Detroit Is Dying, And Killing Michigan In The Process. Is Your City Next?

Things in Detroit just keep getting worse and worse. The city itself now wants to run people out of neighborhoods and is abandoning services in some as well. I believe Detroit is ground zero for the failure of our nation. Soon we will be seeing these situations in most cities and eventually spreading to smaller cities and towns. It is a shame because Detroit really is a cool city with alot of history. I fear that if TSHTF I will be invaded by those who the city has abandoned due to where I live. Southeastern Michigan is suffering and most of it has to do with Detroit and the automakers. Don't even get me started on the unions and what they have done. Let's just say without unions maybe bailouts would have never been necasary. But we live in a country where everyone wants more than they deserve and now we are paying the price for that severely.

I have seen alot of threads lately about jobs and how they are there if you look. Well looking in this area is pointless for most due to the dire situation of the local economies. Around here there are either those who are wealthy and prospering, or those who are struggling. There is no in between. And the group of the struggling is growing everyday. Unemployment statistics don't mean a thing around here because any agency reporting them is lowballing bigtime. My town was hit hard during the 2008 debacle due to it being supported by having the Crysler Proving Grounds employ half the town. Overall it is just depressing. Depressing to hear stories like the ones I am going to present here. I am going to provide some stories of the struggles of Detroit and what you may have to look forward to in your cities in the future.

Detroits Distressed Areas

In the Davison Freeway and East McNichols area on Detroit's east side, Rosetta Newby knows the cost of living in a neighborhood marked by abandonment.

Her homeowners insurance is escalating, and no other company will insure her at an affordable rate, she said. Her bank turned her down for a loan for new windows and other improvements to her home of 44 years on Charest.
On the wall in the Planning and Development Department's office, a map shows the areas of the city broken down into steady, transitional, distressed and varied markets.

Only a fraction of the city is steady -- neighborhoods such as Palmer Woods. Most of the city is varied. Other neighborhoods, such as Grandmont-Rosedale, are transitional.

Steady neighborhoods have little blight and a high number of owner-occupied homes; transitional neighborhoods are considered either on the upswing or a downward spiral; varied neighborhoods have some streets that are stable and others that are deteriorating, and distressed areas have a high amount of blight, few amenities such as stores and restaurants, and few block clubs.

More On This Story

When Rosetta Newby and her husband moved to their neighborhood near the Davison Freeway and East McNichols 44 years ago, it was racially mixed, and on every lot stood an occupied home.

Newby, 75, and now a widow, recalls the neighborhood had grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses. She could walk to everything.

Four decades later, nine occupied houses remain on her stretch of Charest. The closest grocery store is miles away on 7 Mile Road, and many businesses such as dry cleaners and drug stores are gone.

"We had stores and everything over here," she said.

Newby's neighborhood, and others like it in Detroit, may one day disappear completely, if the city has its way. The city has decided to concentrate its resources in more stable neighborhoods and provide little, if any, services to heavily blighted areas.

Detroit Neighborhood Rankings

The City of Detroit can no longer afford to give the same services to all areas. Neighborhoods now are ranked according to a market type that will determine which city services an area receives. Among the factors considered are how many people live in the neighborhood, the number of bank-owned houses and whether there are stores, schools and other amenities.

I hope some may find this as a wake up call but who knows. Crime is skyrocketing out where I live as the situation in the cities gets worse and worse. We have people committing crimes that were unheard of in this area ten years ago. I know that there are other cities that are bad off as well but I do believe Detroit tops the list. Even with the crackdown on corruption it is still very prevalent and is everywhere you look. My own city is full of corrupt people who don't care about the residents at all. Our town only seems to want the wealthy these days and niddle class residents are leaving for other counties and towns where the cost of living is lower. Anyway, if anyone has anything to add please feel free. Nothing will ever change if we just stand by and let this madness continue.

You think Detroit is bad. Look into Flint or even worse Saginaw. People don't realize how the government sold out all these people and their cities years ago for corporate profit.

always good to see your posts. love when michiganders represent on ATS.

Unfortunately Detroit is a lost cause at this point. We cant expect to save the city when we have people along the likes of Kwame Kilpatrick still in the political system.

Detroit is the perfect example of whats soon to come all across the united states. we've always just been a couple years ahead.

Long live Detroit and maybe one day this great city will make a comeback

Detroit is in decay, there is no question about that. I went to college there in the 80's and it was bad then. Last Fall I took a tour of the city with my video camera and documented a lot of the shuttered buildings and abandoned car lots whose parking lots now look like prairies from all of the grass growing in them, among other signs of blight. Maybe one day I can put the footage together.

Anyway, speaking from experience, a lot of Downstaters are moving up here to the Great White North. I hope they aren't looking for permanent, good-paying jobs though; because it isn't any better up here. The quality of life however, can not be beaten.

It's beautiful up here Brother; game is plentiful, I can have my line in any of 3 different lakes (and streams & rivers) including Huron 10 minutes after getting off of my couch. And there are plenty of clean sandy beaches on which to play with the kids, BBQ & Kielbasa with friends and family, camp and bonfire, and party All Summer Long.



The 4th is pretty good too. and the Brown Trout Festival, the Posen Potato Festival, and on, and on, and on. Lots of good family fun to be had.

Rare personal disclosure: 1989 was the first year I lived in Alpena (anyone that Googles me will find that out, it's not a secret) and I LIVED this song. The only difference is that I held on to MY girl. She's been with me ever since.

I can't wait for Memorial Day and the Summer to get into high gear.

I grew up in a suberb of Detroit until my family moved in 1997. It breaks my heart to go back home and see how bad things are there. I fear (as you do) that this is going to spread to other cities as well in the very near future.

Originally posted by proob4
You think Detroit is bad. Look into Flint or even worse Saginaw. People don't realize how the government sold out all these people and their cities years ago for corporate profit.

Your right. Flint is terrible along with Saginaw. It's a shame that Michigan has been hit so hard over and over again.

reply to post by DankKing420


I wish some kind of industry would come back. We have the workforce,(for now at least), we just need the jobs. How many vacant factories that used to produce for the automakers are there now. Outsourcing by the auto companies killed the manufacturing here in MI.

reply to post by OldCorp


Oh, how I love it up north. These economic times have our family selling our 250 acre sanctuary up in Traverse City. I have quite a few inlaws up in the U.P and if things get too bad down here that is where we are going. I will escape ack in the Hiawatha if I have to. I'd love to see your Detroit footage. I was thinking about going down there and doing a little filming to put on here myself. I would like to do one with both the highlights and the decrepidness. To show what it was, what it has become, and what it could truly be once again.

reply to post by usmc0311


spot on. Outsourcing bent Detroit over and unfortunately atleast around here all manufacturing is connected whether directly for cars or not. The people are some of the hardest working in the USA imho like you said we just need work to prove it

Originally posted by underduck
I grew up in a suberb of Detroit until my family moved in 1997. It breaks my heart to go back home and see how bad things are there. I fear (as you do) that this is going to spread to other cities as well in the very near future.

It's terrible everywhere you turn. I spend alot of time in the Ann Arbor area as I visit the VA medical center alot and my wife works at the U-M Motts Childrens Hospital and even some places there are becoming dangerous. College kids are getting robbed and beaten left and right while the city spends loads of money on a new city hall all the while making cuts in police officers and other first responders..

Originally posted by DankKing420
reply to post by usmc0311

 

spot on. Outsourcing bent Detroit over and unfortunately atleast around here all manufacturing is connected whether directly for cars or not. The people are some of the hardest working in the USA imho like you said we just need work to prove it

Yup, and then we had hollywood come in and bring jobs but our state decided to get rid of the tax breaks and hollywood hit the road. They did alot of filming out where I live and if they continued I could have at least had work as an extra from time to time. Or building and tearing down sets with my carpentry experience. We just can't catch a break here can we.

reply to post by usmc0311


Excellent thread. S&F

Welcome to the land of sustainability. This has been in the plans for some time now.
Here are the different types of neighborhoods that we'll be seeing soon.
Planned-opolis:


Sprawl-ville:


Renew-abad:


Communi-city:

I don't have time to watch all four videos at the moment, but in my opinion, the scenario city depicting the "Freedom Ghetto" is the scenario chosen for Detroit and other cities experiencing levels of intense decay.

Then there's this:

About the video: John Findlay from Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand seems to need our assistance solving the problem of transportation in these here magacities. The conclusion of the video asks you to submit your ideas to "The Game", which is being hosted by CDIO Academy in Denmark.
"The Game"? I guess they really feel as though this is what it all is and we're just the pawns.
I have a few suggestions for them, but I don't believe they'd like them.

Here's a couple other videos that illustrate these plans:

Originally posted by usmc0311

It's terrible everywhere you turn. I spend alot of time in the Ann Arbor area as I visit the VA medical center alot and my wife works at the U-M Motts Childrens Hospital and even some places there are becoming dangerous. College kids are getting robbed and beaten left and right while the city spends loads of money on a new city hall all the while making cuts in police officers and other first responders..

Unbelieveable. This is the stuff that is real and should hit home for everyone but it never makes the news anywhere else. I went to school in Iowa City and would stagger home across half the town drunk some nights. The thought of being robbed or beaten up never crossed my mind and it never happened.

reply to post by DankKing420

Originally posted by DankKing420
always good to see your posts. love when michiganders represent on ATS.

Unfortunately Detroit is a lost cause at this point.

That's it in a nutshell. I grew up mostly in Detroit. It has looked like bombed out Dresden for as long as I can remember. Happy to be living below the poverty line in Ann Arbor.

Born in Pontiac, raised in Oakland County, college in East Lansing then Rochester. Got my bachelor degree in 1992 and left the next week. No jobs then - that was the year the auto companies started laying off the white collar workers. No jobs now - my mom & stepdad early retired years ago after their jobs were sent to China.

I don't miss the mosquitoes, but it sure was beautiful.

I tend to think that this truly is the beginning of a very worrisome long-term trend.

First came upon this scenario reading "The Long Emergency" by James Howard Kunstler.

Wikipedia: The Long Emergency

From the above link:

He states that as energy becomes scarce, transportation will become difficult or impossible, causing food and other necessary commodities to become unavailable in many communities. It will be necessary for local communities to become self-sufficient for food production, but many communities will be unable to do so, particularly large cities. The result will be mass starvation, disease, and civil unrest. Kunstler suggests that governments will be incapable of managing these problems. This period of scarcity and collapse will possibly last for hundreds of years, hence the "long" emergency of the book's title.

If you haven't read this book, you may want to consider doing so. It's tailor-made for ATS members and has a lot of fascinating, (scary), scenarios for one to consider.

"May you live in interesting times" ~ Chinese proverb

I think we all qualify on that point.

Back from Navy, 1990, found work in automotive testing/ engineering.

Laid off in 2005, automotive engineering.

Found work in less than one month. Lasted 3.5 yrs. Laid off in 2009.

No work... Sat image old house location

Left everything for work in So. California. Been here 2.5 yrs. 2 promotions...

Last one out, turn off the lights.

I miss my boat.

I don't know if any of you are familiar with Manistee...

But Manistee is, quite frankly, the dark side of the modern and the dark side of the old-fashioned. It's the worst of both worlds, and it's being pulled apart at the seams.

One way or another, it will flounder and become a small island in an ocean of development. If there is any sign that Michigan has sunk deep, it can be found in Manistee. Either that, or the city is being run by idiots.

Which is also a sign of Michigan's grand fail.

It goes beyond Detroit unfortunately. I am non political but am amazed at the Michigan Governor and his following, systematically destroying the educational system. Trying to put educators on par with burger servers at Mc Donald's is a sure fire way to finish the state off.

I was a good teacher here for 32 years and thank God I am out of the system now. My daughter is a wonderful teacher, on the deans list all through college and now like thousands of others looking for a way to jump ship. My grandson whom is straight A student has wised up and decided not to carry on the tradition and instead going into higher science rather than this sick system which is being deliberately destroyed by the Republican Right. Watch the future, Mi. will be at the low end of everything when this is done. As a side note, I have taken up residence in Fl. which is not much better, but at least perhaps a cut above.

reply to post by usmc0311

The city itself now wants to run people out of neighborhoods and is abandoning services in some as well.

As more and more people struggle to find gainful employment, the backlash is that they can't afford their homes (or even rent). I hear tell of whole tracts of foreclosed homes in many cities across the nation. Like a quiet cancer, the zones that are "abandoned " can only grow larger over time, pushing dispossessed and disenfranchised waves of under employed and hungry people ahead of it. Where do they go? How do they afford to survive in todays ever higher priced and poorer quality market?

I'll tell you how. They sling dope, steal, and rob the ever shrinking haves who are more and more vulnerable themselves. Like a vicious circle that feeds on itself and creates even more poverty and crime. I am not accusing people of being "criminal", just becoming more desperate. That has its own motivation. When you can't put food on the table for the kids, what are you gonna do? Smash and grab...

It's not that serious yet. But seeing it begin to to take hold and bloom too. Things are going to get a lot worse here in America before they get any better.