Why Can't Detroit Be More Like Chicago/

[lo_to_d]

Can it really be all that hard?

1. Because Detroit was not planned on a grid.
2. Because Detroit was planned at a 1/3 the density of Chicago and now is 1/6th.
3. Because the State of IL cares about having a thriving major city and MI doesn't.
4. Because Chicago embraced capitalism and Detroit's socialist ideals get f*d by it.
5. Because Detroit doesn't cater to the main stream.
6. Because Detroit doesn't want to be like Chicago.

Detroit is arguably the most unique and interesting city in the world. We shouldn't want to be more like Chicago, we should focus on our assets and promote them properly instead of trying to be something we're not. Sure, our leaders could learn a thing or two from Chicago and probably every other major city in the world, but the region could learn something about knowing more about their city then just what's on the 10oclock news..

[lo_to_d]

You know what I like about Chicago? It has viable, identifiable, bona fide neighborhoods. You can live on any number of residential sidestreets, in just about any section of town in the city proper, and you can walk to the nearest main road, turn in either direction, and find fast food, slow food, liquor, clothing, dry goods, hardware, groceries, and a church.

Point me to anywhere in Detroit where you can do this.

Mexicantown, and to some extent Corktown, Midtown, and 7mile/livernois area. It goes back to density.

[313WX]

Mexicantown, and to some extent Corktown, Midtown, and 7mile/livernois area. It goes back to density.

And even Chicago has neighborhoods with density/housing stock like East English Village, Morningside, NE Detroit and far NW Detroit.

[DetroitPlanner]

What I want to know is why Detroit can't be more like MPS? We have lots of areas just ripe for this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Ruins_Park

[iheartthed]

I don't want Detroit to be Chicago, but I do want Detroit to learn some lessons from Chicago. For instance, the road to recovery does not entail demolishing every historical structure that can't be renovated in the next ten minutes. Chicago knows this. Detroit doesn't.

Chicago also knows that in order to have a functioning city core, you need a functioning mass transit system. [[Detroit does not know this yet either.) But Chicago isn't the only city that has learned these lessons; plenty of other cities know these things too. Look at Boston, NYC, D.C., etc. They all follow a basic set of rules that shouldn't be compromised when you are trying to operate a large, relatively dense city. In the years since Detroit has stopped following those rules, we have only seen the population density of the city plummet.

[irish_mafia]

Because our criminals running the city are generally less inetlligent than the criminals running Chicago. If Detroit wants to get better, they need to elect smarter criminals, Given the illiteracy rate in the city, that could be hard to do.

[wolverine]

Detroitplanner, do Happy's Pizzas count? A few opened on the southside. I'm hoping they eventually make their way up to the south loop and I'll be satisfied.

[Detroitnerd]

Sadly, there are no "bar and grills" left in Hamtown.

Kelly's?

[CMooreBMoore]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ropolitan_area

[CMooreBMoore]

See Companies based within the City of Chicago... below are companies based out of Chicago Suburbs.

[xphillipjrx]

I am from Southfield and I've been in Chicago since 1998. Some random thoughts as I am at work
1) Somebody mentioned the dirty little secret of the South Side and the other secret is the West Side
2) Chicago has done the right thing with its waterfront since the early 1900s. Chicago has water-->public access--->streets--->private property. Detroit has water-->private property--->streets---> more private property. A few parks, the river walk and Hart Plaza are mixed in, but it makes a difference. Mayor Daley wants the entire waterfront to be public access. The only major piece that obstructs that today is McCormick Place and Daley plans to get rid of that and use the new McCormick place.
3) I read somewhere that there's a higher number of Fortune 500 Companies with either their HQ or a regional office in Chicago than in any other city in the world. That's industrial diversity.
4) I drive throughout Chicago and I see taverns in the middle of neighborhoods and business districts that are set up just like the shops at Livernois N of 7 Mile [[for example), but the stores on Livernois can't thrive. There are some things in Detroit that don't even need to be built; people just need to start going there.
5) There is a wide swath on the South Side bordered by 35th, Lake Shore Drive, 71st and I-94 and there is only a Treasure Island in that area. There is a Jewel on 35th, Dominicks on 71st, a few Centrella/Aldi/Save-A-Lots in the middle and that's it. On the other hand there is an equally sized area up north of Belmont, Western, Howard and Lake Shore Drive that contains 30 Jewel/Dominicks grocery stores. Nobody ever talks about that in Chicago.
6) Chicagoans in Lincoln Park have the same prejudices against the South & West sides as suburban Detroiters have against Detroit. It's just that Chicagoans all live in the same city.
7) Public transportation makes a difference.
8) There are clowns and crooks on Chicago's city council, but the difference between Detroit and Chicago is that the clowns and crooks in Detroit run the show.

[dtowncitylover]

Even though they moved to Schaumburg [[a Chicago suburb), K-Mart did buy Sears. So...yeah!

[313WX]

Even though they moved to Schaumburg [[a Chicago suburb), K-Mart did buy Sears. So...yeah!

But who received the corporate tax & an employment gain in the end?

So...no!

[dove-7]

I think Detroit has a bad image problem because it doesn't have enough police, whether real or percieved, and that's why Chicago is perceived as better by outsiders. Double the police budget. Bring back police walking a random beat to any area preceived as unsafe. Have them pickup homeless people and panhandlers and take them to the shelter or throw them in jail if they're difficult.

I remember former NYC Mayor Guliani talking on Larry King and talking about how he fixed up NYC when he had the police write up tickets for all the small things like J-walking, throwing a candy wrapper on the sidewalk, and anything minor so people had respect for the more serious laws and it really cleaned up Manhattan.

I had a friend visit downtown Chicago a year ago. He stopped his car near a bank in downtown to take a picture. Within half a minute, a cop pulls up and tells him he can't stop near a bank and he has to move. That's hardcore. But, those cities feel safer I guess and maybe that's why those cities work so much better.

But then again, when Detroit is bankrupt, you can't increase the police budget unless all those tickets are paying for it.

If only the lack of "cop safety" syndrome is the sole reason behind Detroit's problems. But it's not that cut n dry.

Most of the posters make valid points when addressing Detroit's current conditions; some of those compare and contrast to other cities are valid.

Economy, riots, crime, politics, lack of mass transit are a few of the many elements that help make and break a city. Speaking of crime, crime doesn't force a large part of it's population to exodus elsewhere. While crime will force many out, it's the lack of economics that force many. Living in the Cali. Bay area, crime is here and frequent more than some on here and off of here may think. Don't let stats fool you, you have to see it for yourself and the politicians have ways of covering up negative images if the money is right.

San Francisco is a beautiful city, but it can be a very dangerous city and in many ways is more like NYC than Chicago is. That being said, even with the crime and even larger homeless population than Detroit, weather [[gets cold as hell here too) tourist attraction and other things keep it going. Even with this bad recession, San Francisco attract tourist. Same applies to Chicago. Overall, it's the politics in Detroit and metro Detroit that dictate how Detroit operates.

I see these circular conversations and arguments continue about Detroit's demise on here; many try to use one element vs several. Until people stop blaming one thing and look at the entire picture, the entire metro will continue to go in circles too.

[Detroit Stylin]

Damn dove I havent seen you in many moons, how the life on the left coast? BTW

Overall, it's the politics in Detroit and metro Detroit that dictate how Detroit operates.

I fully agree with this statement here and if I dare say....should we ever get beyond the bullshit poilitics of the REGION, then the rest of those issues plaguing us may actually begin to get taken care of.

[dove-7]

Damn dove I havent seen you in many moons, how the life on the left coast? BTW

I fully agree with this statement here and if I dare say....should we ever get beyond the bullshit poilitics of the REGION, then the rest of those issues plaguing us may actually begin to get taken care of.

Hi Stylin. Good to see you brotha. Life is good. Even during this recession, I'm maintaining. It's not easy all of the time, but there are people far worse. School is good; I'm almost out. Thank God. Lol. Just been shooting for my portfolio [[Fashion and Illustration photography major)

[EMG]

To answer the question posed in the thread title, because there is no way any true Detroiter would ever put up with having to stop every tenth of a mile on the freeway to throw 35 cents into another tollbooth, that's why. The tollgates would be demolished beyond all hope of repair within 5 minutes of installation.

[dove-7]

To answer the question posed in the thread title, because there is no way any true Detroiter would ever put up with having to stop every tenth of a mile on the freeway to throw 35 cents into another tollbooth, that's why. The tollgates would be demolished beyond all hope of repair within 5 minutes of installation.

Doubt it. If the conditions were different, they would, but Detroit doesn't have that type of environment to allow or dictate that. Chicago is a giant metro with a lot going on; Detroit is the opposite. Toll is the least of Detroit's issues on the totem poll. Perhaps my sarcastic meter is not working.

[Detroit Stylin]

Hi Stylin. Good to see you brotha. Life is good. Even during this recession, I'm maintaining. It's not easy all of the time, but there are people far worse. School is good; I'm almost out. Thank God. Lol. Just been shooting for my portfolio [[Fashion and Illustration photography major)

Well let a brotha know when you need a website then.....

[trstar]

You know what I like about Chicago? It has viable, identifiable, bona fide neighborhoods. You can live on any number of residential sidestreets, in just about any section of town in the city proper, and you can walk to the nearest main road, turn in either direction, and find fast food, slow food, liquor, clothing, dry goods, hardware, groceries, and a church.

Point me to anywhere in Detroit where you can do this.

SOME neighborhoods in Chicago you can do this. Others will have you jacked in a blink of an eye. Except for "slow food', there are neighborhoods you can get that in D. Only the "big 5" though.

[Crumbled_pavement]

I see these circular conversations and arguments continue about Detroit's demise on here; many try to use one element vs several. Until people stop blaming one thing and look at the entire picture, the entire metro will continue to go in circles too.

This is what politicians count on. People want quick fixes to problems that might not have quick fixes and politicians exploit that with promises of simple solutions. Our leaders will continue to offer band-aids for bullet wounds as long as we continue to be appeased by these offers.

[Detroit Stylin]

This is what politicians count on. People want quick fixes to problems that might not have quick fixes and politicians exploit that with promises of simple solutions. Our leaders will continue to offer band-aids for bullet wounds as long as we continue to be appeased by these offers.

That is really due to a politically ignorant populace regionwide

[dove-7]

Well let a brotha know when you need a website then.....

I already have one. I also have a back ground in graphic and website design. I make money doing it on the side and currently working on a client's website.

But I might need your help on a php mysql website that I'm working on for a different project. Are you able to do any php mysql programming?

[48302]

Originally Posted by Hamtragedy
Let's see. Unaffordable real estate. $400 annually to park your car in front of your house. Instant $60 tickets for not displaying visitors pass when parking at friends house. 10.5% sales tax. Horrible traffic. Trash everywhere [[literally). And then there is that whole dirty little secret that the world, including Chicago's own politicians, forget about so easily: the South Side.

I've seriously considered Chicago, and after spending plenty of time there working and playing, I'll pass and take my own little piece of paradise in Hamsandwich.

hamtramck versus Chicago....

and hamtramck wins...

i guess i thought that was a joke.....sorry.

please crosspost to the minor league site for further satire.

[iheartthed]

To answer the question posed in the thread title, because there is no way any true Detroiter would ever put up with having to stop every tenth of a mile on the freeway to throw 35 cents into another tollbooth, that's why. The tollgates would be demolished beyond all hope of repair within 5 minutes of installation.

That's unfortunate. Because the Detroit area should probably seriously look at tolls as a way to help maintain the crumbling roads.