What is Detroit becoming vacant?

If no one except the criminally insane are racist, then why are Detroit neighborhoods and there astoundingly low properties values not being snatched up en masse?

Originally posted by circuitsports
If no one except the criminally insane are racist, then why are Detroit neighborhoods and there astoundingly low properties values not being snatched up en masse?

Because the crime rate is astoundingly high, there is no governmental infrastructure to speak of, and it's a nasty place to live. Unless you enjoy living in war zones, you'll avoid it.

reply to post by circuitsports


Do you want to live there?

I read an article not long ago about a pizza shop that sent two people to deliver in Detroit. One person drove and the second person was there for security, carried a gun.

Just to deliver a pizza.

I read an article just the other day stating that 1 person in 11 can expect to be a victim of a crime.

I would seriously consider buying property there, its dirt cheap.

Maybe invest in low income housing at those rates, do something to add to the community, we certainly can't count on the local or federal government to help.

reply to post by circuitsports


For a little money, you could buy two to three city blocks and create your very own walled kingdom. You could provide minimum wage jobs for those in Detroit who could build your wall, demolish the decaying buildings within your fortress and build your castle. You could then keep these folks within your walls and teach them skills like farming and animal husbandry. You would also use a portion to guard your kingdom, collect taxes and keep the population in line.

Others might follow and create their own serfdoms. Eventually wars would break out and you could take over neighboring kingdoms until you finally control all of Detroit.

Why look at Detroit as a tragedy? Look at it as an opportunity to rule!

while a noble thought, crime stats and the reality on the ground are difficult to counter.

I've asked many people who deny racism if they have ever been to a place that's a majority black that's not plagued by poverty, crime and corruption.

I've been numerous places and still haven't found one. Not in any city or any country. Deny ignorance in this area seems to be deny reality.

I'm not saying it's the only reality but this is why they handicap golfers and offer special courses in school because not everyone the same.

People are paying ransom prices for crap in my neighborhood for rentals but Detroit is emptying out.

Because Detroit is a mess. We keep a gun in every lap when we work there.

Have you seen Detroit?

If so, that should answer your question. It's like a little slice of the 3rd world right here in our back yard. You couldn't pay me enough to move there, even for a super cheap home.

Where's robocop when you need him,

reply to post by majestic3


Not in Detroit, when they filmed robocop it was deemed to dangerous to film in Detroit.

Originally posted by Feltrick
reply to post by circuitsports

 

For a little money, you could buy two to three city blocks and create your very own walled kingdom. You could provide minimum wage jobs for those in Detroit who could build your wall, demolish the decaying buildings within your fortress and build your castle. You could then keep these folks within your walls and teach them skills like farming and animal husbandry. You would also use a portion to guard your kingdom, collect taxes and keep the population in line.

Others might follow and create their own serfdoms. Eventually wars would break out and you could take over neighboring kingdoms until you finally control all of Detroit.

Why look at Detroit as a tragedy? Look at it as an opportunity to rule!

You could sell your idea to a tv network and start a new reality show......"Detroit Turf Wars".

Detroit is indeed a scary place. I have lived in the metro-Detroit suburbs for a good portion of my life, and Detroit has always had high unemployment and high crime. Even in the daylight hours, there are plenty of strange characters walking around the city. Drug use is rampant. Violent gangs are common. Infrastructure is crumbling. Graffiti and burned out buildings are quite commonly viewed, even from the freeway.

With this being said, there are some well-known mega-rich buying up property, especially in the Downtown area.

I'm still not convinced the city is broke. Per the 2012 Comprehensive Annual Report for the City of Detroit, they took in a total of $1.5 billion in Revenue between property taxes, sales taxes, and the like. They managed to spend $1.585 billion, leaving a deficit at year-end of 2012 at $62 Million.

How can a city - any city - collect over $1.5 billion in Revenue in any given year and still be broke?

Think about it. If in your family household, your dual income family pulls down $100,000 in income per year, for example, and you spend $130,000 in expenses, you have a "deficit" at year-end of $30,000. What do you do? How about living below your means and reducing your expenses down to $90,000 per year so you then have a surplus of $10,000 at year-end?

Hello?

So, it's hard to take these folks as credible when they spend beyond their means, yet manage to collect $1.5 billion in Revenue in any given year. It's a spending and budgeting problem, not a Revenue problem, even in a city as messed up as Detroit. Pensions? Future liabilities, folks. Future trajectories and projections are not in the here and now.

where is the money going? possibly corrupt politicians and etitlements? Detroit is a great example of what happens when one particular group is in control for too long. cleveland is not far behind neither is america i fear.

reply to post by circuitsports


1. There are no jobs

Detroit’s unemployment rate peaked at 24.9% in 2009. It’s at 16.3% today. Gov. Rick Snyder identified high unemployment rates as one of many problems facing the city in a letter authorizing Detroit’s decision Thursday to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.

www.freep.com...

2. The crime rate.

With a crime rate of 84 per one thousand residents, Detroit has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 12. Within Michigan, more than 99% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Detroit.In fact, after researching dangerous places to live, NeighborhoodScout found Detroit to be one of the top 100 most dangerous cities in the U.S.A.

www.neighborhoodscout.com...
Violent Crime alone:

For Detroit, we found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, across communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included forcible rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI reported crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Detroit is one in 46.

www.neighborhoodscout.com...

Welcome to Detroit

im waiting for them to finish killing each other then im going to buy the whole city for under a 100k. Then im going to build a big security fence and have my own personal city.

reply to post by playernumber13


I think there are way too many reality shows.

We were talking about this at work and figured if you had enough like-minded families, it would work. You'd have to find a location along the water front so you could have a source of water and trade routes with Canada. Your main worry would be to avoid the superfund sites located throughout the area...and the constant attacks from the population.

Hopefully, you could bring in enough "serfs" to farm and protect your kingdom. Eventually, you could apply to the UN to recognize you as your own country. I doubt Michigan would care, one less area they have to deal with.

armored bio-dome has a nice ring to it

where is the money going? possibly corrupt politicians and etitlements? Detroit is a great example of what happens when one particular group is in control for too long. cleveland is not far behind neither is america i fear.

That's a great question. Once the Big 3 automakers started to move their manufacturing operations down to Mexico and elsewhere around the world, we started to hear that "giant sucking sound" of job losses that Ross Perot described when he was running for President. Good ol' Ross, the American voters were too ignorant to listen to him.

According to Detroit's Comprehensive Annual Report for year-end 2012, the city spent $675 million dollars on "public protection", yet the city couldn't afford to replace their police cars, take roughly an hour to respond to 911 calls, and have the highest murder rate in the country? How does that work, exactly? Cleveland in recent years has spent roughly half that amount on public "protection".

The second largest category of expense was $176 million spent on "Development and Management". This, too, seems odd. What kind of development? What kind of management? The city is a ruins. What exactly is being developed? Infrastructure is crumbling everywhere, vacant houses and commercial properties abound. There is very little in the way of new construction and "real estate development" activities happening in the city.

Another $142 million was allocated to "Health" costs. Another big chunk of money went to servicing debt from the issuance of bonds and the like. They spent $226 million last year in paying back debt in the form of principal and interest payments.

So, yes, if you want to know where the money goes, you would have to really drill down on some of these big, nebulous categories. More than 1/3rd of their budget is going towards "Public Protection" alone.

On a serious note concerning the late, great City of Detroit....

The City plans on building a new arena for the Red Wings at a cost of....what for it....$450 million dollars. You can read more at: www.foxnews.com...

Also read that the City Council worked feverishly on a resolution to request an investigation to see if federal civil rights charges should be brought against George Zimmerman.

Corrupt officials? No, just incompetent.

As for NAFTA killing Detroit...I think it helped a great deal! That said, other cities were able to weather the storm of job losses. Pittsburgh was headed there when the Steel Mills closed, but bounced back by bringing in tech jobs.