan to come to the realization of what this region is and what it is is not great. We have everything to be world class but we prefer to suck as a whole as long as the 2 block radius around us is fine. People don't want to come here and when I go to other cities I'm always explaining this place and why I'm here. It just gets old. I didn't mean to rant I just get tired of positive Detroit talk when reality says otherwise.

[mikefmich]

No.....Goggle Cairo, Illinois.

Detroit doesn't hold a flame to the carnage there.

[hortonz]

Detroit is the canary in the coal mine. Pretty soon all our big cities will look like Motown.

[313WX]

Detroit is the canary in the coal mine. Pretty soon all our big cities will look like Motown.

While some of Detroit's problems are economic, a lot of Detroit's problems come from outright poor planning and foresight, which is an issue most major cities in the country don't seem to face.

If Detroit was planned right, it would still probably be somewhat smaller than Philadelphia and comparable to Chicago.

[KJ5]

When I went to see the Trailer Park Boys at Redford Theater in 2010 at the end of the show Mike Smith told the audience "Thank you so much, Detroit. You are the greatest city in the United States of America." Bubbles likes Detroit the best. So there.

[Strong]

First of all, I was just asking and let me go on record, I love Detroit and think that its a great city, has great and beautiful people, and is getting better. However no way can I overlook our many problems. So I haven't flipped the script at all and I got many threads coming that highlight the positive sides of our city.

Strong..Make up your mind...is Detroit a great place or the worse place. It can't be both. Why have you all of a sudden flipped the script on your feelings about Detroit. Is it because you did not get the response you desired with your first statement? So which one is it? Reality or Fantasy?

[professorscott]

This is an interesting thread but I think the question is overly broad and it would be more helpful to break it down. I would propose the following questions, and in some cases I have a strong opinion:

1. Does Detroit have the worst crime problem among mid size cities? I think not. It's bad, but not the worst.

2. Is metro Detroit the most dysfunctional region in America? Absolutely yes. Thank our state constitution with its ridiculous "home rule", and the racial politics of the last forty years.

3. Does Detroit have the worst schools? Not at all. Some good, some frightful, on a par with other big cities.

4. Does Detroit have the worst neighborhoods? Not at all; but Detroit perhaps has more of its overall land mass swallowed by blight and abandonment than any other mid major city.

5. Does Detroit have the worst transportation? Both for the city and the region, yes; and there's not even a close second. Our roads are crumbling and our transit would be embarrassing to a third-world mayor.

There are parts of civic life where Detroit isn't bad at all, city or region: libraries, parks, museums, access to good live music, etc. But I think if we want to improve things, it is helpful to focus on our biggest problems a la Pareto, rather than just gripe about how bad we are overall. We're not bad overall; we're bad at certain critical things.

[iheartthed]

this is an interesting thread but i think the question is overly broad and it would be more helpful to break it down. I would propose the following questions, and in some cases i have a strong opinion:

1. Does detroit have the worst crime problem among mid size cities? I think not. It's bad, but not the worst.

2. Is metro detroit the most dysfunctional region in america? Absolutely yes. Thank our state constitution with its ridiculous "home rule", and the racial politics of the last forty years.

3. Does detroit have the worst schools? Not at all. Some good, some frightful, on a par with other big cities.

4. Does detroit have the worst neighborhoods? Not at all; but detroit perhaps has more of its overall land mass swallowed by blight and abandonment than any other mid major city.

5. Does detroit have the worst transportation? Both for the city and the region, yes; and there's not even a close second. Our roads are crumbling and our transit would be embarrassing to a third-world mayor.

There are parts of civic life where detroit isn't bad at all, city or region: Libraries, parks, museums, access to good live music, etc. But i think if we want to improve things, it is helpful to focus on our biggest problems a la pareto, rather than just gripe about how bad we are overall. We're not bad overall; we're bad at certain critical things.

iawtc.....

[iheartthed]

Gary, East St Louis, and Newark give you some competition.

Newark actually might be the perfect example to combat the popular ideas of why Detroit is in decline. The popular thought is that Detroit is in decline because of high crime, poor schools, corrupt city government, etc. All of which Newark also has in spades. But Newark's population has been fairly even for the past 20 years, while Detroit has still been on a death spiral. Why has Newark stabilized without significantly improving in any of those areas?

Before someone mentions Cory Booker, keep in mind that Sharpe James -- whose antics could rival Kwame Kilpatrick, and he spent a couple years in the federal pen because of it -- was mayor of Newark from 1986 - 2008... So his tenure pretty much overlaps the stabilization of the city's population.

[Khartoum]

Las Cruces, New Mexico is a far worse city in my eyes.

[coracle]

Detroit can't claim to be only "Worst City in The Country". There are several, and they all have one thing in common - families don't want to move to live in them.

[De'troiter]

This is an interesting thread but I think the question is overly broad and it would be more helpful to break it down. I would propose the following questions, and in some cases I have a strong opinion:

2. Is metro Detroit the most dysfunctional region in America? Absolutely yes. Thank our state constitution with its ridiculous "home rule", and the racial politics of the last forty years.

I think that it is important to acknowledge that racial politics have been used for far longer than the last forty years. Detroit has never been a Utopia for race-relations. From its establishment as Fort Detroit there was fighting between races [[Native People vs White). Beyond those fights, Blacks were not recieved with open arms either, hence the 3 documented riots [[1863, 1943, 1967) and the numerous undocumented tactics used against Blacks. People always describe Detroit as this absolute paradise before Coleman Young was elected. While that may be true for Whites, that was not the reality for thousands of Blacks who were force to live in an unequal city.

It really says something about Detroit of 'Ole, when Charlie LeDeuff's own Grandparents moved to Detroit from Lousiana, built a house in a white neighborhood, and never told their children that they were actually Black, because of fear of the backlash from their "Friendly" White Detroit neighbors. What about Dr. Ossian Sweet or the 1st Black child at Bagley Elementary is the early 1960s who was taunted, threatened and harrassed by White Adult Parents? Talk about Racial Politics. The problem goes far beyond the past 40 years.