Detroit files for Bankruptcy

[Ophelia23]

I find this very sad. I am originally from Lansing and have visited Detroit several times. I know people who live in the Detroit suburbs. My prayers are with the people who will be affected, especially those with pensions.

I am originally a Michigan gal myself. I really hope Detroit can somehow be restored. The history and the architecture alone is amazing and worth preservation, but most of the buildings stand empty with decay, and many of the streets run rampant with crime. My heart lifts up in prayer for all of the people of Detroit.

 

[Nimzovik]

And the dominoes begin to fall… Hmmmmmmmmm… Yet no doubt some Catholics would like to re - elect Obama again.

 

[chero23]

the scary thing here is that the stock market is going up and up, but things don’t add up. I hope this is not the small snow ball that gets the avalanche rolling

 

[ProVobis]

I am originally a Michigan gal myself. I really hope Detroit can somehow be restored.

It will. Look at the Chicago Cubs. They filed for bankruptcy. Look at Trump. He filed three times I believe. Are they still in operation? You bet. BK doesn’t seem to mean much to most in the long run. However, that’s not to say there aren’t any losers along the way.

 

[Prodigal_Son]

And the dominoes begin to fall… Hmmmmmmmmm… Yet no doubt some Catholics would like to re - elect Obama again.

Obama’s to blame for Detroit’s woes? :ehh:

 

[Ophelia23]

It will. Look at the Chicago Cubs. They filed for bankruptcy. Look at Trump. He filed three times I believe. Are they still in operation? You bet. BK doesn’t seem to mean much to most in the long run. However, that’s not to say there aren’t any losers along the way.

It’s refreshing to hear some positivity after all of the doom and gloom stories I have been reading about the city today. And, you are quite right.

 

[Yerusalyim]

And the dominoes begin to fall… Hmmmmmmmmm… Yet no doubt some Catholics would like to re - elect Obama again.

I’m no fan of Obama…but he didn’t create Detroit and its problems. Truth be told…this was predictable a LONGGGG time ago. This should, however, be a warning to the US as a whole.

 

[edwest2]

All the suburbs around Detroit are doing better than Detroit. Bad management? No. No evidence of that. Detroit became home to everyone who could not afford to live in those surrounding suburbs so it was allowed to crash and burn.

Something went wrong. I watched everything get worse and worse over decades. Nobody was paying attention? Don’t buy it. Don’t buy it at all.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Darryl1958]

First the riots that the police compassionately stepped down from, so as not to be seen as arrogant racist pigs.

Then came the crime.

Then the property values went down.

Since 1945, the way it has been described is that Detroit and Hiroshima have traded places.

Social bombs are more destructive than even nuclear ones.

 

[Trader]

My personal memory of Detroit is October 30, 1984. It was my first year of selling specialty metals in Indiana and Michigan, and I had never heard of Devils Night before. Thousand of Detroit parents were so irresponsible that they allowed their teenage children to spend the night committing arson for the fun of it. The city had over 900 fires intentionally set that night. The fire department could only do triage; if an occupied residence was burning they had to make sure no people were inside, then determine if adjacent homes were in danger if the fire spread. If everyone got out safely and the neighboring homes were already destroyed, the fire trucks rolled on to the next call and let the fire burn itself out.

That night I stayed in a former Holiday Inn on 8 Mile Road in Ferndale, although I did not sleep much because of all the fire sirens. 8 Mile is the northern boundary that separates the city and Wayne County from the Oakland County suburbs. I never stayed there again. On my next trip into the Detroit the lead news story was that the hotel clerk there had been murdered in an armed robbery the previous night.

Even then, driving in many Detroit neighborhoods was dangerous. Weeds on many corner lots were so high that it was impossible to see cross traffic at an intersection until you were right on top of it. Many of these vacant lots had been left vacant since the riots of 1968. Stop signs were not respected by the locals and many of the resulting collisions were settled by gunfire.

It is time to bring a lot of bulldozers to Detroit and start over.

cnbc.com/id/100898169
cnbc.com/id/100898027

 

[Prodigal_Son]

Trader,

Your post mixes truth with fiction.

My personal memory of Detroit is October 30, 1984. It was my first year of selling specialty metals in Indiana and Michigan, and I had never heard of Devils Night before. Thousand of Detroit parents were so irresponsible that they allowed their teenage children to spend the night committing arson for the fun of it. The city had over 900 fires intentionally set that night. The fire department could only do triage; if an occupied residence was burning they had to make sure no people were inside, then determine if adjacent homes were in danger if the fire spread. If everyone got out safely and the neighboring homes were already destroyed, the fire trucks rolled on to the next call and let the fire burn itself out.

FYI, this problem has been fixed. Now Devil’s Night has the *least *cases of arson of any day of the year in Detroit.

Even then, driving in many Detroit neighborhoods was dangerous.

What dangers did you experience first hand? For the past 10 years, I have driven through all kinds of Detroit neighborhoods, and never felt like I was in danger. Now, surely, some neighborhoods are shadier than others, but *driving *through them? What danger did you personally experience?

Weeds on many corner lots were so high that it was impossible to see cross traffic at an intersection until you were right on top of it. Many of these vacant lots had been left vacant since the riots of 1968.

No dispute there. Nature is taking back much of Detroit.

Stop signs were not respected by the locals and many of the resulting collisions were settled by gunfire.

Collisions settled by gunfire? Are you serious?

I’m sure you saw all of this in person.

Detroit is not the wild west. Please do not slander a city that is safer than its reputation.

 

[MugenOne]

Detroit … the crowning achievement of Democrat politicians!

Folks can’t cry to Uncle Ben for help. Uncle Ben will not shore up the muni-bond market to keep the 99%ers from taking their spanking! Most muni-bonds are held by individuals, retirement plans, and mutual funds … the hard working, tax paying, working guy is the one getting screwed!

 

[Yerusalyim]

All the suburbs around Detroit are doing better than Detroit. Bad management? No. No evidence of that. Detroit became home to everyone who could not afford to live in those surrounding suburbs so it was allowed to crash and burn.

Something went wrong. I watched everything get worse and worse over decades. Nobody was paying attention? Don’t buy it. Don’t buy it at all.

Peace,
Ed

Your version of events simply are NOT supported by the facts. Bad management…decrease in population…overly generous pensions to the unions…corruption from the public “servants”…it’s all pretty well documented.

 

[manualman]

The causes of Detroits disaster are too complex to be explained in talk radio platitudes. Yes, foolish leftist policies bear a portion of the blame. But, IMO, the greater cause was the very nature of Detroits short term boom economy. After World War II, the USA was the only major industrialized nation on earth with a completely intact industrial base. Nearly anybody who wanted manufactured goods had to buy it from us for a time because nobody else could supply big volumes. Detroit ballooned in profits, industry and population. As they were desperate for more workers for the mills, they attracted people from all over the nation. For a time, southern black folks moved there in droves because (true or not) Detroit had a reputation of being free of the KKK and Jim Crow remnants of the south and good jobs that paid well were to be had.

When the rest of the world rebuilt, Detroit suddenly had a vast over-capacity of industry and workers. They’ve never recovered. Detroit’s collapse has more to do with its short post-war industrial boom than the (admittedly poor) leadership it has had since. Bad decisions/leaders, corruption, white flight, union arrogance, etc. surely contributed. But it was the mix of ALL of those things on top of an unsustainable industrial boom that busted that made Detroit’s fall happen. Not exactly the stuff of talk radio.

 

[Gidge]

Coming soon to a city near you…sadly.

 

[zz912]

The causes of Detroits disaster are too complex to be explained in talk radio platitudes. Yes, foolish leftist policies bear a portion of the blame. But, IMO, the greater cause was the very nature of Detroits short term boom economy. After World War II, the USA was the only major industrialized nation on earth with a completely intact industrial base. Nearly anybody who wanted manufactured goods had to buy it from us for a time because nobody else could supply big volumes. Detroit ballooned in profits, industry and population. As they were desperate for more workers for the mills, they attracted people from all over the nation. For a time, southern black folks moved there in droves because (true or not) Detroit had a reputation of being free of the KKK and Jim Crow remnants of the south and good jobs that paid well were to be had.

When the rest of the world rebuilt, Detroit suddenly had a vast over-capacity of industry and workers. They’ve never recovered. Detroit’s collapse has more to do with its short post-war industrial boom than the (admittedly poor) leadership it has had since. Bad decisions/leaders, corruption, white flight, union arrogance, etc. surely contributed. But it was the mix of ALL of those things on top of an unsustainable industrial boom that busted that made Detroit’s fall happen. Not exactly the stuff of talk radio.

This is excuse-making. Sure the US had a great hey-day after WWII, which inflated wages to levels too-high. But if Detroit had kept the city welcoming to business, businesses would have stayed and more would have come. But Detroit was the opposite of welcoming. They were adversarial, and adding in the unions, businesses avoided Detroit like the plague. And the results show.

If Detroit would change, and lower taxes, lower regulation, clean up govt, and rein in the unions, you would see businesses start to return. For pete’s sake, you have ACRES of free land that anyone can have and build on. Would it really be that hard to believe that some businesses wouldn’t take a risk on the new factory they could build for pennies on the dollar? And their employees could buy land and build a home for very cheap as well.

So Detroit DOES have an avenue for renewal, but it means completely changing how they think about politics, govt, unions, and freedom. They are where they are because of what they believe and what they do. Statism is the cause of this mess.

 

[edwest2]

Your version of events simply are NOT supported by the facts. Bad management…decrease in population…overly generous pensions to the unions…corruption from the public “servants”…it’s all pretty well documented.

I lived in Detroit - not the fake Metro Detroit - for most of my life. NOBODY in the Detroit City Council kept track of tax revenues, the number of stores closing, the number of kids in schools? I had to pay a City of Detroit tax. Once I moved to a suburb and did my first year tax, I asked my tax preparer: “Where’s the City tax?” There wasn’t one.

And during the 1970s, downtown Detroit had streets filled with people, side streets with small shops and stores. I took the bus to college and each year, one or two stores closed along my route. Each year. Foot traffic decreased downtown. The wonderful J.L. Hudson’s building was demolished. Most of those small stores closed. It hurt to see a neighborhood Community Recreation Center torn down. Obviously, the community didn’t need a place like that.

And yeah, those greedy, greedy workers and their pensions. Their pensions had to be underfunded…

Peace,
Ed

 

[Trader]

Trader,

Your post mixes truth with fiction.

FYI, this problem has been fixed. Now Devil’s Night has the *least *cases of arson of any day of the year in Detroit.

What dangers did you experience first hand? For the past 10 years, I have driven through all kinds of Detroit neighborhoods, and never felt like I was in danger. Now, surely, some neighborhoods are shadier than others, but *driving *through them? What danger did you personally experience?

No dispute there. Nature is taking back much of Detroit.

Collisions settled by gunfire? Are you serious?

I’m sure you saw all of this in person.

Detroit is not the wild west. Please do not slander a city that is safer than its reputation.

Again, I was only a regular visitor to Detroit from 1984 to 1987, but I distinctly remember picking up the owner of welding supply store on the east side of Detroit for lunch. His receptionist remarked matter-of-factly, “Mr XXX will be right with you. He just has to get his coat and his gun.” The owner never left his store without his WWII era Colt 45 automatic and his delivery drivers were also armed on the job. Very few of his medical gas customers paid with credit cards back then. They mostly paid the drivers in cash and the owner wanted them to make it back to the store safely.

Detroit was a single industry town for way too long and they developed an arrogance that has cost them dearly. When I was there for business, the Big Three were under severe pressure from Japanese auto makers who were far more efficient with just-in-time part delivery and quality controls they actually learned from American consultants but that the Big Three ignored to their peril. Rather than try to understand how just-in-time systems worked, the Big Three just pushed costs for excessive inventory onto their suppliers, and many of them were my customers who could not pay their own bills. The one big order I had directly from one of the Big Three was cancelled with only the notice that was basically, “We are XXX Motor Company and we have a lot more lawyers than you. We don’t have to honor our contract.” My rather small company was stuck with almost $100,000 of finished inventory that would take many years to sell to other customers.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Coming soon to a city near you…sadly.

Apparently this is correct. I saw on TV a woman who wrote a book about it and she predicted this (not too hard to do) and a lot more of them down the road. Not just cities, either, but states as well.

 

[Holly3278]

I find this to be sad. I feel sorry for the people of Detroit. I don’t know exactly what caused the financial problems but I think read somewhere once that the failure of the automotive industry contributed to it.