I know how to fix Detroit and make the real estate there worth a fortune.
Make it a true free enterprise zone with NO TAXES on income for say 30 years.
Dump the big $ retirement for all the old city employees under the bankruptcy and give them pennies on the dollar.
Instate an honest poll tax per person for city upkeep. The poll tax would flush the refuse away and keep them OUT.
Businessmen would be desperate to locate there...it would be like the gold rush.
Big businesses are doing fine in Detroit. There are some big players downtown. Its the little guys who can’t operate.
Another issue is our governor’s fixation on green tech. He doesn’t want any factories stinkin up the place. I know if I were governor I would be in competition with Rick Perry to see who could pull in the most business.
“Instate an honest poll tax per person for city upkeep. The poll tax would flush the refuse away and keep them OUT.”
Well, your choice of words, poll tax, would never pass muster with the courts. And, I’m not so sure I want to “flush the refuse away”. Where are they gonna go? I know I don’t want them down here in Texas. The folks that have a modicum of ambition and self respect have left Detroit long ago for places where their hard work and decency is appreciated (aka Texas). So, I’m thinking the country would be better off to declare places such as Detroit, Chicago, East St. Louis, East LA, Oakland, parts of DC, NY, etc, you get the idea, as free-fire zones, fence these places off and provide the occupants with all the dope, ammo and guns they want and just let them have their way with each other.
Better yet, distribute city owned property to the pensioners as a settlement for what they are owed. Even though they are actually unsecured creditors, giving them real estate and other ownership interests in the city's assets is better than nothing. Obviously the pensions are unsustainable, and can't be paid by the bankrupt city. Just like any other bankrupt organization however, its assets may be used differently and made valuable by others.
The pensioners will be motivated to make their property valuable, and since real estate can be inherited, their descendants will be motivated to work to improve the city they will collectively own real estate in.