So they really are going to surrender and tear down sections of Detroit

The Collins Report ^ | 02/27/10 | Kevin Collins

[Maverick68]

It is “surrendering”...surrendering to common-sense...

[cripplecreek]

Yes I’m familiar with Detroit and not all of Detroit is run down homes.

Your solution is what? Burn it all down and screw em?

[70th Division]

Move the democratic congress into these slums and let them live there for 6 months to see how their programs have really worked.

YA on term in office and one term in Detroit.

[Willie Green]

The 40-year result of LBJ’s “Great Society”.

Pretty ironic that the Bush/Cheney neocons are LBJ's Great Society warhawk ideological descendants... especially considering how their shoot-yourself-in-the-foot "free trade" policies spread Detroit Decay to the rest of the nation.

[snoringbear]

“There’s a company buying up whole blocks at bargain-basement prices, and planning to convert the land to commercial urban farming use. Urban un-growth.”

Yeah. There was an article in Fortune magazine awhile back about the guy behind this effort. I believe he is a Detroit native. I'll look around and see if I can find the mag - probably in my “reading room” :) Personally, I think this could get done by the private sector at no taxpayer cost if the Detroit city government would just offer to turn over ownership of all these abandoned plots to whoever is willing to clear them off and convert them back to farm land. But, hey, that's not the liberal/socialist/commie way is it? Gotta spend those tax dollars no matter what...

[cripplecreek]

I suspect that most of the remaining and livable homes in the blighted areas are owned by the resident and have been taken care of to some extent. This makes the owner a fairly desirable renter or buyer in better neighborhoods.

My sister lives in Livonia and says that many of the new residents in her area are people who left the blight behind. For the most part they keep their homes in good shape and seem to have a great sense of neighborhood.

[GreenLanternCorps]

I'd be happier with a Moat around the West side of DeToilet, and/or ceding it to Canada.

We surrendered Detroit without a fight during the War of 1812. However, in the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War, the British forced us to take it back. That is how I know we lost the War of 1812...

[Graybeard58]

to assume you can “build” a city is ridiculous. A city is the manifestation of the values, character of its citizens and ‘natural” outgrowth of the economics of the city.

You're correct, if the government tore down the old Detroit and rebuilt a new one, it would deteriorate faster than the original one.

For a city to succeed it needs people and businesses that have a stake in its success, not a group that has been handed real estate at the expense of others.

Look at housing projects in about any city to see the proof of that.

[adorno]

Mayor Dave Bing of Detroit to tear down large sections of his City

Essentially, they'll be tearing down the city but spreading the decay.

What needs tearing down is the liberal ideology which caused the decay in Detroit and other major urban areas. If those people are relocated and they take their ideology with them, the same kind of decay will occur everywhere they go. People need to get educated about how damaging liberalism and socialism are.

[Hot Tabasco]

Burn it all down and screw em?

I didn't say that dude...........

I don't have a solution or else I'd be mayor but sometimes no solution is better than the one being proposed...

[KevinDavis]

Sorry Willie, it is not Bush’s fault.... Detroit was falling way before Bush...

[count-your-change]

The Operating Engineers, Teamsters, Labors, Electricians, and Plumbers unions will demand they be given the jobs and the minorities will say they were not being given their fair share of the jobs and no bid contracts.

And don't forget the Social Justice Impact Study. Will minorities or Native Americans be disproportionately impacted by the work?
If there is any possibility that any Native American died anywhere close to the demolition area the The Native American Graves and Reparations Act may apply and that means studies by archaeologists, long, patient studies.

The EPA wants a detailed plan to show ground water will not be polluted and all possible traces of hazardous materials are properly handled. The “Plan” will have to be approved before any work begins and that will take at least two years. More jobs for Certified Asbestos Removers

Then the question of how the wild life will be affected must be studied and resolved and a “Plan” submitted lest any endangered species be disturbed.

Will native species of trees be used? Lawsuit. Will these newly planted forests be used like parks? Maintenance? Lawsuit.

I don't see any problems.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Thanks for the link. I watched the whole thing. What a shame....