Detroit Issues a Challenge to Save the City

[erikd]

I never get what these things are trying to accomplish. You have a City with a corrupt, backward thinking government, marginal police & fire protection, high crime rate, a lighting & power system grid on it's last legs, and a high percentage of high school drop-outs. What do these people realistically hope to change by living here for a year & shopping for veggies @ Eastern Mark-Up?

Exactly.

There seems to be no shortage of people dreaming up grand plans for "saving Detroit." Unfortunately, nobody seems to realize that what we really need to save Detroit is a functional government that provides basic city services. We don't need grandiose visions for creating a futuristic utopia based on nothing but somebody's daydream. We need streetlights that work, 911 responders that show up in less than 2 hours, and public transit that runs efficiently and on time every day.

Fix the basics and most of the other stuff will fall into place.