Detroit's Problem is a Lack of Job, Not Too Much Gentrification

[Wesley Mouch]

Just a wild-ass, Google-inspired, guess: Morningside, Edinburgh.

That could be completely wrong.

Another WAG, but I have always assumed it was because it was once the eastern edge of the city -- and the sun rises over that way.

[ddaydetroit]

The article misses many key points I am a business owner looking for an industrial building 13,000 to 20,000 sq ft to lease.

I am presently located in Macomb County if I wanted to move to Detroit there are no buildings on the east side that fit my needs while in Macomb county there to many to count.

My skilled workers live from Warren to Capac and have no interest driving or working in Detroit so to relocate to Detroit I would have to rebuild my workforce it takes me a few months just to find a worker with the skills I feel we can build on and from there it takes about two years or training.

Most of the new jobs I see coming into the city are trendy restaurants and stores, blue collar office jobs.

nowhere in Detroit do I see independent shop owners bringing new jobs into the city for skilled workers that program and run cnc machines, build aerospace tooling and other skilled labor type industries that are booming in places like 23 mile rd in Shelby Twp or Auburn hills.

I can not see Detroit reaching its full potential without these types of jobs moving back into the city

[Zacha341]

Sad but too often true. One must be vigilant to not be taken by thievery!

Somebody walking by sees a house painter at work and steals the tools out of his truck while he is busy.

[Lowell]

The article misses many key points I am a business owner looking for an industrial building 13,000 to 20,000 sq ft to lease.

I am presently located in Macomb County if I wanted to move to Detroit there are no buildings on the east side that fit my needs while in Macomb county there to many to count.

My skilled workers live from Warren to Capac and have no interest driving or working in Detroit so to relocate to Detroit I would have to rebuild my workforce it takes me a few months just to find a worker with the skills I feel we can build on and from there it takes about two years or training.

Most of the new jobs I see coming into the city are trendy restaurants and stores, blue collar office jobs.

nowhere in Detroit do I see independent shop owners bringing new jobs into the city for skilled workers that program and run cnc machines, build aerospace tooling and other skilled labor type industries that are booming in places like 23 mile rd in Shelby Twp or Auburn hills.

I can not see Detroit reaching its full potential without these types of jobs moving back into the city

That's a good summary of the challenges the City of Detroit and older industrial cities face. And you didn't even mention the non-resident income taxes that would have to be paid and extortionate insurances you might face.

Detroit cannot compete for your business without significant incentives. It has to look elsewhere and play with the hand it is dealt.

Detroit's appeal is big city living. Major league sports, theaters, major events, casinos, dramatic river front, art and culture AND your works site all out your door or a quick Qline ride away. Living in the big city is just as appealing to many as the country calm of Capac is to your workers. There's nothing like if for 250 miles, except Cleveland maybe.

Other than glitzware from Shinola and the like, Green Zone Detroit [Downtown to New Center] produces few tangible products. The vast majority of employees are skilled information workers -- electron shifters -- that fill the towers of GM, Quicken, WSU and others. Even the ones who do physical work casino workers, waitresses, janitors and the like are not involved in material objects.

Where Detroit might compete for your business is when you replace your workers with robots. Might not be your case but it's happening big time as I am guessing you know.

[DeLemur]

40% of Detroit is functionally illiterate, so its very difficult training the population to do machinist jobs. This lack of education/skills can be blamed on a lot of things. IE: Slow transition of skill emphasis from high paying factory jobs that didn't need reading and writing or high mathematical skills. Some people would blame family and the Detroit school system. Others Michigan's highest incarceration rate in the Midwest. How are those kids learning when Dad is locked up on a low level drug charge? Others even blame welfare. Yet welfare is all but gone. Talk about beating a dead horse.

While I too experience some poor work ethic around a lawn company a friend gave to a Detroiter who then neglected the business, these unfortunate people are out there- I also know the other side of things. That many minimum wage jobs like picking up trash, building trophies or working security all night long are also jobs where the business engages in wage theft, neglects OT laws and makes employees pay for uniforms and all other sorts of stealing or cost shifting to the employee. The same employee who's illiterate and unskilled, is being mistreated and manipulated a good chunk of the time as well. Just the other day I met a woman in Bay City who was pushed to work two hours even when she had the day off!

Let's not moan about lazy people in Detroit and not know that the culture of being honest with workers, paying them decently is lost from the days of "hard work" as well. Not only have real wages declined tremendously, but so have benefits, so have vacation days, so have everything else. The working environment has changed a lot.