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Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

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61–70 of 71 posts

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think it's safe to assume most people don't prefer to live in places with freezing temperatures How is this "safe to assume"? Given the history of the world, and migration that is overwhelmingly to places that have seasonal freezing temperatures, this seems comically ill conceived. I love winter, even though I don't partake of winter sports. I love cooler temperatures. It's a lot easier being comfortable when it's…

My statement was not "people don't prefer to live in places without winters". I was careful to restrict it to places that result in things that I think most people consider drawbacks to quality of life. There are places with cool climates, where you don't have to deal with all of those issues.

>There are places with cool climates, where you don't have to deal with all of those issues.

Relatively few in the US. The Bay Area is something of an outlier for having generally temperate summers and having no or rare snow in the winter. If your priority is "nice" weather year-round, it's hard to beat Northern California. The Pacific Northwest mostly qualifies too but, of course, it's wetter and grayer for much of the year which many find off-putting.

The western end of Western Europe also qualifies.

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#62
a question....we are forgetting history...

I live close to a city that sprang up because Gary Indiana got its first black mayor in the 1970s is Merrillville Indiana had a large group of white flight from Gary to Merrillville

How deep was the white flight from Detroit's impact on the future lived now?

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The burbs sprang up around a city and economy 3-4x as large as it is today. Coupled with an overall shift in preferences towards urban living among millennials, it seems unlikely that there will ever again be a need for as much suburban housing around Detroit as there was in 1950. In other words, is it really reasonable to expect all of these areas to rebound?

The suburbs around Detroit really started taking on a life of their own recently. Far from just housing, many of them have actually developed downtowns and cultures and personality of their own as Detroit has floundered. "Detroit" is really collection of small towns packed into a fairly dense geographical area. The City of Detroit is relatively inconsequential without Royal Oak and Novi and Grosse Pointe and Bloomfie…

Novi? Is strip-mall-sprawl a personality?

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#64
This is a semi-serious suggestion as I am just a techie without enough background in the legal and political side of things, but it has always struck me that cities like Detroit and Buffalo struggle while they border the area that is the economic engine of Canada.

Could something along the lines of the schengen agreement be feasible between Canada and US border regions, making it easier for people and capital to flow between them? Not hard to imagine someone in Toronto trying their luck to start something up in Buffalo or Detroit where their costs would be a fraction of that in Toronto, but still allow them to remain close to home. People from those border cities that want to find better work in Toronto could do so more easily rather than having to move further away within the US. It would seem like a win-win for both sides.

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#65

This is a semi-serious suggestion as I am just a techie without enough background in the legal and political side of things, but it has always struck me that cities like Detroit and Buffalo struggle while they border the area that is the economic engine of Canada. Could something along the lines of the schengen agreement be feasible between Canada and US border regions, making it easier for people and capital to flow…

> Could something along the lines of the schengen agreement be feasible between Canada and US border regions, making it easier for people and capital to flow between them?

Of course it could, even if states like California left the union similar cooperation can be formed

Critics never seem to imagine that

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#66

This is a semi-serious suggestion as I am just a techie without enough background in the legal and political side of things, but it has always struck me that cities like Detroit and Buffalo struggle while they border the area that is the economic engine of Canada. Could something along the lines of the schengen agreement be feasible between Canada and US border regions, making it easier for people and capital to flow…

> Could something along the lines of the schengen agreement be feasible between Canada and US border regions, making it easier for people and capital to flow between them? Of course it could, even if states like California left the union similar cooperation can be formed Critics never seem to imagine that

What I was thinking of is something along the lines of the agreements that some European countries have with each other, where residents that live within a certain distance of the border are treated somewhat differently. Or the special economic zones that exist in some Asian countries.

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#67
post #3

How's the real estate in Detroit? Is it too late to invest in good property for cheap?

New Center, Woodbridge, and North End is where I'm currently investing. Property no where as cheap as 10 years ago but you still see stories like this: https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2018/12/27/detroi...

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#68
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the essence of land in the Midwest. You do get what you pay for, there's no magic to it.

I think you read something into my comment that I did not intend. My comment was specifically about the rundown properties in Detroit that can be had for a song. They are in such a state, however, that you would have to put in tens of thousands of dollars, at least, to make them livable.

There are properties all over the midwest that can be had for a song - run down, in Detroit or not. My sister in law just bought a nice house for 70k in Kalamazoo. That wouldn't buy you a house boat in Seattle.

My point is that if you want to be surrounded by mountains, forests, ocean, high paying jobs, and culture, of course it is going to cost more than the Midwest.

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The suburbs around Detroit really started taking on a life of their own recently. Far from just housing, many of them have actually developed downtowns and cultures and personality of their own as Detroit has floundered. "Detroit" is really collection of small towns packed into a fairly dense geographical area. The City of Detroit is relatively inconsequential without Royal Oak and Novi and Grosse Pointe and Bloomfie…

Novi? Is strip-mall-sprawl a personality?

The 55,000 people that live there seem to be ok with it.

Re: Detroit's Big Comeback: Out of Bankruptcy, a Rebirth

#70

Being from the Detroit area, I find many of the comments here naive as one can't compare Detroit to an average urban city. To understand what Detroit is like, watch a film like "Escape from New York" or a WW2 bombing documentary. There are areas with no police or fire forces. Also, the soil around mfg. plants (and downwind) have metal contamination. The air quality used to be worse than anything in China today, with…

a lot of detroit's problems also stems from the existence of grand rapids. i'd imagine if a company wanted a michigan office detroit wouldn't be the first on the list despite being the bigger city.
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