What Direction is Detroit Heading?

**BrushStart** · July-26-10, 05:06 PM

I'm a relatively new poster, but have been lurking here for years. I moved from the suburbs to downtown a few years ago and have become a really big Detroit proponent.

However, my historical perspective of Detroit is short. I am well-versed on the city's history, but I am unfamiliar with the direction Detroit has been trending for the past 10 years. Specifically, when I look around, I have noticed many positive things going on and new developments in downtown, midtown, the Riverfront, etc. Obviously, through my limited perspective, those improvements would have me believing that things are trending up, but is the city actually sinking faster than it is rising? I can't tell because I haven't been here long enough to see the effect of those changes.

So the question for those of you have been tracking Detroit's changes for the past 5-10 years, what direction do you think it is heading?

Edit: And, if Detroit is trending up or down, do you see that trend continuing, staying stagnant, or reversing?

**Patrick** · July-26-10, 05:55 PM

Probably sideways

**gazhekwe** · July-26-10, 06:03 PM

We're north of the equator, so, clockwise, I believe.

**Jimaz** · July-26-10, 06:08 PM

when viewed from the south pole.

DetroitDad · July-26-10, 06:20 PM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

I'm a relatively new poster, but have been lurking here for years. I moved from the suburbs to downtown a few years ago and have become a really big Detroit proponent.

However, my historical perspective of Detroit is short. I am well-versed on the city's history, but I am unfamiliar with the direction Detroit has been trending for the past 10 years. Specifically, when I look around, I have noticed many positive things going on and new developments in downtown, midtown, the Riverfront, etc. Obviously, through my limited perspective, those improvements would have me believing that things are trending up, but is the city actually sinking faster than it is rising? I can't tell because I haven't been here long enough to see the effect of those changes.

So the question for those of you have been tracking Detroit's changes for the past 5-10 years, what direction do you think it is heading?

Edit: And, if Detroit is trending up or down, do you see that trend continuing, staying stagnant, or reversing?

Anything inside the Grand Boulevard Loop holds promise, but outside of that is a little more shaky.

**fanniemae** · July-26-10, 06:26 PM

After Bing is voted out, and the old hangers on from the Kilpatrick era are gone, there could be some economic growth. Can't get much lower than recievership, which is not too far away once all the forth coming lawsuits are paid. Land will go for next to nothing, developers can start building again. Sideways is about right, at the time being. City will come back eventually. But it won't be the fifth largest city ever again.

**BagAJellyDonuts** · July-26-10, 06:35 PM

Up of course

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zso_DSNlYME

**BrushStart** · July-26-10, 06:36 PM

I agree that the progress will come from within the Grand Blvd loop. If Detroit is to re-emerge as a workable city, it is going to happen from the inside out in my estimation. Developments will begin at the core, not at the fringe.

fanniemae, why do you say after Bing is voted out? My general feeling is that Bing is having a positive impact on the way Detroit does business and how it the city is perceived. Sure, Bing is new, but he is seemingly honest and is not a part of the old corrupt political regime, of which, there are still many who need to be ousted. I know he is not the alpha-persona, charasmatic leader the city truly needs, but at least businesses will not be afraid to make investments while he is in office. IMO, anyway.

**Crumbled_pavement** · July-26-10, 06:52 PM

Where is Detroit heading? Off a cliff. Bing slowed us down a little but he didn't change direction at all.

DetroitDad · July-26-10, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

Where is Detroit heading? Off a cliff. Bing slowed us down a little but he didn't change direction at all.

Don't you have to slow down before you can make a turn?

**313WX** · July-26-10, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

I'm a relatively new poster, but have been lurking here for years. I moved from the suburbs to downtown a few years ago and have become a really big Detroit proponent.

However, my historical perspective of Detroit is short. I am well-versed on the city's history, but I am unfamiliar with the direction Detroit has been trending for the past 10 years. Specifically, when I look around, I have noticed many positive things going on and new developments in downtown, midtown, the Riverfront, etc. Obviously, through my limited perspective, those improvements would have me believing that things are trending up, but is the city actually sinking faster than it is rising? I can't tell because I haven't been here long enough to see the effect of those changes.

So the question for those of you have been tracking Detroit's changes for the past 5-10 years, what direction do you think it is heading?

Edit: And, if Detroit is trending up or down, do you see that trend continuing, staying stagnant, or reversing?

Downhill.

The marginal improvements in downtown/midtown haven't been enough to combat the rapid deterioration in Detroit's neighborhoods [[concerning population numbers, asthetics and services).

And while I agree developments will start at the core, it doesn't hold much water when you ignore much of your tax base and populace that resides in the fringe areas. That's exactly where our past few mayoral administrations royally screwed up.

**Crumbled_pavement** · July-26-10, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitDad

Don't you have to slow down before you can make a turn?

Let me know when Bing has us slowing down enough to make a turn. We were going full steam ahead at 200mph. He slowed us down to like 195mph. We won't be turning anytime soon.

**313WX** · July-26-10, 07:26 PM

And that reminds me...

What businesses have Bing even attempted to bring into Detroit himself [[other than his bankrupted manufacturing company)?

**BrushStart** · July-26-10, 07:30 PM

Wow. I'm really suprised by all of the opinions that Detroit is trending downward and fast. I had been very opptomistic about Detroit's future given the incremental progress I have observed in the city's central areas. What scared me is exactly what you are all seemingly saying. That being, as Detroit is adds a restaurant or two here or there or improves a park, the bottom is falling out rapidly.

**p1acebo** · July-26-10, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

Wow. I'm really suprised by all of the opinions that Detroit is trending downward and fast. I had been very opptomistic about Detroit's future given the incremental progress I have observed in the city's central areas. What scared me is exactly what you are all seemingly saying. That being, as Detroit is adds a restaurant or two here or there or improves a park, the bottom is falling out rapidly.

Yes but you have to start some where and judging whether or not Detroit is improving faster than decaying is not a straight forward answer.

**mwilbert** · July-26-10, 10:00 PM

There isn't one direction.

I don't really agree about "inside Grand Blvd loop"--it includes too much stuff, like the Packard plant--but I'd say something like "a variable-width corridor along Woodward between Midtown and the river" is improving.

I'm not sure what else is improving right now. There are neighborhoods that seem to be doing OK, but we will have to see how the foreclosures play out. I will have a hard time saying the city as a whole is improving while it is still losing people and income at the rate I think it is.

**fanniemae** · July-26-10, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

I agree that the progress will come from within the Grand Blvd loop. If Detroit is to re-emerge as a workable city, it is going to happen from the inside out in my estimation. Developments will begin at the core, not at the fringe.

fanniemae, why do you say after Bing is voted out? My general feeling is that Bing is having a positive impact on the way Detroit does business and how it the city is perceived. Sure, Bing is new, but he is seemingly honest and is not a part of the old corrupt political regime, of which, there are still many who need to be ousted. I know he is not the alpha-persona, charasmatic leader the city truly needs, but at least businesses will not be afraid to make investments while he is in office. IMO, anyway.

Bing is just spinning his wheels. Bringing Evans in was a disaster. The man is just too quiet spoken.He is not a bad guy. Bing is not capable of rallying the city. I don't think he is doing much harm other than screwing up the Police Dept. If I were him, I would sidestep Charles Pugh , and work more with Cockrel and Kenyatta. Pugh is in fantasyland.

**BrushStart** · July-26-10, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by fanniemae

Bing is just spinning his wheels. Bringing Evans in was a disaster. The man is just too quiet spoken.He is not a bad guy. Bing is not capable of rallying the city. I don't think he is doing much harm other than screwing up the Police Dept. If I were him, I would sidestep Charles Pugh , and work more with Cockrel and Kenyatta. Pugh is in fantasyland.

That makes sense. I am curious who a take-charge mayor would be. I don't see anyone on the political front that would be better than Bing. I mean, Archer wasn't exactly it. Kwame, NOPE. Cockrel wasn't it either. Freeman Hendrix, maybe? Unless someone stellar emerges from the shadows, a real "Harvey Dent" of sorts, Bing is probably the best we got. I think a fantastic mayor that people could get behind would really turn things around fast.

Ravine · July-26-10, 11:12 PM

Answer: Straight Down.

The city is being run-- directly, face-first into the ground-- by a pack of wretched incompetents & criminals, and most of the populace is too busy watching TV and deciding [[based on their dreams and grand-babies' birthdays) which lottery numbers to play to bother with voting. Of the relatively few who vote, a large percentage cast their votes based on cheesy reasons such as name-recognition and-- go ahead, tell me it ain't so-- the belief that the candidate is a Person of Faith [[whatever the hell that is supposed to mean.)
Far too many of us [[of course, this next comment is true of folks all across the globe) believe that "they" are supposed to be doing something about our horrendous condition.
Sadly, there are no such "they," and if there were, we do not care enough, nor pay enough attention, to support and/or elect the best of "them."

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

[[Opening verses of "The Second Coming," WB Yeats)

**BrushStart** · July-26-10, 11:27 PM

Ravine, you have my vote.

**laurin** · July-26-10, 11:52 PM

I wish that I could be more optimistic, but I think it's going down. The difference in the neighborhood from when we first moved in to now is staggering. We're actually moving from the city to the suburbs this weekend. The crime, neighborhood deterioration, and just a lack of options- it's just not a place for families right now, and I'm not even including the schools [[I'd probably send her to private schools anyhow). I have to drive to Southfield if I want a decent park and the Farmington area to grocery shop. The only thing we do in the city is sleep. All that rant to say-- unless Detroit can address basic of quality of life issues it's going to continue to hemorrhage. I don't see any meaningful improvement on that front- in fact I think that it's getting worse.

**wolverine** · July-27-10, 01:48 AM

Many American cities working to turn themselves around for the better saw great things happen in the 90's and early 2000's. When the recession hit, new development certainly slowed and of course many homes and condos went into foreclosure, but residential and commercial skyscrapers are still getting built, and floorspace is still getting leased, and infill went up in even the worst of neighborhoods in these cities.

Detroit has not produced these outcomes to the caliber of other midwest cities, if not entirely beat out by cities far smaller in size. I doubt new development will come easy in the next decade like it did in our recent past, so it's an intense uphill battle for Detroit. It's not about building riverwalks, stadiums, and parks but maintaining good neighborhoods and attracting small and big business. Build some buildings, have people live and work in them, and make sure they stay.

I think success will come from the city doing something completely different or else things will just get worse.

Ravine · July-27-10, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by wolverine

Many American cities working to turn themselves around for the better saw great things happen in the 90's and early 2000's. When the recession hit, new development certainly slowed and of course many homes and condos went into foreclosure, but residential and commercial skyscrapers are still getting built, and floorspace is still getting leased, and infill went up in even the worst of neighborhoods in these cities.

Detroit has not produced these outcomes to the caliber of other midwest cities, if not entirely beat out by cities far smaller in size. I doubt new development will come easy in the next decade like it did in our recent past, so it's an intense uphill battle for Detroit. It's not about building riverwalks, stadiums, and parks but maintaining good neighborhoods and attracting small and big business. Build some buildings, have people live and work in them, and make sure they stay.

I think success will come from the city doing something completely different or else things will just get worse.

Agreed.
It's also not about being a young blowhard who, on a self-absorbed flight of fancy, moves into the downtown area and, after just a few quick months of living therein, attempts to sell an image of himself as a courageous, die-hard Detroiter who has dug in his heels and is valiantly Fighting the Good Fight against the nay-sayers while simultaneously speaking out against the vile, insidious Creeping Menace commonly known as The Suburbs.

**iheartthed** · July-27-10, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by Patrick

Probably sideways

I agree with this comment.

EastSider · July-27-10, 07:44 AM

Detroit is fucked, because the kind of innovative leadership the city needs is unelectable thanks to the two-bit preachers [[praised be their names) and the race-mongers.

Exhibit A: Alonzo Bates and Barbara Rose-Collins.

Exhibit B is a school board president who can't write a coherent simple sentence and compulsively masturbates.

Exhibit C is the "Reverend" David Murray, who may or not be a) a reverend or have changed his name to Reverend, and b) a licensed social worker, as he claims to be. Even if he is not either of those, we do know he is an adjudicated child abuser. Oh, and did I mention he is retarded [[sorry, Trig)? How he continues to be appropriate to run the educational system in this city is beyond me.

But he and Mr. Mathis have their vocal defenders in the grape-throwing class, who somehow think that the schools could possibly be worse off if the mayor appoints the superintendent.

The best option for the city is a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing so that bond payments can be renegotiated, labor contracts can be voided and City Hall figuratively and literally cleansed of all barnacles on the hull of the ship of state.