Posted on 11/30/2018 5:59:21 AM PST by george76
General Motors Co on Monday pulled the plug on the Chevrolet Volt hybrid and the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant that builds it, both examples of a costly gamble that is not paying off.
GM’s widely touted factory of the future, forced on a town desperate for jobs and hailed decades later by former resident Barack Obama, is set to wind down over the next few years, leaving beleaguered Hamtramck wondering what happened.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said at a news conference Monday that he told GM chief executive Mary Barra Monday that “we moved thousands of people out of that neighborhood ... to create that assembly plant and I felt that the city of Detroit deserved more consideration.”
The Detroit-Hamtramck plant stands on 465 acres of land that was once a neighborhood known as “Poletown.”
In 1981, the Michigan Supreme Court approved a decision to allow Detroit to tear down up to 1,500 homes, more than 140 businesses, a hospital and six churches to build the $500 million plant. The Detroit News reported 4,200 people lost their homes as a result.
GM convinced officials in the cities of Detroit and Hamtramck, the state of Michigan - and ultimately the state’s highest court - to use eminent domain, a controversial process in which government seizes private land.
Karen Majewski, the mayor of Hamtramck, told Reuters that the GM plant is one of the largest contributors to local property taxes. Empty, she worried the factory will discourage other investments.
“They destroyed homes and churches and local businesses, all to build that plant,” Majewski said. “Now that the plant is going to close, people will wonder why that neighborhood had to be sacrificed in the first place.”
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
#31 That is new housing : )
Thanks. I went back to the original Roto-Reuters story and found that a "P" was dropped from the cut-and-paste story excerpt that george76 posted above. So the sentence should have read "former President Barack Obama," not "former resident Barack Obama."
But it was perfect the way it was. LOL
And ghost towns dot the west as the boom and bust cycle repeats.
They've had 39 years worth of good times.
Come to Indiana and ride a leisurely trip on the Whitewater Canal.
This little experiment caused the re-writing of parts of our state constitution!
That is correct. And for what it's worth, the vast majority of the plan't workforce live in the suburbs now.
There's a reason that area is called "Pole" town and that's because it was primarily Polish. Not so much anymore. The original residents are now dead, their children who grew up there are my age and have long since moved to the suburbs. The area has been taken over by people from the Middle East and there's a mosque that blares a call to prayer. In the downtown area there are still a couple great Polish restaurants and deli's. In fact a friend of mine still drives down there to get all his Polish sausage and other traditional Polish food.....
nope 40 yo
You followed the leadership of Obama, superfool, jive turkey extraordinaire who is now living much better than you.
I remember it being all over the Internet in 1981. No, wait. what were those things that blew all over the place when it was windy? Papers. Yes, it was in all the papers.
Sigh...
Even the very best and most efficient buggy whip manufacturers went belly up when gasoline was invented.
Indiana is littered with the remains of the automotive industry.
Some win - some lose.
You pick up the pieces and move on.
(Yes; a period of grieving is allowed.)
That is SHOCKING; considering the current state of affairs!
Who knows watt will happen next?
Will company honchos be brought up on charges?
Or will the status quo remain static??
It's enough to get St. Elmo fired up!
Look who convinced them!
Sounds like France's newly passed law to stop all oil drilling and petrol production by 2040.
I can't afford a niche car and a real one; too.
Those cycles came to be with the attempts to impose socialistic policies, and the subsequent pushbacks.
Who knows watt will happen next?
Will company honchos be brought up on charges?
Or will the status quo remain static??
It's enough to get St. Elmo fired up! “
Look, it's obvious the plant had too much capacity, and their was apparently a reluctance to effect change. It output more Volts than were required. Perhaps management never really understood the potential of the place.
.........move solely to electrics by I believe 2030. Powered by fossil fuel generation power plants
Yup!
Management decisions oscillate back and forth.
But; they are positive about their intentions to turn off the plant(s); caring not about the negative implications of it all.
It’s no wonder they’ve met so much resistance. The tension is REALLY high in Poletown. People are just going to have to insulate themselves; somehow.
Perhaps if they just keep plugging along; management will switch their position.
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