Just googled images Detroit blight. Is there any hope?

[tcsenter]

The unions didn't design cars no one wanted to buy. The unions didn't bribe Congress to open US markets to foreign dumping. Corrupt national politics and international labor arbitrage leveled Detroit as sure as corrupt local politics did.

The unions DID force the Big Three to commit to benefits (a.k.a. COSTS) based on a competitive and market situation that assumed 1965 was going to last forever, and then refused to compromise in any way when it was clear to everyone that 1965 was gone and never coming back again. The unions DID force the companies into agreements that made it cost prohibitive for them to modernize factories and utilize technology (stated purpose of the UAW Jobs Bank). The unions DID force companies to compete in the market against cars that cost 20% ~ 30% less to manufacture by foreign companies using the manufacturing technology the UAW effectively hindered the Big Three from adopting. The unions DID force the Big Three to resort to cost-saving measures in the design and manufacture of their vehicles in order to compete, since they couldn't get anywhere with labor costs or benefit from the state of art technologies used by their foreign competitors.

 

[codyray10]

That's not Detroit.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/architecture/detroit.asp

Didn't you see the palm trees?

lol I'm glad you caught that. I was about to say, Detroit might be bad, but not quite that bad. Also, it's very easy to point out all the flaws/fails that are Detroit, but the downtown area is still very developed and populated. Ford Field and Comerica Park have got to be two of the nicest stadiums in the country.

 

[IronWing]

The unions DID force the Big Three to commit to benefits (a.k.a. COSTS) based on a competitive and market situation that assumed 1965 was going to last forever, and then refused to compromise in any way when it was clear to everyone that 1965 was gone and never coming back again. The unions DID force the companies into agreements that made it cost prohibitive for them to modernize factories and utilize technology (stated purpose of the UAW Jobs Bank). The unions DID force companies to compete in the market against cars that cost 20% ~ 30% less to manufacture by foreign companies using the manufacturing technology the UAW effectively hindered the Big Three from adopting. The unions DID force the Big Three to resort to cost-saving measures in the design and manufacture of their vehicles in order to compete, since they couldn't get anywhere with labor costs or benefit from the state of art technologies used by their foreign competitors.

No. The unions bargained for the benefits their members enjoy. There was no coercion. If company officers signed contracts contrary to the interests of the shareholders then the shareholders had grounds to sue the company officers. That didn't happen. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the contracts were in the best interests of the shareholders. The unions did not force the car companies to compete against foreign interests. Congress, carrying out the wishes of its donors, did that.

 

[Slew Foot]

That's not Detroit.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/architecture/detroit.asp

Didn't you see the palm trees?

LOL, Dcal the moron gets pwned again.

 

[tcsenter]

No. The unions bargained for the benefits their members enjoy. There was no coercion.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Approve our demands or we'll bankrupt you = no coercion. :whiste:

 

[IronWing]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Approve our demands or we'll bankrupt you = no coercion. :whiste:

Again, the contracts signed were in the shareholders' interests or the company officers would have been violating their fiduciary duties. Setting up the unions as the bogieman is rather silly. It was the loss of union bargaining clout that led to the rise of the labor arbitrage that has destroyed America's manufacturing economy which in turn is destroying the middle class the unions helped make possible. But keep blaming the victims of labor arbitrage for the exesses of the wealthy if it makes you feel more secure in your own job.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Again, the contracts signed were in the shareholders' interests or the company officers would have been violating their fiduciary duties.

Sure, but choosing between death in the long run + short term growth = 'meeting fiduciary responsibilities' in US business man broken-brain.

NPV calculations indicate that earnings (or losses) past a 20 year horizon might as well be zero; and anything beyond 7 years can probably be safely ignored.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Crazy. Looks like something out of a Silent Hill game.

 

[Hugo Drax]

The "tech" sector is actually growing in Detroit, surprisingly.

http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2013/03/detroit_among_fastest-growing.html
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/jobs/2013/03/20/best-cities-tech-jobs.fortune/6.html

What exactly is the reason the "Tech sector" interested in Detroit?

Shitty depressing weather.

High taxes without the benefits.
High Crime, dying city.

etc.. I do not see any reason to choose Detroit over lets say NY, California etc..

 

[BladeVenom]

detroit put it's eggs in one basket. It very quickly rose and very quickly fell. We aren't breaking any new ground here...

I'm not sure I'd say it happened quickly. It's been on the decline since the 50's.

 

[tcsenter]

Sure, but choosing between death in the long run + short term growth = 'meeting fiduciary responsibilities' in US business man broken-brain.

NPV calculations indicate that earnings (or losses) past a 20 year horizon might as well be zero; and anything beyond 7 years can probably be safely ignored.

He continually ignores that, even when the writing on the wall for everyone to plainly see was, that benefits had been agreed to based on a rosy assumption of a future market reality that was no longer true or proved to be false, and the company went to the unions with hat in hand saying 'we cannot possibly afford this anymore, please help be part of the solution', the union effectively said "You can fuck off and die. We'll give nothing back."

Unions, putting America first!

 

[xanis]

Try Camden, NJ for a pretty bad urban decay, too.

I remember seeing a building there, painted all black with white crosses, and someone painted on the side "Oh God, we cry for Camden". Pretty stark.

Here's a good article on that: http://www.thenation.com/article/155801/city-ruins?page=0,1

IIRC Camden is consistently rated one of the most depressed cities in America every year. I live in Camden County in a town that's only a few miles from Camden proper (about a 5 minute drive), and the difference is like night and day. Even in the "good" part of the city—the area surrounding the waterfront and aquarium—it's a ghost town. I've never seen a downtown area be almost completely devoid of cars and people.

EDIT:

Morgan Quitno has ranked Camden in the top ten most dangerous cities in the U.S. since 1998, when they first included cities with populations below 100,000. Camden was ranked the third-most dangerous U.S. city in 2002. Camden was ranked the most dangerous overall in 2004 and 2005. It dropped down to the fifth spot for the 2006 and 2007 rankings but rose to number two in 2008 and to the top spot in 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden,_New_Jersey#Crime

 

[BoomerD]

http://finance.yahoo.com/photos/detroit-what-else-can-we-sell-1376052026-slideshow/

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Detroit is a Democrats paradise. They haven't had a Republican mayor in over 50 years.

Speaking of those Democrat paradise's, how are they doing?

How is Chicago doing?
How is LA?
How is Detroit?
How is <Insert any Democrat Mecca>?

Oh yeah, they are all some of the most crime ridden pieces of shit that the rest of the nation hopes burns to rubble.

 

[JoetheLion]

These pics of Detroit remind me of VG Fallout.

 

[jemcam]

Sadly, they are dead wrong.

1950s = Detroit population was about 1.8 million

Last count recently = Detroit polulation was about 700K and falling.

You don't have to be good at math to know that losing 60% of your population/tax base is not good.

Exactly right. Detroit's population peaked in 1950 and has declined ever since. After 1950, whites started moving to the suburbs because of the racial problems inside the city. The "white flight" accelerated drastically in the 60's after the riots in 1967.

 

[Yreka]

Well there are signs it's improving.. I for one, remain hopeful


Past:

Present:

GO LIONS!