Detroit in ruins

The Guardian ^ | January 2, 2011 | Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre

[sionnsar]

I lived here in red house the early 60s. The '67 riots reached to within a mile of here. The only difference then and now is the tall oak is gone. The other houses were plain white then. This neighborhood has not only been well-tended, it's been improved.

This is about 2 miles further out. In the mid-late 50s it was a brand-new development of cheaply-built cookie-cutter single-family homes, each with a sapling in the middle of the front yard, for a newly-prosperous middle class. I can't tell which one I lived in, and it might not even be in this picture. It's still not fancy, but these 50 - 60 year old houses are not falling apart.

What a contrast to nearby Detroit. *Something* made a huge difference.

[Hardastarboard]

That’s an excellent point that I had not considered. Yuk!

[okie01]

I don't understand why the furniture and fixtures in these places have not been salvaged. I want the chairs from the Presbyterian Church!

People (and institutions and corporations) just walked away from them when either a.) the taxes became too burdensome and/or b.) city services (police, fire) collapsed.

There was no market within the county for the fixtures which were left behind.

[Ditter]

What city are these houses located in? They could be in many old neighborhoods in Houston.

[Tax-chick]

Outside the county, then, or outside the country. The picture book has been out for some time - I’ve seen the images on FR before. Fine enough pieces, or large enough quantities, would make the cost of dismantling and transportation reasonable.

Others up the thread, however, have suggested reasons why it’s all still sitting there ...

[eaglesiniowa]

They already have. Red Dawn II was shot in Detroit.

[okie01]

Fine enough pieces, or large enough quantities, would make the cost of dismantling and transportation reasonable.

My guess: All of those places were seized and are now owned by the county or city -- for non-payment of taxes.

To remove anything from those derelict buildings would make one subject to arrest and a probable felony charge.

And the city/county doesn't have the presence of mind (or the ability) to organize a "garage sale"...

[stephenjohnbanker]

Who gonna collect mah welfare?

Pay fo my Cadillac?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOh Juuuuuuudge!!

[sionnsar]

Pleasant Ridge/Ferndale and Clawson.

[Liz]

Course, Mommy has $$$$$ of earmarks stashed offshore........ question is whether she will share it with the Bottomless Pit——sonny boy Kwame.

[castlegreyskull]

I can probably build an army to protect my farm (plenty of available manpower), unfortunately I would have to look into serious cash crop (opium) to make this farm profitable. It would end up looking like the farms in Cambodia.

[Cacique]

The solution to all of our urban problems.

[kearnyirish2]

Why not? Detroit looks like Phnom Penh post-Killing Fields.

[Clintonfatigued]

Michigan ping

[GOPJ]

A tree’s known by it’s fruit...

Detroit’s the fruit of liberal ideas...

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[grellis]

If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.

[doug from upland]

From the 1977 classic, KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE - No, not Detroit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVDDYQlmq0w

[epow]

Thanks for the compliment, you’re very kind to an old man. But no, I am not a writer either professional or amateur, just an old retired salesman with a lot of miles on my clock.

[epow]

However, I sincerely hope it isn’t too late.

Hope is always a good thing, and perhaps your's will be fulfilled. At my age I won't live to see a reversal of the current drift toward 2nd or even 3rd world status for America, if by the grace of God it is reversed, but I can and do pray for a brighter future for America and my grandkids.

As a devout Christian I don't believe the US can be saved from eventual collapse into economic and social disaster unless our people return to honoring and worshiping the Christian God of our Founding Fathers. The liberal revisionists who claim that those great men were mostly deists, and even some atheists, who wanted Christian principles and practices totally excluded from the government they created are God-hating liars. Yes, a few of those men were merely deists, and at least one prominent patriot, Paine, was an atheist. But the majority were God-honoring Christian patriots, and some were Christian pastors, Patrick Henry for one example, and that is the verifiable truth. You can read some of the painstakingly researched history of those men compiled by Wallbuilders (http://www.wallbuilders.com/) to get verifiable, factual information about them and their beliefs, much of which is in their own words.

If words on paper have meaning the fact is that the US government was established on Christian principles primarily by God fearing Christian patriots who knew that God only blesses those nations who honor and bless His Son.