Posted on 04/20/2026 7:22:41 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
What is considered the Vatican City of free marketers and entrepreneurs may be coming to life. It will cost any prospective resident $350k up front for the right to live on Belle Island, Michigan. The island is meant for entrepreneurs and the self-employed. Residents would be exempt from state and federal taxes but would pay property taxes along with a 6% sales tax. It would require acts of Congress to create a "special economic zone" to permit this. It also would require the city of Detroit to sell the property to an investor group.
"Elitist," "far-fetched," "a work of the conceited" are among the epithets critics are likely to use to describe the proposed "capitalist paradise."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
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Yes. However, I was working offsite during those years.
Yes, it was called the Belle Isle Casino, but it wasn't really a casino.
My dad and step mom had their wedding reception there back around 1960.
Over the years, like the island, it fell into disrepair. But once the state leased the island, they cleaned up the island and just officially reopened the casino in March following a five-year, $7.3 million renovation
I was TAs marketing guy at the time and did those races.
The race was (is?) owned by IMG but we bought the rights to the race.
I did race car ride and drives, did the advertising, hospitality. Created the trophies, etc.
Sylvester Stallone was filming Driven at the race one year and I arranged for our CEO Mark Frissora to give him our trophy as a part of the movie.
Great times.
Mitchell, Lockwood, and other Belle Island boosters estimate it would be home to a total population of 50,000.
50,000 people on a 982 acre island? Over 50 people per acre, almost double the population density of NYC! Enjoy living in a high rise apartment.
Too crowded for me. I'm moving to Akon City in Senegal. A modern paradise! A real world Wakanda! It's gonna be great I tell ya! /s
When I was a very little girl (I’m 70), my parents used to take me to Belle Isle on the Boblo Boat. I remember the island with a great big smile.
If they could swim this idea wouldn’t come about.
Checking it out on google maps, it looks like it’s still a very nice place. On google streetview, it appears almost deserted.
-WikipediaBelle Isle Park, known simply as Belle Isle (/ˌbɛl ˈaɪl/), is a 982-acre (1.534 sq mi; 397 ha) island park in Detroit, Michigan, developed in the late 19th century. It consists of Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River, as well as several surrounding islets. The U.S.-Canada border is in the channel south of Belle Isle.
Regards,
YES!! I thought it was called Casino just like the Catalina Island Casino....NO GAMBLING!! Just DANCING!
<>But the reality is that if that kind of collapse actually happens, it is going to take a very long time to turn things around.<>
Argentina collapsed.
Javier Milei turned the country around. Fast.
It's a park and the population usage is strictly seasonal.......
Never happen in a blue state.
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