  Bvos Member Username: Bvos Post Number: 2171 Registered: 10-2003 |
Here's a very interesting article from the Wall Street Journal on Youngstown's plan to shrink. They're actually planning to shrink and know that they will. Detroit on the other hand still has this mindset that we'll get back to 2 million people some day. When will we wake up to reality? http://www.planetizen.com/node /24258 Link is only good for 7 days as a free article for non-WSJ subscribers | ||
Rb336 Member Username: Rb336 Post Number: 39 Registered: 02-2007 |
I don't know anyone who thinks Detroit will get back to 1 million, let alone 2. I like the greenspace idea, though | ||
Goat Member Username: Goat Post Number: 9397 Registered: 10-2003 |
All the empty spaces (large lots and tracts of land) in Detroit should be planted with trees and left as a natural forest. What harm could it do? Considering this area is the 5th most polluted in the USA it may help to remove some of those pollutants we breathe. | ||
Bussey Member Username: Bussey Post Number: 510 Registered: 12-2003 |
I love it, bump | ||
Bobj Member Username: Bobj Post Number: 2089 Registered: 11-2003 |
Interesting idea, I wonder what kind of plan for Detroit could be developed with this concept in mind?? | ||
Hysteria Member Username: Hysteria Post Number: 2714 Registered: 02-2006 |
Itsjeff started a thread about this in December. https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/76017/88319.html | ||
6nois Member Username: 6nois Post Number: 196 Registered: 11-2006 |
The tree idea is old news there was a exhibit on it at Shrinking Cities at MOCAD. | ||
Jfried Member Username: Jfried Post Number: 967 Registered: 11-2003 |
Wow. Look at the difference in the way the two threads were started. Itsjeff's recognized the significance of what Youngstown is doing, whereas bvos starts right off with another condecending comment about how everyone else on earth is so much smarter than us here in Detroit. Way to be positive. Why do you even bother to live here? | ||
Miketoronto Member Username: Miketoronto Post Number: 544 Registered: 07-2004 |
I don't know if knocking down neighbourhoods is the answer. You are losing your history by getting rid of the historical buildings, etc. And you are not tackling the main problem, which is sprawl, etc. That being said, I think you also have to look at the metro region as a whole. Is Metropolitan Youngstown losing population? In Detroit's case, while the Metro region is not booming in growth, over the years the Metro Region has added people. So its not like there is a total flight from the entire area. So since there is pop growth, you might as well promote growth in the inner city. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 399 Registered: 04-2006 |
i don't expect that detroit will be back to 2 million in my lifetime, but i do believe that it will stabilize AND return to growth before i'm an old man. I think increasing densities and encouraging migration from detroit's outer limits to detroit's inner couple of miles would be wise. I'd also REALLY wish there was a huge construction prohibition and green belt around the outskirts of detroit's inner-ring suburbs. like 7 miles wide. something like Portland attempted. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3150 Registered: 10-2004 |
Without jobs, metro Detroit will continue to shrink and shrink. This region will eventually become another ghost town--albeit, a large city/region, but without much reason to exist. Even illegals avoid the place because it's primarily work and jobs that motivate them to go most places. Two-thirds of Michigan's college grads leave permanently. What percentage of grads come from the populated SE portion, where over 60% of Michigan's residents live? It's easier for recent college grads to find work, yet they cannot find much of anything in SE Michigan. What does that say for those rest of metro Detroit and employment prospects? Not much... (Message edited by Livernoisyard on May 08, 2007) | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 723 Registered: 04-2006 |
It's hard to beat having an infrastructure already in place to accomodate 2 million people. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3151 Registered: 10-2004 |
quote: Duh! That line has been used for a half century already and look at the results... | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 724 Registered: 04-2006 |
"Duh! That line has been used for a half century already and look at the results..." Well Michigan hasn't made it convenient or necessary to be in Detroit for the past 50 years. Sooner or later that will change. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 401 Registered: 04-2006 |
detroit's shrinkage has slowed, and slowed and slowed some more. at this point, census statistics point to the fact that detroit proper is becoming MORE diverse... not less... (although slowely) I think that within twenty years, we'll see a stable (not shrinking) city of about 700k. let's plan for something in that league. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3153 Registered: 10-2004 |
quote: Oh! Do you mean that things might even get worse? Change isn't always for the better. Cheerleading will get you nowhere. Perhaps, some visionary can point out the areas where Detroit will gain employment instead of losing even more jobs. I'm sure that somebody will say that the casinos, with their relatively small number of jobs, will be the saviors. But gaming is not a growth industry. All together, they won't grow much in size from now and will hit their ceilings where no growth will ensue. But where are the real jobs coming from? Why should they emerge in a backwater education region as SE Michigan, for starters? These are major obstacles for this region to overcome, and solving this would take well over a decade or two to tackle, if it started a decade ago--but hadn't. | ||
Jelk Member Username: Jelk Post Number: 4363 Registered: 10-2003 |
Youngtown's experiment is interesting but I don't think Youngstown and Detroit are in parallel situations. Detroit is still a major city (albeit fleeting) in a major metropolis (albeit fleeting) in a region with tremendous (albeit fleeting) resources. Youngstown was, at best, a vibrant mill town once. It's population is about 85,000 and had a high-water mark of around 150,000. While I understand Youngstown State is a very good university, that town doesn't have much else to hang it's hat on. Unless you count an almost unprecedented level of corruption among its political class. (http://youngstownpride.blogspo t.com/2004/12/city-that-fell-i n-love-with-mob.html) Youngstown is also about an hours drive from Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Even on Youngstown's best days where would you rather live and work Youngstown or Cleveland/Pittsburgh? For all of Detroit's (and Michigan's) seemingly insurmountable problems, the infrastructure still exists for Detroit function as a thriving, major city (albeit on a smaller scale than in years past) particularly if the re-development of the riverfront as a quality of life asset thrives. And I would hazard to guess Detroit's economy is probably more diverse than Youngstown. The one advantage Youngstown may have over Detroit, is that Youngstown, like most of the smaller industrial towns of the mid-west hit rock bottom 25-30 years ago. Metro Detroit's economy is just now reaching that come to Jesus moment. I suppose Detroit could learn some lessons from watching the Youngstown experiment carefully but attempting to replicate Youngstown's strategy in Detroit would be as much a folly as saying "New York does X therefor Detroit should do X." Cities with 7 million people and towns with 80,000 are different animals than cities with 800,000 people. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 725 Registered: 04-2006 |
"Cheerleading will get you nowhere." Have you been paying attention to what's going on at Wayne State? Tech Town? The Medical Center? MSU establishing a medical school presence in the city? I wouldn't be surprised if U-M decides to have a larger presence within the city in a few years. The issue isn't educating the masses already there (although that would be nice), it's attracting the educated masses from elsewhere. | ||
Jelk Member Username: Jelk Post Number: 4364 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Easier said than done, especially in a state currently going through an economic free fall. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3155 Registered: 10-2004 |
How will Tech Town, which will take a decade to complete, provide work for the now unemployed in metro Detroit? Ditto for the rest... Even those in the region with BS and advanced degrees are losing their jobs by the thousands. If this is a growth area, why are far more jobs lost for every new job created? Creative accounting, perhaps? | ||
Jelk Member Username: Jelk Post Number: 4366 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: According to Ihearthed, Detroit has made a larger contribution to American culture than Chicago so it stands to reason that our accountants are the most creative this side of Arthur Anderson's offices in Houston. (Message edited by Jelk on May 08, 2007) | ||
Rb336 Member Username: Rb336 Post Number: 41 Registered: 02-2007 |
quote: "According to Ihearthed, Detroit has made a larger contribution to American culture than Chicago " Just trying to think, other than architecture, what DID Chicago contribute? Blues -- nah, it was just the biggest city near memphis and st louis. btw -- i'm a chicagoland native | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3156 Registered: 10-2004 |
Accounting is another area... Detroit was once the home base (or major outpost) of many of the premier accounting firms of yore. Today, what's left of them simply follow what's left of the auto industry's remnants. | ||
Jelk Member Username: Jelk Post Number: 4367 Registered: 10-2003 |
Louis Sullivan, Chess Records and the Maxwell Street blues scene, Saul Bellow, Second City, David Mamet, Theodore Dreiser, Earnest Hemingway, Langston Hughes began his career in Chicago... shall I continue? | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 840 Registered: 10-2003 |
"Ulysses" was first published in Chi. And don't forget Al Capone! Or Dion O'Banion! | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3157 Registered: 10-2004 |
Fort Dearborn was Chicago. | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 4045 Registered: 10-2003 |
Actually Jelk I just did research on Langston Hughes.... He began his career in NY... | ||
Miketoronto Member Username: Miketoronto Post Number: 546 Registered: 07-2004 |
Detroit hopefully will start growing soon. Don't know if you guys have heard, but St. Louis has been seeing population increases the last two years or so. And St. Louis is almost a twin to Detroit interms of decline and stuff. So if St. Louis is starting, then hopefully Detroit will follow soon. Its already happening in the inner inner area of Detroit. Now the increase just needs to flow to the rest of the city. | ||
Jelk Member Username: Jelk Post Number: 4369 Registered: 10-2003 |
You are right, Langston Hughes time in Chicago was later in his life as a visiting professor at UChicago and Poet-In-Residence at the Laboratory School. My larger point stands: under-endowed Detroitists who delude themselves into believing Chicago is an uncultured town full of philistines compared to Detroit are full of shit. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 726 Registered: 04-2006 |
"Easier said than done, especially in a state currently going through an economic free fall." That's an incentive for change. That's how fundamental changes usually come about... does this really need to be explained? I'm also still waiting for someone to name something about Chicago that is more culturally relevant than all that Detroit is known for. New York is the financial capital, theater capital, media center. LA is the motion picture capital. Detroit is the automotive capital and (arguably) music capital. Chicago is... the deep dish pizza capital? The talk show capital? | ||
Rb336 Member Username: Rb336 Post Number: 42 Registered: 02-2007 |
There was a music historian who said, about a year, maybe two, ago that the US has three cities that profoundly affected the world's music -- New Orleans, Memphis and Detroit. Not sure how he left NYC or Nashville off | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 4046 Registered: 10-2003 |
Iheart in all honesty, I am not sure about the music capital and as far as the auto capital, if the big 2 don;t get their shit in order then that's not going to be for much longer... | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 727 Registered: 04-2006 |
"Iheart in all honesty, I am not sure about the music capital and as far as the auto capital, if the big 2 don;t get their shit in order then that's not going to be for much longer..." I'm speaking in terms of legacies rather than current situation. I'm not living in a fantasy, I fully understand the current situation. My point on another thread (that spilled over to this) was that Detroit has contributed a hell of a lot more to American and world culture than most give it credit for, and IMHO, Detroit has contributed more than Chicago on the national/global scale. | ||
Jelk Member Username: Jelk Post Number: 4370 Registered: 10-2003 |
David fucking Mamet. One of the most God damn important play writes of the 20th century. Second City. They revolutionized comedy as an art form. Louis Sullivan. Godfather of modern architecture. Saul Bellow, Theodore Dreiser, Earnest Hemingway all have Chicago roots. The University of Chicago Economics Department has greatly influenced economic policy like few other academic institutions. Chicago's newspaper legacy can't be ignored either. The Tribune, The Chicago Defender, Ring Lardner, Studs Terkel, Mike Royko. These are institutions and men who changed journalism not just in Chicago but internationally. I would hope that I wouldn't have to say anything about Chess Records and the Maxwell Street blues scene in order for you to understand the GLOBAL cultural significance of that little corner of Chicago. I suggest you get your head out of your ass and recognize that, despite your narrow minded world view, the world doesn't revolve around the city of Detroit. | ||
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 377 Registered: 08-2006 |
I think Detroit could hit 1,000,000 again one day | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3158 Registered: 10-2004 |
Chicago is considered to be the major rail hub of the US. Back around 1948 or so, there was even a major fair about its railroading along the lakefront in Chicago. Detroit, OTOH, being somewhat off the beaten path due to its location on a peninsula and somewhat out of the way, is only a terminus and local hub. Detroit, before its auto industry took hold, didn't even have major railroad passenger activity until later in the game when the Penn Railroad spent megabucks building the trestle east of the 18th Street roundhouse near Jefferson for access to Union Station in Detroit. The mid 1990s plans for the Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal (DIFT) have virtually ground to a halt after the auto industry's tanking in metro Detroit. There were grandiose plans back then to transform much of the trackage in Southwest Detroit into a major intermodal freight-hauling facility. Since then, the port went bankrupt (but is underway again). The Chessie apparently decided not to wait because the eminent-domain laws had changed and built a much smaller intermodal in Livernois Yard in the Conrail Shared Assets Area (SAA) than once envisioned. And the primary (54%) co-owner of former Conrail, the Norfolk Southern apparently has no immediate (or future?) plans to build its own planned intermodal west of Central. In actual fact, the Norfolk Southern has closed a number of its Detroit freight yards since it bought Conrail earlier in the decade. Because railroad traffic closely parallels economic activity, what does the railroads' downsizing of their Detroit expansion plans seem to predict for Detroit? After all, the two primary Detroit railroads have put their own money where their mouths were--and are pulling back from what was planned only a few years ago. (Message edited by Livernoisyard on May 08, 2007) | ||
Lmr Member Username: Lmr Post Number: 23 Registered: 03-2007 |
The only thing I can think of that Chicago has and Detroit does not is a diversified economy. Living here in Minneapolis/St. Paul I can say the same thing for the twin cities, although this is way smaller than Chicago. That makes even more of a difference to the long term economic robustness of a city than I think even many posters here realize. Name one industry that is synonymous with Chicago...what would it be...meatpacking? Nah, that's mostly a historical association. A lot of the meatpacking today is done in much smaller places, like Austin, Minnesota, or Sioux Falls, SD. Chicago has - banking, retail, transportation (air, rail, trucking), manufacturing (including some auto related manufacturing), education, food processing, high tech, health care, etc. While I can't name any one industry that is synonymous with Chicago, I can name a whole lot of them that have a significant presence in Chicago. If Detroit can keep its auto industry (and auto show...that show generates national, positive attention) AND gain a presence in other forms of business as well, that seems like the ticket to a better future. A city does not need to have one dominant industry to thrive, but being dominant in an industry is not necessarily bad, as long as that one industry is not all there is. | ||
Rb336 Member Username: Rb336 Post Number: 44 Registered: 02-2007 |
Second City -- yes, good stuff Mamet - yes, but he did it from the east coast Theodore Dreiser was from Terre Haute, IN, spent a year in chicago, then moved to St Louis. Chess Records recorded a ton of great stuff(including John Lee Hooker, Detroit), but none of their big names were Chicagoans -- in fact most of the maxwell st scene was transplanted musicians I think what always put me off about chicago (remember, I am a native of Chicagoland) is that the city always tries to be NY junior | ||
Goat Member Username: Goat Post Number: 9403 Registered: 10-2003 |
Iheartthed, are you really that hard-headed or are you just stupid? To say Detroit has contributed much more than Chicago globally is ridiculous. Both city's have merit ON A GLOBAL SCALE. To which you PERCEIVE what has merit is the issue. Maybe you think Motown is more important than The University of Chicago Economics Department as Jelk pointed out above or many other aspects of the thriving city. | ||
Goat Member Username: Goat Post Number: 9404 Registered: 10-2003 |
I forgot to add that I bet you are the type to still say that your Dad can beat up someone else's Dad. Get a grip! | ||
Jelk Member Username: Jelk Post Number: 4373 Registered: 10-2003 |
I see the Brownshirts in Farmington have cleaned this thread up nicely. DetroitYES uber alles! I don't care where Mamet or Dreiser may have moved to or from, Chicago is deeply ingrained in their finest work. The novels and plays of these very talented writers won't exist in their present form without Chicago, so therefor you have to count them as part of Chicago's cultural legacy. As for your douchebaggery about Chess Records...WTF over. A good number of Motown artists weren't from Detroit either and Berry Gordy split for LA but you Detroitists are still choking the bishop over Motown. Maxwell Street and Chess happened because the artists associated with Maxwell and Chess never had the opportunities in the Jim Crow south that they found in Chicago. Oh and Chess remained in Chicago until years after Leonard Chess passed away. Unlike in Detroit, Chicago's cultural entrepreneurs don't quit on their hometown. If trying to be New York junior gets you Chicago then I'm not sure the New York junior tag is much of an insult. Beats the hell of being Saginaw junior or Gary junior or Youngstown junior. | ||
Dabirch Member Username: Dabirch Post Number: 2275 Registered: 06-2004 |
quote: How can you in the same run-on sentence say that John Lee Hooker was from detroit, and then complain that Maxwell Street was transplants? Where was JLH born? | ||
Jimg Member Username: Jimg Post Number: 843 Registered: 10-2003 |
Mississippi, came to Det in 1943 to work in...the auto car companies, played gigs at night, got 'a little break' - depending on who's story you want to believe, either recorded a demo for Bernie Besman of Sensation, or for Elmer Barbee, or for Fortune....anyway, it ended up in Besman's hands, and Hooker recorded first in Detroit and Besman leased the masters to Modern on the West Coast. Det was really a big small town, no recording industry to speak of. To record for the Major Labels, one went to Chi or NYC. Most of the Delta blues guys ended up in Chicago, not Detroit, but there was significant traffic flow between the two, especially among blues musicians (Big Maceo Merriweather, Charlie Spand, Victoria Spivey, Blind Blake). When jazz musicians, esp. from NO, traveled north they ended up in Chi and had a major impact upon Windy City jazz of the twenties. Detroit's golden age, for jazz anyway, came in the fifties. Perhaps that's why Motown is so important, or was anyway, it was the first major label based in Detroit. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3167 Registered: 10-2004 |
Who gives a damn who came from where, etc? An observation: Why is the current generation of Detroiters so concerned whether or not its residents in the metro area were originally from here? I also noticed that in the promos plugging various smiling faces reading the news that they are real Detroiters. Who cares--other than those who think that way? I never noticed that exclusivity in the other places where I lived except for Richmond VA--where the War of Northern Aggression was lost... Is it possible that Detroit lost a major war too? (Message edited by Livernoisyard on May 08, 2007) | ||
Jenniferl Member Username: Jenniferl Post Number: 364 Registered: 03-2004 |
Will Detroit ever have 2 million people again? I seriously doubt it. I also don't think we SHOULD have that many people living in the city. It was too crowded back then (which is one reason why people started moving out to the 'burbs) and 2 million would be too many for this day and age as well. Sure, some people (especially young adults) like the urban density experience, but once folks get married and have kids, they want a real house with a yard. Fortunately, Detroit can offer both for a reasonable price-- until you factor in taxes and high insurance premiums. I see most of Detroit's problems as fixable. Whether or not these problems actually will be fixed remains to be seen. I do think we can get back to 1 million residents within a relatively short amount of time (say, 10-15 years) if the economy picks up and local leaders make good decisions. As for the extra green space, someone on this forum once suggested using it to grow corn for ethanol. I think that's worth a try, at least for some of the green space. I'm sure there are other ways in which our green space could be put to good use. And yeah, some of it should be redeveloped. The solution depends on which particular area you're talking about. North Corktown, for example, is an area with a lot of green space which also happens to be located near downtown and near more stable, middle class neighborhoods. Hence, it's ideal for new or rehabbed housing and it's not all that difficult to "sell" this neighborhood to people who are thinking about moving into the city. Some of those isolated urban prairie neighborhoods on the east side, OTOH, will not successfully attract potential homeowners. (The whole location, location, location thing.) This type of green space would fare better as an urban farm or something of that nature. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9125 Registered: 12-2003 |
'Corn for ethanol' implies using their No2 seedstock, which is heavily genetically manipulated and requires the pesticides that are making the bees disappear. I'd say NO to growing corn for ethanol, but turning the space over to growing FOOD for locals I'd be all for. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3169 Registered: 10-2004 |
The UoC links Colony Collapse Disorder to a fungus. Gannon say it's this or that--the conspiracy of the day... All other things being equal, I'll place my money on somebody other than a conspiratorialist who has a vested interest (his reputation as such). Having lived on farms for two decades, I do not believe that urban farming of corn makes sense. Too much runoff of fertilizers would just cause a heavy load on the sewage disposal plants, for starters. Applying anhydrous ammonia is another accident waiting to happen. Some kid wanders in after AA is applied, and its tort-seeking parent would be ever so eager to sue the city (i.e., its taxpayers). And then there's the added risk involved from freshly applied herbicides or pesticides. Rural kids or their parents, at least, have enough common sense not to explore their fields during those times. Detroit has residents who simply cannot read their own names and simple directions on medicine bottles... | ||
Royce Member Username: Royce Post Number: 2222 Registered: 07-2004 |
Livernoisyard, you always got to get that last jab in on Detroit, don't you? You make me sick. For a place you can't stand you sure as hell have a lot to say about it, don't you? I would think that you would want to spend your time doing something more productive than talk about a place you can't stand. What good do you think your input has on this forum? What are we Detroiters supposed to do with all of your negativity? Your, "I told you so attitude is being wasted on people who don't need the lecturing." We'll figure out how to solve Detroit's problems without your help, Livernoisyard. Thanks, but no thanks. | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 3472 Registered: 10-2003 |
Most every neighborhood that I lived in in Detroit had the Resident Angry Curmudgeon...The sort of person who is so accustomed to their own misery, yet so taken with their own brilliance that they selflessly wish to share BOTH with others. Smile at the RAC, wave, and move on. Back to the study: what to do with so much land?... There's farming, then there's organic farming... And some folks over on McDougall are experimenting with the latter. Parts of the city that have lost 75 percent or more of their housing could be converted to farm zones...In the unlikely event of a new burst of population, farmland is easily converted to urban land. There are neighborhoods that have been undesirable places to live for decades. Brightmoor comes to mind. Yet a few wish to remain there! Fine. Let the fertile plains of Brightmoor be declared an urban farming zone, a new zoning law applied with special tax breaks for those who put the land to use. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 978 Registered: 11-2003 |
We've had these stupid "nothing important came out of Chicago" arguments before. At the University of Chicago, the world's first controlled nuclear fission happened-- i.e., the stuff to make nuclear bombs and power. The first nuclear reactor was then built there. I'd say that had just a bit of an impact on the world. Regarding architecture, I'm surprised nobody yet has noted that the skyscraper originated in Chicago-- which also had a bit of a world impact. The electric washing machine also was invented in Chicago. You might say, "big deal," but it's impossible to overstate the labor-saving impact that had on what had been hundreds of years of hand-washing drudgery. The zipper and canned spray paint are also Chicago inventions. Regarding stock yards, it was in Chicago were meat began to be shipped in refrigerated railroad cars. This was a HUGE development, since it meant that big cities like New York no longer had to rely on live shipments of animals for food, which frequently spoiled and sickened countless people. Iheartthed wrote, "it's hard to beat having an infrastructure already in place to accomodate 2 million people." For an analogy, Buick City in Flint had an infrastructure in place to accomodate the production of many thousands of cars per year, but that didn't mean it was needed anymore. Jelk-- Youngstown's peak Census numbers totalled 170,002, in 1930. It was then the 45th largest city in the country. | ||
Exmotowner Member Username: Exmotowner Post Number: 278 Registered: 06-2005 |
"I think Detroit could hit 1,000,000 again one day" Not until ALL people feel safe,wanted and welcomed by the city, and unfortunately that is still not the case to date. I just told one of my doctors i work for I was ready for vacation and he said Where you going? I said detroit, His reply...."I'm so sorry". LOL | ||
Masterblaster Member Username: Masterblaster Post Number: 31 Registered: 03-2005 |
I agree with Royce wholeheartedly about Livernoisyard. He constantly criticizes, constantly spews negativity about the City of Detroit, and provides absolutely no solutions to the problems AT ALL. Mr. Linvernoisyard If you are "in the know", please provide solutions to the problems instead of shooting down every idea. Every idea from getting rapid transit to expanding the Cobo Center you rip incessantly, but you offer no solutions. What's you're purpose for posting on this forum? If everybody else on here is dumb, and you are the smart one with right ideas, then please share them with us, so that we can be smart like you. | ||
Jenniferl Member Username: Jenniferl Post Number: 366 Registered: 03-2004 |
Barnesfoto, Tell me more about the urban organic farms on McDougall. What crops are they growing? And where exactly are these farms? I know where McDougall is, but it's a long street and the parts of it I've been on don't have enough land to grow crops. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5318 Registered: 11-2003 |
jjaba recently toured Youngstown, Ohio with the Society of Industrial Archeology. Like Lowell's ideas about Detroit, industrial archeology is a big deal for Detroit too. Gary, Youngstown, E. St. Louis, Camden, Galveston, New Orleans are towns which have seen their better days. With geographical disasters, economic disasters, changes in transportation or technology, agricultural reform, immigration settlement patterns, etc. etc., some places in USA have to adapt to something else. Youngstown should declare itself more parkland. Its downtown, its central neighborhoods, its older company towns, are mostly relics of the steel industry, gone now for 25 yrs. To dream of new factories, to dream of economic turnabouts, are just that; dreams. jjaba reporting from the Western Reserve. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 391 Registered: 04-2006 |
Shrink???? Detroit is growing with a planned new billion dollar freeway expansion along I-94 and the SEMOOG vision of raising county sales taxes to operate 259 miles of new light rail. This will only cost a half cent on the fast food many of you DY'ers buy at the drive up window but according to transit advocates, this money will get us more federal transit grants and help out both SMART and DDOT as well as bring back a new regional transit agreement to coordinate mass transit. It's true, we are moving forward and we can and will bring in lots of new jobs and attract tourists to this area after this recession we are in. Things will get better but we will likely have to raise taxes just a little bit more to help out our fine state leaders in Lansing and our caring city government workers struggling to make ends meet to keep our police and fire and school systems in the best shape thay can. So, be informed by my new website coming soon. (Message edited by Trainman on May 12, 2007) | ||
Royce Member Username: Royce Post Number: 2225 Registered: 07-2004 |
Detroit needs to shutter portions of neighborhoods like Brightmoor and the far eastside between Conner and Alter Road north of Jefferson and south of Charlevoix. Nobody wants to move into these neighborhoods in their present condition. Ironically, it wouldn't take much to turn large portions of Brightmoor into green spaces. Many portions, particularly those south of Fenkell, already look like the country. The city should focus on bringing people into more densely populated areas and use incentives to attract businesses and residents. Not saying that the city's not doing it now( for example NEZs), but something needs to be done on a more drastic level, like a Marshall Plan. Unfortunately, the federal government is using that money for the war in Iraq. BTW, Chicago is the unofficial capital of the Midwest. Because of its history and its location, it is the perfect hub for all economic activity in the Midwest. Cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis just have to accept that they are Chicago's little sisters. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 406 Registered: 04-2006 |
Detroit is not a little sister. We are the Paris of the U.S.A., THE Motor City, the music capital and we have an international port that Chicago does not have. | ||
Ray Member Username: Ray Post Number: 889 Registered: 06-2004 |
Chicago also gave the world the phrase "jag-off" as in "you fucking jag-off". In honor of Chicago, I resolve to use this more liberally in my posts. I wish we would adopt this phrase in Detroit. It's got such panache and it rolls off the toungue so pleasurably, especially in heavy traffic on the Kennedy when one's fellow citizen cuts one off, to wit: "Watch where you are going, you Fucking Jag-off" It also works great in bars, like when one of your fellow patrons gets a bit friendly with your date, to wit: "Get your hand off her, you fucking Jag-off!" I could go on. But you get the idea. |
