Obama Visiting Detroit Tomorrow

[Johnnny5]

What happened to the conversation about Obama visiting today?

[ABetterDetroit]

President Obama may be making his last trip to Detroit as President to visit the Auto Show and check out the city. It is unimaginable what the auto show would have been like had he not acted vigorously to save GM and Chrysler, so I think he deserves a victory lap.

I'm not sure of when his last visit was, but I know he was here on Labor Day 2011 when I shot this picture on the east riverfront.



That would also be about the time Dan Gilbert was beginning to make his presence felt and the remarkable transformation of Downtown Detroit began in earnest. Much change has occurred in the years since.

If you were the President's guide what would you show him?

I would show him DPS and ask if him if there was anyway the Department of Education and their 70 Billion dollar budget could help?

[jfk]

Had the auto industries been allowed "To Go Under", and thousands upon thousands of Detroiters, Lincoln Parkers, Bloomfield Hillers, etc., both directly in the auto industry, and auto industry OEM related fields, had lost their jobs, do you really think Dan Gilbert would have built storefronts for expensive cufflink shops? Do you think Mike Ilitch would have built a new Coliseum, or made due with the one he had? Do you think the City elite would have subsidized a Blight Rail? I think we would have been lucky to get lead tainted water from the Governor. That is those of us left who hadn't sold their homes for pennies on the dollar, or let them lapse into foreclosure, as we moved out for greener pastures.

Pure conjecture on your part. Neither you nor me know what would have happened had Chrysler and GM just gone ahead with chapter 11 bankruptcy in the first place and not put their hand out to Washington. Seems to me I remember a city by the name of Detroit that came out smelling like a rose after filing Chapter 11.

[Honky Tonk]

Pure conjecture on your part. Neither you nor me know what would have happened had Chrysler and GM just gone ahead with chapter 11 bankruptcy in the first place and not put their hand out to Washington. Seems to me I remember a city by the name of Detroit that came out smelling like a rose after filing Chapter 11.

I wonder what it would have smelled like had a few thousand people been left unemployed?

[jfk]

I wonder what it would have smelled like had a few thousand people been left unemployed?

Detroit did layoff, over 1000. Like GM and Chrysler with their job banks where people went to work and did nothing, Detroit ran a friends and family program and overstaffed departments except the ones that mattered,Public saftey

[Honky Tonk]

Your argument is fizzling out. Ford alone laid off 4K people in one round. What Detroit ran, [[still runs to some degree) has little to do with the topic. We were discussing Obama propping up the auto industry, and the effects of, if he hadn't. Anyway, welcome aboard. I'm glad he did. I need a pair of cufflinks.

[DetBill]

Well, it looks to me like the Democrats have done a wonderful job in Detroit. Such a dynamic, beautiful town!

[[Not.)

Now , Now Ray, are you living here presently? If good old Romney and his Republican buds would have gotten in we would have been looking at the demise of GM and probably Chrysler and there is no way in heaven Gilbert would have been changing this city the way he is now.. Luv or hate Obama , he has been very good for Detroit, Im not so sure a Republican president would have even remembered how to spell it...And by the way, Downtown and Midtown, at least are doing very well, I look at it and walk through it eveyday and have been living downtown since 1989, the change is undeniable. My place has gone up 60% in the last three years in value. . Now the neighborhoods need alot of help

[401don]

I was at the show yesterday and found once again another venue that almost seems to out of its way to provide poor customer service. Could Obama not have arrived at the show from 9-10 am so they wouldn't have to close parts of it down or at least have the show open an hour later that day? Instead they install metal detectors with several stations. Two large lines are formed going from the left and right and when we get close to the front we find lots of people are just walking in off the street up to the middle detectors and not waiting in line. I saved the Ford & Gm displays for the end of my visit and when I get to them I'm told they are closing for 2 hours. Could they not have posted signs that they would close from 12-2 so people could plan accordingly? This is all pretty simple stuff if people give a rats ass about their customers. On a different note, I heard someone say the show is advertising that they are "certified green" because all their containers are recyclable. Meanwhile there are zero recycling bins and everything goes straight in the trash.

[jmarie]

I was at the show yesterday and found once again another venue that almost seems to out of its way to provide poor customer service. Could Obama not have arrived at the show from 9-10 am so they wouldn't have to close parts of it down or at least have the show open an hour later that day? Instead they install metal detectors with several stations. Two large lines are formed going from the left and right and when we get close to the front we find lots of people are just walking in off the street up to the middle detectors and not waiting in line. I saved the Ford & Gm displays for the end of my visit and when I get to them I'm told they are closing for 2 hours. Could they not have posted signs that they would close from 12-2 so people could plan accordingly? This is all pretty simple stuff if people give a rats ass about their customers. On a different note, I heard someone say the show is advertising that they are "certified green" because all their containers are recyclable. Meanwhile there are zero recycling bins and everything goes straight in the trash.

Seriously?
First thought- the POTUS should have to rearrange his schedule to accommodate yours? [[9am-10am comment)
Second thought- they announced this well in advance and said that areas would be closed at times. You chose to go on the same day.
Third thought- common sense says that security will be tight and things will move slowly. Again, you chose to go this day.
Fourth thought- the president's itinerary [[with specific times) is not usually announced due to safety reasons.

I don't mean to be rude. I try not to be, but I can't handle any more 'the world revolves around me' mentality today.