Why can't the current residents of this once prosperous city live lives without poverty, crime and squalor?Why can't these people get their ish together and run profitable corporations?
Why can't the city lower it's crime rate?
Why can't the city raise the education level of those still residing there?
Why is Detroit the epitome of "Ghetto"?
Could it be that all the white people and acculturated minorities have left?
Could it be that those still there are somehow genetically inferior to those who came before them?
Could it be that these Black people are just doing what Blacks always do?
Maybe...
But let's look at it a different way.
Why can't people develop thriving economies on the remains of former strip mines?Sure, all the resources and wealth have been taken from the area but there has to be something that can be done to return these former boom towns to their former glory.
Okay, okay... there may be issues with the toxicity of the environment.
Maybe the current residents were only trained to be workers and not creators.
Sure, some might be able to subsist on what remains from the exploitation of the environment and it's residents but surely some of them should be able to create a marketable product from the detritus.
There is a world renowned mine site redevelopment in Cornwall in the UK. It shows just what can be done to bring sustainable life back into those deep holes.
ReplyDeleteTaking away human resources from the community is like sapping nutrients from the soil. You are left with a land (a home, a block, a neighborhood, a city) in desolation where nothing can grow.
ReplyDeleteDetroit has def been strip mined. Did you see the segment about Detroit on Dateline NBC last night?
ReplyDeleteWell I like the analogy because unless we find some untapped resource in scraps then what do you expect from garbage.
ReplyDeleteWhat you are really seeing is a county that cannot reinvent itself so it leaves ish to die and moves on to another area. What people are not realizing is the country is ran like a business and when the hustle dries up they get up and move on. All the people left are the late comers and those who never acquired enough money to move on.
The Whole Midwest is a story of yesteryear. Pittsburgh tried to change into the Medical capital but the Steel town is still dilapidated.
@ doll - Yup, like these mine sites cities like Detroit could also be brought back with innovative ideas and new methodologies.
ReplyDelete@ NoFace - Yeah... but there has to be something still of value in these areas.
@ Val - Most of it. I like the scaling back of the city and the introduction of small farmlands.
@ FreeMan - IMOHO, the mistake is in trying to relive the past instead of creating a new future.
Detroit still has an abundance of natural resources and a low wage employee pool.
There has got to be a way to utilize these for the benefit of all.
@UBJ
ReplyDeleteI love the urban farming idea too. If I had a hundred million dollars I'd buy Detroit. It's ripe for development. It could be the new (and better)Atlanta.
@UBJ - IMOHO Detroit got bad during the Great Recession and it'll be 50 years before someone takes the chance on it again. It was already dying as the assembly angle towards cars has died.
ReplyDeleteThere is a opportunity wherever there is cheap labor the problem is how are you going to go about doing it?
I have family there and I always tell them when the river started drying up why didn't they leave. The era of the nomad is returning to the USA. Another great migration is upon us for sure.
If you were to give the world an enema, you'd stick the tube in Detroit.
ReplyDeleteDespite many of the optimistic people out there, it's not coming back. Most of it's tax base has either moved out or been unemployed. One things for sure, it ain't getting better anytime soon.
@Freeman: Not the whole Midwest? I live in the capitol of OH. We're doing okay here.
ReplyDeleteJust spent a few days and nights in the city. The sex, drugs, gambling and music trades appear to be thriving.
ReplyDelete