Posted on 07/21/2013 3:22:13 PM PDT by rickmichaels
As a native Detroiter, I was saddened by the city’s decision to declare bankruptcy this week. But I was not surprised. The move was inevitable.
Everyone in Detroit knew that without enormous, radical change, the city was dying. They have known this since at least the early 1980s. But that radical change never came.
The city’s population peaked at almost 2-million in 1950, during the boom times of the post-war era. It then had the highest median income of any city in the United States. These days, it ranks 66th out of the largest 68 cities in the nation. And the population of the city has sunk to just above 700,000.
Yet the city still acts as if it has 2-million residents. Despite drastic cuts since 2000, Detroit is still one of the most overstaffed cities in the United States. As of 2011, it had one city employee for every 55 residents — by far the highest ratio in the United States. Public services remained bloated, and the bureaucracy remained clogged with useless union workers who could not be fired.
(Excerpt) Read more at fullcomment.nationalpost.com ...
I've read a lot about Detroit this last week, and one thing I find a tad surprising. I haven't seen one mention of Devil's night, the uniquely Detroit custom of starting fires ans burning down homes on Halloween. It began in the early 70's, when Coleman Young came to power..and he allowed it to continue, even to grow..
Unions and Union mentality killed Detroit.
Outrageous, unrealistic and GREEDY union contracts weakened U.S. auto makers, rendering them unable to compete with the Asian car makers. Collapse of the city’s big business and exodus of the high paid population triggered a takeover by vagrants and those on entitlements. Crime escalated and buildings rotted. Unions killed Detroit.
That’s funny because former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) says that Detroit and the State of Michigan should start looking at other countries for solutions.
Who's next?
That’s not as common as it used to be but in a sense it became a means of urban renewal. Its also been used in neighborhoods to drive crack addicts away.
When it comes right down to it, we’re lucky the debt isn’t 50 or 60 billion dollars. In the long run, Detroit will be in far better shape than a lot of American cities in 10 or 20 years as their considerably larger debts continue to grow.
It was the taxes and the sweetheart deals that the city unions got. None of those people responsible for the taxes and the sweetheart deals are there anymore. They’ve either left for a higher office, died or gone to other cities, to do their damage. Look there are approximately 30 or 40 cities across the nation that are doing the same thing that Detroit has done. Detroit just happens to be the biggest one. This one thing for sure, whenever the liberals, socialists and communists take over a city, county or state, it’s just a matter of time until they go broke.
What happened to Twinkies is a perfect example of what unions do to cities. Restart without unions is the only fix.
Well, Holder wants a discussion so here it is: democRats and negros, that is why.
Yes, the LEFT wants this for every city so they can gain totalitarian control. Abject poverty furthers government dependence. SOCIAL JUSTICE means communism.
Major race riots in ‘43 and ‘67 didn’t help one bit, either. Race riots, corrupt one-party rule and greedy unions that wouldn’t let the auto makers compete killed the city.
Those public employee pensions might have been sustainable if Coleman Young hadn’t deliberately chased out the middle class tax base (that is white home owners who didn’t vote for him).
Major race riots in ‘43 and ‘67 didn’t help one bit, either. Race riots, corrupt one-party rule and greedy unions that wouldn’t let the auto makers compete killed the city.
Devil;s night can be ANY night.
There are tens of cities in America on the same road as Detroit. The local example to me is Harrisburg, PA. It is a small city of nearly 50,000 people. They are broke, in state-receivership ... a law was passed in PA to make it illegal for them to file for bankruptcy. Everything in Harrisburg is broke. The schools are in the bottom 5 in the state (out of 501 school districts). Crime is on the increase. Neighborhoods looked like they are trash dumps. And of course they are $100's of millions in debt.
The problem is very simple; decades of Democrat controlled government, out of control unions, high unemployment, poorly educated welfare force, and quite simply the content of the character of the people who live there is sickening. There's lots of drugs, violence, gangs, and thugs. Most of the good people have moved away.
Last year, officials from Harrisburg visited Detroit to look for solutions. The only thing they needed to do was go about 5 miles west and look at how productive people live. My township has not raised property taxes in 30 years, in fact last year they decreased. My school district, while it has recently raised taxes modestly has one of the lowest tax burdens in the state, but is in the top 30 school districts academically. People are educated and skilled. They work, with little unemployment. Oh, and they vote about 70% Republican. That has been decreasing in recent years since people from Harrisburg have migrated. My solution, since I can't chase them out, is to leave before things go to crap. I should be able to make it to retirement before I move.
I tend disagree with your last sentence. Detroit, unlike other large urban cities that are more viable..can’t be saved...To quote Gertrude Stein..”there’s NO there, there..” you have a very large, very poor, very uneducated, and very unhealthy population..predominantly black...there is no infrastructure. no schools..nothing....and thus, no reason for anyone to relocate there..to start a business. Detroit is in worse condition than New Orleans was after Katrina..
Despite the global warming style consensus opinions of FReepers, Detroit will be saved because there is no choice. Its still a major port city and the second busiest Freight crossing on the continent (Likely to retake the top slot once the new bridge is done).
The only options are whether we sit back and let the democrats “fix”it their way or whether conservatives nut up and do some heavy lifting for the first time in 30 years.
Personally I’m really looking forward to seeing the magical unicorn that’s going to pay off the $110 billion dollar debt of NY or the $97 billion debt of Chicago. Not to mention dozens of other cities with continuously growing debts.
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