Detroit shrinkage
I saw a long interview with him and I think he’s a good man to take on a tough task. I ask anyone, would you take his job for any amount of money? He’s older and more than wealthy enough to tell everyone to go to h*** and retire. He might even be an example of the strange and wondrous creature that politicians devolved from, thought to be extinct: a statesman.
A lot of northern cities are watching his progress in this area very closely. Something working in his favor is that the people of Detroit don’t need much convincing that something drastic needs to be done. The way it needs to be sold is that it isn’t a loss or a retreat; it’s a consolidation. Detroit has a lot going for it - but it needs a major reset.
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I'm firmly in the "good idea" camp on this one. It's not right for every city, but Detroit is more desperate than most. And I don't buy into the whole "forced into the urban ghetto" argument, either--my understanding is that there is some choice here. Relocation to the inner city is an option, so is a cash buyout. Cash spends the same wherever you choose to live.