My problem with "What if....." threads.

**douglasm** · February-07-13, 05:22 PM

There seems to be a trend towards "what if...." threads. What if Detroit had enough cops, what would happen if armed militias were allowed, what would happen if Detroit allowed "Stop and Frisk", you know, that kind of thread.

I'm a small town city councilman, and as such is familiar with things like the budget process and legal implications, and every time I see one of these threads, I have this tendency to post something along the lines of "Interesting idea, but there's a big legal problem here...." or maybe simply "Grow up, people". Face it, these are pipe dreams and unfortunately, we live in the real world.

It is in this thought I pose this question. Given the economic situation in Detroit....and by economic I mean the current financial shape of the city and/or county......what should be done to help Detroit come back.

Real doable ideas, please.

**Honky Tonk** · February-07-13, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by douglasm

There seems to be a trend towards "what if...." threads. What if Detroit had enough cops, what would happen if armed militias were allowed, what would happen if Detroit allowed "Stop and Frisk", you know, that kind of thread.

I'm a small town city councilman, and as such is familiar with things like the budget process and legal implications, and every time I see one of these threads, I have this tendency to post something along the lines of "Interesting idea, but there's a big legal problem here...." or maybe simply "Grow up, people". Face it, these are pipe dreams and unfortunately, we live in the real world.

It is in this thought I pose this question. Given the economic situation in Detroit....and by economic I mean the current financial shape of the city and/or county......what should be done to help Detroit come back.

Real doable ideas, please.

That makes me wonder, What If there weren't any What If posts on Detroit Yes?

**Richard** · February-07-13, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by douglasm

There seems to be a trend towards "what if...." threads. What if Detroit had enough cops, what would happen if armed militias were allowed, what would happen if Detroit allowed "Stop and Frisk", you know, that kind of thread.

I'm a small town city councilman, and as such is familiar with things like the budget process and legal implications, and every time I see one of these threads, I have this tendency to post something along the lines of "Interesting idea, but there's a big legal problem here...." or maybe simply "Grow up, people". Face it, these are pipe dreams and unfortunately, we live in the real world.

It is in this thought I pose this question. Given the economic situation in Detroit....and by economic I mean the current financial shape of the city and/or county......what should be done to help Detroit come back.

Real doable ideas, please.

What "if's" built the country is it not how it works?

What if we instead of using wooden spokes to make this wheel we use a round metal disk and mount a rubber band on it?

But as a city they already know what needs to be done,there is a process that needs to happen that is time consuming,what do you think they do in think tanks? drink coffee or throw "what if" out there and tweak it into something feasible,it just that some ideas may sound like pipe dreams but they still can be implemented in a different version or maybe not on the scale.

What if we shrink the city? Do you know how many millions some have made off of those 6 words alone? It does not really matter if the city actually shrinks there is profit in "what if".

**Crumbled_pavement** · February-07-13, 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by douglasm

Real doable ideas, please.

Let the city continue to bleed population until it completely collapses and has to be rebuilt on a much smaller scale. Sounds harsh I know, but you said doable. And not only is that doable, it's exactly what's being done -- pretty much the only thing that's being done

**DetroitPlanner** · February-07-13, 09:50 PM

What if the Cheesecake Factory or the House of Blues never gets built?

What if the Rec Department cuts the Swim-mobile?

**401don** · February-07-13, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

Let the city continue to bleed population until it completely collapses and has to be rebuilt on a much smaller scale. Sounds harsh I know, but you said doable. And not only is that doable, it's exactly what's being done -- pretty much the only thing that's being done

The easiest way to bleed population is by letting the population bleed. This is being done by not providing adequate Fire, EMS and Policing.

**Hamtragedy** · February-07-13, 11:42 PM

.....or streetlights, or parks, or recreation centers...........

**old guy** · February-07-13, 11:47 PM

What if, someone has a question....?

**Honky Tonk** · February-08-13, 05:27 AM

Originally Posted by 401don

The easiest way to bleed population is by letting the population bleed. This is being done by not providing adequate Fire, EMS and Policing.

Exactly. Then they'll corral a bunch of wide-eyed yupsters into a $1700 a month "historic" building and declare "The New Detroit" a total success. Watch the coffee beans.... Oooooooooooooh.....

**jtf1972** · February-08-13, 07:57 AM

What if Joann Watson were Mayor?

What if we captured the Loch Ness Monster, put it on a treadmill on Belle Isle that powered the city and charged a small fee to show people?

What if Orange was neither a fruit, nor a color?

**313WX** · February-08-13, 09:51 AM

As we've seen over the past year, TPTB are more than willing to, at the very least, STRETCH the law to build the Detroit they envision [[I.E., the arguably illegally imposed union contracts on city workers/teachers, Bing closing 50 parks without council's approval, the pass PA 4 into law again despite a citizen's repeal, siphoning 15 Detroit Public Schools for free to a district that doesn't have to abide by teh same education standards as other schools in Michigan, etc.).

The reason none of what they're doing has been deemed illegal is because the political powers have just so happen [[for the first time) to align themselves from the judicial to the legislative to the executive branches of the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan.

**313WX** · February-08-13, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

Let the city continue to bleed population until it completely collapses and has to be rebuilt on a much smaller scale. Sounds harsh I know, but you said doable. And not only is that doable, it's exactly what's being done -- pretty much the only thing that's being done

Yup.

As long as budget cuts continue, more good taxpaying citizens will continue to leave Dertoit. I'd be surprised if Detroit still has 500,000 people in 2020.

Then, 10 years from now, as health care costs become more expensive, the bond payments for these band-aid come due, and Detroit's revenue is even lower as Gilbert's developments are still practically tax-exempt, we'll be back in teh same position we are now.

And what's really disingenuous is the fact that so much is being done behind closed doors. For example, phase 1 of the Detroit greening project near Gratiot and Chene, or the fact that no one knows who in the city is going to go withut streetlightning as of yet despite the lightning authority bill passing through the state legislator.