Dissolve Highland Park?

[Hypestyles]

The difference with Hamtramck is that it's actually a stable and growing community. Dissolving it into Detroit would be a detriment to Hamtramck.

Regional cooperation means "everything" to folks unless it involves money. Which means, it really means nothing to anyone.

[1953]

Alternatively, couldn't Highland Park dissolve and be reconstituted as a township, thereby transferring some of its burden onto Wayne County?

1953

[Bham1982]

Alternatively, couldn't Highland Park dissolve and be reconstituted as a township, thereby transferring some of its burden onto Wayne County?

I was thinking the same thing. Hamtramck, River Rouge, Ecorse and Inkster should probably be dissolved too, and the county just takes over services. Same goes for Pontiac in Oakland.

[Wesley Mouch]

How is Highland Park going to address its various blight issues? If it is 'dissolved' and merged with Detroit proper, what does this mean for city council representation?

I don't see that this has anything to do with it. They aren't addressing the issues now AFAIK. No reports of life from the residents 'representatives' either are there.

City government exists to serve the citizens. When they can't or don't -- we should replace them.

I see no reason why we should care about the existence or dissolution of dysfunctional civic entities.

[Jimaz]

FWIW, from today's Free Press: Highland Park officials dismiss talk of dissolving city

"That's ludicrous," Mayor DeAndre Windom said Saturday. "People have been talking about that for years."

News of the prospect of folding the city into Detroit and spreading its debt over a broader population base was first reported in the Detroit News on Friday, though Gov. Rick Snyder seemed to distance himself from the idea later.

"I don't put a lot of stock into it," said Highland Park City Council President Christopher Woodard. "The trial balloon that was thrown up was just that."

[animatedmartian]

I was thinking the same thing. Hamtramck, River Rouge, Ecorse and Inkster should probably be dissolved too, and the county just takes over services. Same goes for Pontiac in Oakland.

Alternatively, couldn't Highland Park dissolve and be reconstituted as a township, thereby transferring some of its burden onto Wayne County?

1953

That would be more complicated than it needs to be. Counties can't provide the same level of service as an independent city.

[Bham1982]

That would be more complicated than it needs to be. Counties can't provide the same level of service as an independent city.

It seems to work fine for most of the state. Most of the state is located in townships where counties do most of the work.

And what "level of service" are we getting in H-P that would be lost under county management? H-P is essentially nonfunctional, with no remaining tax base. It's basically a ward of the state.

[animatedmartian]

It seems to work fine for most of the state. Most of the state is located in townships where counties do most of the work.

And what "level of service" are we getting in H-P that would be lost under county management? H-P is essentially nonfunctional, with no remaining tax base. It's basically a ward of the state.

Most of the state is rural. There aren't water pipes and streets every 20 feet that have to be maintained in a rural area.

[1953]

There are large charter townships that operate fairly autonomously, like Clinton Twp., but still rely on the county for services. There are other townships that are still quite developed, but rely largely on county services - like Macomb Twp. It might be odd in Wayne County, since Highland Park would be geographically separate from its other townships.

In the case of the Downriver inner ring suburbs, I have been an advocate here and in other forums for folding the small, struggling cities into one city with a new brand. Ecorse, River Rouge, Melvindale, Allen Park, and Lincoln Park could make up a new southern suburb of 100,000-ish people. They were all once part of Ecorse Township, and should be again now that their massive population boom and bust cycle is moderated.

1953

[dtowncitylover]

In the case of the Downriver inner ring suburbs, I have been an advocate here and in other forums for folding the small, struggling cities into one city with a new brand. Ecorse, River Rouge, Melvindale, Allen Park, and Lincoln Park could make up a new southern suburb of 100,000-ish people. They were all once part of Ecorse Township, and should be again now that their massive population boom and bust cycle is moderated.

1953

Sounds very Australian.

[1953]

Are you suggesting this would enhance the likelihood of winning at Risk?

[animatedmartian]

There are large charter townships that operate fairly autonomously, like Clinton Twp., but still rely on the county for services. There are other townships that are still quite developed, but rely largely on county services - like Macomb Twp. It might be odd in Wayne County, since Highland Park would be geographically separate from its other townships.

It's not about the size, it's about how much is built up. The county only pays for main roads. The townships have to deal with the side streets and whatnot in all those new subdivisions. For every new subdivision, the taxes levied on the township go up whatever amount to pay for that infrastructure.

In the case of the Downriver inner ring suburbs, I have been an advocate here and in other forums for folding the small, struggling cities into one city with a new brand. Ecorse, River Rouge, Melvindale, Allen Park, and Lincoln Park could make up a new southern suburb of 100,000-ish people. They were all once part of Ecorse Township, and should be again now that their massive population boom and bust cycle is moderated.

1953

That's pretty much what Highland Park would be doing by dissolving into Detroit, so I'm not sure why you're suggesting it become a township.

[dtowncitylover]

Are you suggesting this would enhance the likelihood of winning at Risk?

Risk: Metro Detroit edition. We're so fragmented, it could work.

[Danny]

A Highland Park sub-division in Detroit will do after its gov't dissolves and its public school dies.

[Wheels]

There are large charter townships that operate fairly autonomously, like Clinton Twp., but still rely on the county for services. There are other townships that are still quite developed, but rely largely on county services - like Macomb Twp. It might be odd in Wayne County, since Highland Park would be geographically separate from its other townships.

In the case of the Downriver inner ring suburbs, I have been an advocate here and in other forums for folding the small, struggling cities into one city with a new brand. Ecorse, River Rouge, Melvindale, Allen Park, and Lincoln Park could make up a new southern suburb of 100,000-ish people. They were all once part of Ecorse Township, and should be again now that their massive population boom and bust cycle is moderated.

1953

South Detroit would make Steve Perry happy!

[RaumVogel]

The difference with Hamtramck is that it's actually a stable and growing community. Dissolving it into Detroit would be a detriment to Hamtramck.

This.What HP should do is figure out how to be more like Hamtramck.When I lived there I had the impression that Hamtramck was managed a lot better that Detroit or Highland park.

[Danny]

Just letting the D-YES former members know that Highland Park gets its water from Grosse Pointe, not Detroit.

[Cliffy]

Just letting the D-YES former members know that Highland Park gets its water from Grosse Pointe, not Detroit.

I've never heard of Grosse Pointe having its own water plant

[Radioron]

Grosse Pointe Farms has a water treatment plant at Moross and Lakeshore Drive. They also provïde water to the City of Grosse Pointe. Henry Ford built a pump station [[the smaller red brick building at Moross and Lakeshore) to pump water to the Highland Park water treatment plant, as well as untreated irrigation water for the Country Club of Detroit.

Highland Park clösed their treatment plant in late 2012 because of problems at the pant and started buying water from Detroit. CCD started buying from GPF.

[SyGolden48236]

Grosse Pointe Farms has a water treatment plant at Moross and Lakeshore Drive. They also provïde water to the City of Grosse Pointe. Henry Ford built a pump station [[the smaller red brick building at Moross and Lakeshore) to pump water to the Highland Park water treatment plant, as well as untreated irrigation water for the Country Club of Detroit.

Highland Park clösed their treatment plant in late 2012 because of problems at the pant and started buying water from Detroit. CCD started buying from GPF.

Henry Ford did not build the present day Highland Park pumping station on Lake Shore. It was built in 1893 by a group of local residents:

In 1893, the origins of a village water system were in place. The Grosse Pointe Water Company, privately organized by several summer residents, constructed a Village Waterworks, a "cottage-like" Queen Ann-style building at 337 Lake Shore, near Moross. It provided water to houses along the shore via an intake pipe that extended 1,200 feet into the lake at the foot of Moross. The building exists today as the Highland Park Pumping Station.

This system was later sold to the Peninsular Electric Light company which was later was acquired by the Edison Company. Edison sold the station to Highland Park in the 1920s.



337 Lake Shore. Grosse Pointe Pumping Station. Plant built in 1890s to dispense water to lake shore, and later inland, residents. Sold in 1905 to parent company of Detroit Edison which continued to provide water and light to the area but sold the water distribution system to Grosse Pointe Farms. Since the 1920s, owned by Highland Park.


http://www.grossepointefarms.org/abo...k-through-time

http://digitize.gp.lib.mi.us/digitiz...23/1923-09.pdf

[313WX]

The difference with Hamtramck is that it's actually a stable and growing community.

I'm not so sure about that.

YEs, Hamtramck isn't nearly as bad off as Highland Park and Detroit as far as service delivery, crumbling infrastructure and blight, but it has also been experiencing a overall decline in population/wealth since the 1950s as well [[down ~50% from its peak population). Also, let's not forget the city was recently under the control of an EM and even wanted to file for bankruptcy like Detroit [[which the state of Michigan didn't allow).

It did see a sizable influx of middle eastern immigrants in the 1990s when Michigan's eocnomy had expanded [[and a lot major employers in the manufacturing/industrial sector were still based in that area) to somewhat offset the decline, but since then, even they have begun fleeing Hamtramck.

[esteban]

I lived in Highland Park from 1975-2008, owed a house from 1987 - 2008, spent two years on the Governors Committee for Highland Park, maintained and ran http://hpfolks.com out of my own pocket [[site now archived.)

I'm inclined towards a 'yes' on this issue. I don't know if it has changed, but the day to day workings of the HP administration lacked a large measure of competency. For example, I had to repeatedly pull out my water payment receipts because water department continually wanted to charge me for bills already paid.

While I am cognizant of the history and unique housing architecture, the city of HP has been losing significantly more population per capita than Detroit; at its height, HP had a population of 56,000 people; now there are fewer then 16,000.
A disproportionate amount of those who have left were in the higher education and income bracket, so that the city is largely stripped of its intelligentsia.

Despite having its very own water department and purification system, capable of supplying 60,000 inhabitants and two major industries [[formally Ford, Chrysler) the administration has been unable to capitalize on this potential goldmine. Instead, water loss [[as of 2005) was 50% due to disrepair, and the blueprints for the system are lost, forcing the city to do expensive emergency repairs using private contractors.

I realize that Detroit does not have a particularly stellar administrative reputation, but in the bigger picture it would nonetheless make sense for Highland Park citizens to unify the two cities, if for no other reason than to rid HP of a burdensome and expensive administrative system.