America's Fastest-Dying Cities

forbes.com ^ | 08.05.08 | Joshua Zumbrun

[Westlander]

Where's it worst? Ohio, according to our analysis, which racked up four of the 10 cities on our list: Youngstown, Canton, Dayton and Cleveland. The runner-up is Michigan, with two cities--Detroit and Flint--making the ranking.

[wbill]

Buddy of mine has occasion to travel to Cleveland (on business) fairly often. He says that it's a dump. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.

His first experience with downtown Cleveland was bad....be got in to the hotel late. Tried to find something to eat...nothing open. That's not overly unusual, but when he tried to get something delivered, no places (he tried several) would come because it was "too hazardous" or "against policy".

He didn't starve or anything, but it was an eyeopener for him.

[FateRewritten]

ahh, yeah, that would be correct. Too early in the morning still.

[chuckles]

I think the most glaring example of the principle involved here is NYC during the Dinkins years. People were afraid to even go into the city and then they elected Rooty. In a matter of a few short years it completely turned around.

If Obama wins the whole US will look like Detroit in 4 years.

[gridlock]

What, Flint is not dead yet? I was working demolition, and we tore down about half that town twenty-five years ago!

[SatinDoll]

A business woman in my local area is Hispanic and a Democrat but won’t vote for Obama this coming November.

She stated that the history of black-run governments around the Caribbean is so bad and thoroughly corrupt that she could never vote for someone who is black. And she says she’s not a racist, just a practical person who looks at what works and what doesn’t.

[Old North State]

I don't know how Detroit made the list, they are in the 20th straight year of a renaissance, change you can believe in forever.

[BooksForTheRight.com]

Come back in 4 years and ask the people in these cities if The Messiah, Obama, has changed anything.

[river rat]

It doesn’t take much crap to ruin a pristine spring.

[BBell]

I've heard the same from Hispanics. One came out and told me he likes to live in white neighborhoods. I was surprised he would come right out and say this but then again not surprised. The hard working Hispanics (not university types) are not as infected with the PC virus as most whites are.

[badpacifist]

I live in the suburbs of one and I have also been on FR for longer than a week.

[SunkenCiv]

We’re not #1.

Granholm commutes Bloomfield Hills woman’s life sentence
Detroit News | 8-5-08 | George Hunter
Posted on 08/05/2008 11:25:17 PM PDT by Impy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057253/posts

[Publius Valerius]

He says that it's a dump. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.

I'm not a Cleveland native, but I lived there for a few years. While it's certainly not a garden spot, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it doesn't have any redeeming qualities. The summers are really quite pleasant and for a city of its size, the traffic is light. Its symphony is among the best in the world and, as someone mentioned above, its hospitals, particularly the Clinic, are world-class. Once you get out into the suburbs, the beaches (for a lake) and the parks are quite nice.

I'd also note that other than the winters, which are really just an inconvenience, it's an excellent spot on which to build a city. There are no floods, no hurricanes, no tornados, no earthquakes, and it has access to one of the largest supplies of freshwater in the world.

Cleveland has two major problems: the winters and the taxes. In Minneapolis, many of the buildings downtown are connected by tunnels and skywalks so as to keep people out of the cold in the wintertime. Cleveland should do this but, to my knowledge, it has no plans to do so. It should also improve access to the lakefront downtown. The lack of an accessible lakefront is embarrassing (it was also a mistake to put Browns Stadium on the waterfront). Lowering taxes would be a big improvement, too.

[neefer]

Might I add that although my husband and I would love to escape the People’s Republic of Cleveland, it’s very difficult to find a salary figure that compares to what we can earn in Cleveland. We’re too old and experienced! Folks from Toledo that are our age and youngsters from adjacent counties still move to the big city because that’s where the good paying jobs are. Luckily, we haven’t reached Detroit status quite yet.

[Citizen Blade]

DYING??? Detroit and Flint have been dead for DECADES!!

A century from now, Detroit will mostly have reverted to grasslands and forests.

It'll probably be turned into a national park- Come See the Ruins of a 20th Century Industrial City!

There really isn't any real way or reason for Detroit to recover. It's on a permanent downward spiral, and we might as well let it keep going.

[MrB]

Political Correctness and its legislated facet, “hate speech”,

are simply about punishing anyone who tells the truth about a liberal policy.

[thefactor]

yeah they are.

[Clemenza]

Be careful about Newark. C. Booker is at least TRYING to reform policing, and the city is actually GAINING population (thanks largely to Brazilian and Ecuadorian immigrants). It also benefits from being a quick train ride away from New York, and having Prudential and Blue Cross downtown.

It is far from paradise, nor the safe and prosperous Newark that my family lived in (1920s-1960s) but it is a better place than it was 15 years ago, and is nowhere near as bad as certain other armpits in the state (Camden and Trenton).

[Clemenza]

Actually, I've seen alot of LA (especially near downtown) become more upscale over the past decade. Same goes for the areas immediately bordering the traditionally prosperous Westside.

The Inland Empire is becoming more of a toilet than LA, IMHO.