Worse than Port Au Prince or Monrovia..and Bing blames the media...

[poobert]

Not disagreeing that might be possible. Given that many of hte areas were established areas already though... is it that likely? for example, Is that 30% made up? IDK. Does anyone?

Mine is 30%.

Your point is valid. However when you examine the areas, it becomes much less elitist seeming:

http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/Departme...1/Default.aspx

Phase one are the decidedly more stable areas. Phase two includes essentially any area where houses outnumber vacant lots. So it isn't that egregious.

I mean, Warrendale and Morningside are in there, and they ain't exactly Palmer Woods. I don't even like driving through Morningside!

It is basically an idea of providing incentives for rightsizing before its time. It needs to happen, somehow. NEZ is really the only way a sane, financially-conscious person can justify moving to the city, anyway, given that it it almost [[but doesn't quite) bring your taxes to suburban levels.

[Gistok]

Morningside is soooooo depressing..... a beautiful neighborhood with so many nice homes... but now so many missing homes....

[Bham1982]

I was under the impression that most of Gilbert's and Karmanos' employees still lived in the burbs?

That's what I've been hearing all along. Not many are choosing to actually relocate to the city.

Is this the case?

I have no idea of the proportions, but I would assume the vast majority of employees live in the suburbs.

I mean, why would many move to the city? If you're happy where you live, why would you move just because your employer moved 30 minutes down the road?

75% of Metro Detroit households are homeowners. Given this, even if Detroit were super-desirable, why would everyone take a giant loss on their homes and move into some place downtown?

[Danny]

Detroit is no Haiti, but it is acting like it.

[JAYCR]

Well, in my mind it is not the point being discussed but, rather, how. Yes, it is pertinent that homicides and crime are creeping into all the neighborhoods.

What is not pertinent is blaming anyone for failure to fixing it without contributing to how exactly that will happen.

For example, one statistic is that over 45% of homicides occurred between people who know each other. Now, of course, that is troubling in that you still have just as many who were strangers. But the point is that if you could eliminate or drastically reduce the 45%, you would have twice as many cops to deal with the other half.

And it raises another question...is it the police's responsibility to prevent homicides between acquaintances? And, if so, are they the only ones responsible? And are we willing to give up and privileges and rights in exchange for a reduction in homicides?

And what about the other half? It is bizarre that:



What are we willing to do about this? Here are things I've been considering:

- Lobbying to have every household in Corktown pony up $200 per year to pay for a private security detail to patrol, just like in Palmer Woods

- Having a 2x per month assignment to patrol the neighborhoods in a neighborhood watch

- Even sealing off the perimeter into Corktown so that there are only 3 or 4 guarded entrances you must cross to enter the neighborhood....turning into a subdivision.

Are these measures drastic? Sure. Are they consistent with the threat level? I would argue that they are.

Whoa!

Hiring private security to patrol at ten dollars an hour doesn't fill me with warm thoughts. It seems that the detroit news map has 2 recorded homicides in Corktown since May 12th, 2012. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/9...AL01/120606001. That's if you include North Corktown. I'm not really sure what the safety emergency is. A neighbourhood watch seems like the perfect thing, trouble is, I walk around here and don't run into a soul. If you want safe neighbourhoods, you have to keep your eyes on them as no the folks next door or on the next street over as Jane Jacobs taught us in Rise and Fall..

[JAYCR]

That being said, Bing is talking the fool downplaying violence in the city-at-large. It is elitist, irresponsible and classist in the worst way possible. He's always on about safety for out-of-towners and tourists, but seems to have no empathy for actual citizens. It's quite unbelievable..

[davewindsor]

I don't blame Bing. The city is overridden with drugs, thieves and gun violence. What is he supposed to do?

I think the blame lies with the state for not taking steps to bring in three strikes and you're out laws and building more prisons like California. For the past decade, LA has had less cops per capita and a much lower crime rate than Detroit.

If someone's caught in the city with drugs or committing crimes three times, then lock em up and throw away the key. And that's pretty lenient compared to countries like Singapore with mandatory death sentences for drug offences. Forget about Michigan's revolving door justice system. It's time for change and Bing needs to get out there and say it's time for three strikes and you're out in this city.