[cripplecreek]

The only answer is inner city jobs...bring manufacturing back. Then people will have paychecks instead of freebies.

I agree 100% but the city itself is largely responsible for killing small business. Big guys are actually thriving and growing in Detroit because they can afford regulatory and tax costs while the little guy can't.

As far as bringing manufacturing back, I think that is actually happening but it's hindered by the border bottleneck there. Once the new bridge is built it will free things up considerably.

[Gunpowder green]

Other third world cities have thriving small businesses due to relatively few regulations. I am thinking of Latin America, where the streets are commonly filled with vendors and tradespeople of all sorts.

If Detroit allowed folks to sell goods and services without going through a regulatory nightmare, the problem could be largely solved.

[gleeaikin]

In New York City, Washington, DC and other major cities, small street vendors have been driven out of business, police have been paid $5,000 or more to write repeated tickets for highly restrictive regulations and force an established vendor off a corner someone else is willing to pay bribe for. One hundred percent agree with your comment.