um, yes my friends. the alphabet soup of downtown orgs that supposedly work to economically develop detroit use stealth tactics and are legally public when they want to be and private when they have to be.

it is a kabal of "we know what's best for detroit" politicos who have figured out how to make the system work for them so that they can predictably and expeditiously get the desired results with a minimum of troublesome oversight or community input. these guys are supposed to provide leadership and vision by working OUTSIDE of the market to help CREATE a more dynamic and desireable marketplace. instead they cry victimhood to the the wiles of the existing market and rationalize the further destruction of our built environment by trying to beat us into submission with the familiar, "the numbers just don't work" for this or that. How many times have we heard this only to be left with more and more vacant lots.

I would call the DEGC as much a blight GENERATOR as a blight remover. Curt Guyette at the MT is really the only one in the media who's articulated this at all. He nailed it over ten years ago with his coverage of the Hudson's demo fiasco. despite endless rationalizations to the contrary, here and elsewhere, still one of the stupidest decisions ever made for downtown.

http://dkpdetroit.com/hudsons/articles/puzzle.html