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Gee whiz, I never said Poletown was a slum. On the other hand Richard Lugar, back in his days as Mayor of Indianapolis, managed to get legislation passed that allowed certain residences to be razed to the ground and hauled away to the landfill BEFORE the whole area turned into a slum.

No doubt the folks in Poletown had their own local method for insuring they had a decent urban environment.

GM, however, wanted a place to put in a big factory. With a myriad of properties available in the area, somebody in GM wanted the factory in that general area irrespective of the wants and desires of the locals.

All I can say is I am very happy that Henry Ford and his automotive industry cronies decided to relocate the auto industry to Detroit and out of Indianapolis!

I don't think this decision hurts GM, but it may well allow a certain class of property owner in Wayne County (and in other Michigan counties) to continue to use their property in a manner harmful to their neighbors and thereby effectuate their own ultimate property clearance anywhere they wish.

There's really nothing like a private 1/4 acre landfill in a residential area to convince the neighbors to sell out cheap and move somewhere else. Someday some of these judges might ask the residents of the bad areas in Detroit if they like living like this.