So It Begins... Sterling Heights Sees Nation's Steepest Income Drop!

[DetroitPole]

oh god

Yes good schools, streetlights on, police come when they are called and your kids can play in the street is so passé

I just long to live in a place where more than half the population is illiterate and has a 35% unemployment rate.

Oh and don't forget a two bedroom apartment in a high rise for a family of four--that is paradise!!!

you are onto something there

The great part is is that you can enjoy that in a lot of places - including some neighborhoods in Detroit, and virtually all of the suburbs - in addition to the rest of the country. Well, now people realize that. The seemingly endless, mindless phenomenon of "move further out to nowhere" has now ended, and our state has imploded economically, and people are left wondering what to do. That all goes without saying that a tremendous number of people under 30 have no desire to live in a mindless place like Sterling Heights or Shelby Township, and our major city has been neglected and destroyed for too long, so they seek a better life in other places rather than the paradise you describe as Sterling Heights. Frankly, you couldn't pay me to live there, but that is just me. I guess I'm not alone either.

Mind you the literacy rate for Michigan as a whole is not much better than Detroit. As the suburbs face insolvency police, fire, and schools will suffer. Not to mention the weird Michigan fantasy that education is somehow based on what school district you live in. I guess that explains the literacy rates. There is no magic formula: parents have to foster a love of learning, not just a hatred of Detroit and a feeling of superiority over XXXX district. A truly frightening thought is raising my children in a place like Troy, with no libraries or museums. Despite your Leave it to Beaver wet dreams, I think most Americans would be leery to let their children "play in the streets" let alone run around the corner out of sight, because you never know when some gun nut, BDK killer, or mall shooter is going to blow them away. I'm not going to leave my doors unlocked or children running wild anywhere, Detroit or otherwise. Even if my drivers license said Sterling Heights, God, I know, I should be so lucky.

So maybe you're right...the city is in truly in shambles...but the suburbs are worthless pieces of shit. Not a lot going for us. Guess you win that argument. But we all lose.

I'm going to have a cigarette on my front porch and bask in the glow of the streetlight, ironically. Maybe I'll play in the street.