"Cities don't stand still, and the cities that stand still are Detroit"

[mwilbert]

ABD, of course I would be happy to talk about these things further. And I appreciate your words. I will make a few points below. Also, I have included part of the wikipedia blurb about the Big Dig at the bottom of this post.

First point: about political clout. Michigan has two Senators with a combined half century of tenure, and two area House members are the longest and fourth longest serving members in history. Unfortunately for those wanting to bring home the bacon, our Carl Levin [[and I think this is a positive) has dedicated himself to foreign affairs, defense and regulatory committee work for the bulk of his career. He has never had much say in transportation or appropriations work, unlike Ted Kennedy, who did, and focused much of the largesse on Massachusetts. I think that had at least as much of an impact on it as any perception of Boston as "better" city than Detroit. In fact, when they began lobbying for the Big Dig, Detroit had about 80% more people than Boston. Do not forget as well that the Big Dig was not a mass transit project, but was funded through normal highway funds, which are much more plentiful than federal transit funding [[a topic I am not trying to bring up here).

Second point: of course it would be great if we had some other person or entity to subsidize light rail, BRT, commuter rail, better buses & stations and perfectly smooth and sound roads and bridges. But perfect transit will have at best marginal impact on Detroit's worst problems [[although they would make downtown sparkle). Our most vexing problems are the several hundred thousand residents that lack substantive education, a job, or abstinence from drugs and alcohol. I think Lansing allowing money to follow Detroit kids to the best school they can get into, including religious schools or suburban schools, is infinitely more beneficial to the future of Detroit than any amount of money for the RTA [[although I do hope they approve that money).

Third point: yes, we are shortchanged by our reputation. That is reflected in the "Imported from Detroit" slogan: living and working in Detroit is regarded by some as more exotic than a place across the ocean with a different language and culture. Chrysler using that slogan [[oddly, since it was then partly owned by an Italian automaker; of course Chrysler is now foreign automaker doing part of their business here), was just a way of trying to turn a bad rep into a positive. People and businesses here I think are better off just getting on with their work and their lives. Fretting about destructively mean comments by writers and pundits and politicians, or condescending if well-intentioned pity or fascination gains us nothing. Buying or improving your house, raising good kids, and building and running profitable businesses is a better and truer answer to everyone else. If you are trying out for the basketball team, and you can't make a free throw to save your life, and the other kids make fun of you, I think you are better off practicing your free throws than complaining to the coach that the other guys are jerks. And, frankly, since you can't control what others will say or write anyway, why bother caring?


As for the Big Dig, I am overjoyed a similar "gift" wasn't given to Detroit. And it really didn't add transportation infrastructure! It just moved it. Imagine Robert Ficano decided to dig a tunnel...
The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the U.S. and was plagued by escalating costs, scheduling overruns, leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal arrests,^[2][3] and one death.^[4] The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 1998^[5] at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion [[in 1982 dollars, US$6.0 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2006).^[6] However, the project was completed only in December 2007, at a cost of over $14.6 billion [[$8.08 billion in 1982 dollars, meaning a cost overrun of about 190%)^[6] as of 2006.^[7]The Boston Globe estimated that the project will ultimately cost $22 billion, including interest, and that it will not be paid off until 2038.^[8] As a result of the deaths, leaks, and other design flaws, the consortium that oversaw the project agreed to pay $407 million in restitution, and several smaller companies agreed to pay a combined sum of approximately $51 million.

I don't want to get into the middle of this, but pushing the Big Dig through Congress was not primarily the work of Ted Kennedy, but of Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, and Rules Committee Chairman Joe Moakley.

And the Big Dig has greatly improved traffic flow through Boston, especially to the airport. Sort of relevantly to your point, the costs you are mentioning also included two new commuter rail lines to the South Shore. Whether the project was worth the vast expense is certainly questionable, but Boston got some substantial transportation improvements out of it.

[jaytheory]

It maybe crass but it is true. For most of the world Detroit is not Campus Martius, it is the Packard Plant.

That statement actually proves that this guy is just making comments to make comments. He is using a statement that is true to make his point. I would say midtown is definately gentrifying and if you say it isnt thats crazy. 20 years ago WSU campus was dangerous much poorer fewer restaurants shadier bars and the cass corridor, well do I even need to say anything about it. is Detroit Brooklyn? No. to say there has been no investment in Detroit is also untrue.

[hortonz]

It's pretty clear that Mitchell Moss and his ilk are engaged in wishful extrapolation when they heap praise on cities that are prospering in the current economy and heaping condemnation on those that aren't. The circumstances that have allowed cities to boom and others to decline could easily change in the near future as petroleum and natural gas become more expensive, investment capital dries up after the "global" economy goes into a prolonged contraction or the aging national power grid become more unreliable because there is no money to fix it.