  Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 484 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 69.221.3.73 |
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20060423/O PINION03/604230346/1271 More population loss ? Please ..... somebody ..... stop the exodus. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 935 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
The exodus will stop when the jobs come back....plain and simple. People say this is a great place to live, but due to the economy, job losses, and Metro Detroit's reliance on the auto industry, people do not see any choice but to leave to where there are jobs. How to bring the jobs back is the million dollar question that we have debated lots on many threads here. I don't think any one person has all the answers, but we all need to get on board as a region and fix this problem, just like Edsel Ford said in the article. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 951 Registered: 06-2004 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
"Metro Detroit's reliance on the auto industry" The need to rediversify Detroit business is paramount. Are there any programs out there tailored to help the smaller existing auto industry suppliers convert to other products and industries? It's not like a drop in demand for stoves is what caused Detroit stove manufacturers to disappear. | ||
Ron Member Username: Ron Post Number: 57 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 66.174.79.233 |
Bob, I agree. Does anyone involved in the private sector (preferably someone involved in emerging technologies/industries)(and preferably someone in a decision-making position) know the specific factors that business looks at when deciding where to locate? Is it an issue of chance, such as where you are from (Wasn't Ford originally from Detroit?), or is it an issue of a geographic area having the requisite natural resources, or is it the "business climate?" Why did the dot.com/high-tech industry settle in the Bay area? I have a hunch that it is a variety of factors, some of it based on chance, some not. But one of the factors that is probably an issue is quality of life-type issues. If so, then we are in trouble. Why would an outside company look to locate in SE MI, provided the type of issues we have here? (Again, if this is one of the factors that they look at). It is kind of like the chicken and egg: we have to improve on the regional issues in order to attract jobs; but we need jobs in order to improve on our regional issues. One thing, however, is certain: we must start right now, on an individual level, improving upon the perception of Detroit by outsiders. For instance, when I travel and tell people I'm from Detroit, they always take two steps back, and ask something stupid, like: "How many shootouts have you seen?" While I may have seen one or two in my time, I'm not going to tell them that; it would simply reinforce their pre-conceived, negative impression of Detroit. This is something we all can do now, on an individual basis. Lilpup, I don't know of any programs like that, but I'm sure something must exist. I think part of the problem is that no one knows what the new industry will be. If we have manufacturers simply change what they are manufacturing, will this help? Or do we need to diversify into non-manufacturing industries? I certainly don't have the answers. | ||
Ltorivia485 Member Username: Ltorivia485 Post Number: 2598 Registered: 08-2004 Posted From: 199.74.87.98 |
It doesn't help that Detroit is one of the poorest cities in the country. It also doesn't help that Detroit has a bad "crime" reputation. It's not safe (nor wise) to relocate business here if the population as a whole is illiterate and undereducated. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 216 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 24.208.234.52 |
The tool and die and small OE part manufacturers have the same problem making parts for___________ that they have being an automotive supplier. Overseas (asian) competitors labor costs are a fraction of what they are here,there is no pesky EPA "getting in your busness" there, and skilled labor isn't getting any easier to hire/train . It's rough for the manufacturing sector, they don't have many friends these days. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 4017 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 198.111.165.162 |
More jobs means more boomtown population. Detroit did it before in the 1910 and it will do it again in 2010. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 504 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
In 1910, it made perfect sense to locate factories in the larger cities. People didn't own cars then, and the roads were dirt (including mud), gravel, cinders, bricks, and very little pavement--which was often cheaply built macadam. Even in Detroit, the suburbs of Highland Park and Dearborn were already "sprawling" before 1925. It doesn't make much sense to locate factories in a city anymore. NIMBY is still one obstacle; cleaning up the pollution from former factories could also cost millions sometimes, just for one small site. Notice that the new car plants for Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda avoided locating in or near larger communities in the South. The "build it and they will come" seems to work for the factories attracting the people. Investors who own and locate factories are clever. They would literally try to get a community to build their plants for them and give them tax abatements, if they can get away with that. Let's see what Detroit bribes Rock with... Detroit just doesn't have the means to pull it off--attracting business. It's a beggar and beggars don't call many shots. (Message edited by LivernoisYard on April 23, 2006) | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 4021 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 141.217.174.229 |
Then I'm going to call some Centuarians from the planet Centurus at the Alpha Centuari Tri-Solar System for some help of brining their colony to Detroit here in planet Earth so they boost our ecomony with their powerful socialist religious union workers. Where did I hid that interndimentional portal device That I made contact with them 15 years ago? | ||
Meadows Member Username: Meadows Post Number: 46 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 67.77.203.20 |
So the solution to erasing people's negative impressions of Detroit is for Detroiters to lie to their face? | ||
Ron Member Username: Ron Post Number: 59 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 66.174.92.166 |
It is not an issue of lying. It is an issue of damage control. I don't know if you have ever heard the adage that "what happens in the family stays in the family." Basically, while we may have our problems in the Detroit region, it is not as bad a place to live as many outsiders think, and at any rate, it is not for them to be concerned about unless they will do something to assist us in repairing our image. What I prefer to do is highlight the positive things about the city, rather than focus on one or two bad experiences that only serves to reinforce others' pre-conceptions. So, while you may see it as lying, I see it as focusing their attention on our strengths rather than our weaknesses. | ||
Meadows Member Username: Meadows Post Number: 47 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 67.77.253.114 |
So a person isn't entitled to ask a question "unless they will do something to assist us in repairing our image"? Interesting. At any rate, I certainly understand accentuating the positives. However, if someone asks you a question and you respond with something other the truth, then yes I see that as lying regardless of the good reason. IMHO, it'd be more diplomatic to decline to answer and/or change the subject. |
