Posted on 04/19/2010 6:40:22 AM PDT by TonyInOhio
Chris Hansen traveled to Detroit, Michigan for a Dateline special that aired tonight on the state of what is probably America's most desolate city. And in aerial footage—devastation porn at its best—Detroit's grim plight was revealed.
"Today, from the air, parts of Detroit look like a war zone," Hansen said in a voiceover near the beginning of the special, before he listed some of the most shocking facts about the city's current state—the population is less than half of what it was decades ago; there are 400 liquor stores there, but only eight supermarkets—all while panning shots of the consequences of its deterioration flashed on the screen.
Describing Detroit as "a city that is virtually on life support," Hansen then introduced the audience to an ambitious plan by Mayor Dave Bing to bulldoze down more than 10,000 buildings and literally shrink the city's borders in order to save money spent on public services. Again, disturbing aerial shots were abound.
As the special's end drew nearer, depressing music played as even more aerial shots revealed Detroit's desolation—combined with shocking information, like the fact that there are 40 square miles of vacant/abandoned property within the city's limits—and Mayor Bing explained in more detail to Hansen his plan to shrink its size (something he claims will take 10 to 20 years, if it's able to be completed at all).
Will Detroit ever return to its glory days of the first half of the 20th Century? Probably not. Will it even be able to avoid going completely bankrupt and return from the brink of total destruction? Nobody really knows. What is clear, though—especially after seeing the devastation from the sky—is that the Motor City has a long, long way to go to even become a shell of its former self.
Excellent point. I've seen the same kind of gentrification take place in Boston where lower working class neighborhoods became upscale meccas. Not on the scale of NYC but certain neighborhoods (i.e. Charlestown, North End, some parts of Roxbury/Dorchester) started to really thrive after decades of decay. During the 1980s and 1990s (when this was mostly taking place), there were plenty of snide editorials in the local rag (Globe) about how the poor were getting displaced by yuppies, but they pretty much saved the city and kept it from going the way of Detroit and Philly.
I lived in a retired old apple orchard where they had made a housing development.
Home was a two story with bottom story half underground and we had a couple swamps to ice skate on nearby.
I actually fished Walled Lake a couple times.
Is it fishable today? Town liveable?
having once lived there and now live in the subs, their reaction is typical of the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil mentality of those wishing to profit from the demise of the city..........
The documentary was spot on and the fact that there were no "positives" highlighted indicates that perhaps there truly is nothing positive to say about Detroit at this time.........
One thing is for certain tho, if you want to invest in dirt cheap property, now is the time to do it...........
The property is worth only that but the back taxes are what makes those properties not worth buying.......
Not sure about the fishing but all that real estate around the lakes skyrocketed in value since my brother first moved there. A very nice area
Someday I’ll go back and take a look, thanks
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