re: #177 SixDegrees

That is, indeed, the plan being put forward by some. I forget who it was, but an economist of some note suggested that there will never be a rebirth or recovery in Detroit, and instead of dumping resources on the city with such a vision in mind, those resources should be diverted to making sure people in the city can get enough of an education to find jobs somewhere else - presumably somewhere jobs are actually available.

Honestly, my opinion was that it was a prescription offered merely for shock value. It’ll never gain traction. Although we do seem to be on the cusp of really major changes in the city, many of them probably quite bad, at least over the short term. Massive teacher layoffs and school closings are almost a certainty, now that teacher’s unions have refused to grant even minor concessions to a district that is beyond bankrupt. And there’s been a fairly large shakeup in city government, thanks to Kwame’s departure and a big turnover in City Council membership.

But decades of rampant, entrenched corruption are probably so deeply rooted that even a scorched earth approach wouldn’t eliminate it at this point.

As one local politician infamously suggested a few years ago, it might be best to just build a fence at the city limits and start handing out blankets and tobacco.

Good moring, Lizards!

I wanted to say something about Detroit. The city where I grew up. It was terrific with the layout of main arteries like spokes of a wheel leading to the (downtown) hub which was beautifully located adjacent to the Detroit River. Easy to get around. Factories of all sizes with small and medium shops everywhere. On a hot summer night when all was very still I could barely hear the din of the factories which were not close by at all. Public transportation was convenient and everywhere.
Entrenched corruption. Too bad.