Views on Detroit's Image

[rwyatt365]

I'm on another forum (that is all about my favorite car :lovestruck: ) and a question was raised there about people's opinion of Detroit. You may, or may not know that the mayor of Detroit is being raked over the coals for (allegedly) having an affair with a senior staffer for several years, an allegation that he previously denied under oath.

Anyway, that whole exchange on the other forum reminded me of a time many years ago when I went to Italy for several months to work as a consultant. There were a group of Americans staying at a small hotel in Formia, Italy, and I had the opportunity to converse (poorly) with the staff there. When I mentioned that I was from Detroit I was somewhat stunned to discover that they knew of Detroit's reputation as the "Murder City"!

So, I'm wondering what (if anything) others think about my city. Don’t worry, you won't offend me, anything you say I've probably already said – or worse.

[thod]

Hmm its not often in the news here in the UK. I recall they have sorted out the crime and it not bad anymore. I see it as fading rust belt town now. The auto industries that powered it are in decline and so the city is too. I wouldnt choose to move there. Better to go somewhere on the up. Also the weather in that part of the world is awful too hot in summer and cold in winter.

The mayor sleeping with his assistant? I couldnt care less if he was into bestiality. Its not news, I couldnt care less where he pokes his penis.

[prometheus]

Americans are worried that hard times lie ahead. But in Detroit, Michigan, they have already arrived, with a vengeance.

Michigan, by some calculations, has lost 400,000 jobs in the past seven years. That’s in a state whose population is only 10 million.

Detroit is seeing unemployment running at nearly 8%, twice the national average.

The number of homes in the city “foreclosed” - or repossessed by mortgage lenders - is among the highest in the country.

The city’s charities are getting busier, a sign of economic distress.

At Gleaners Community Food Bank, a charity which provides food to needy people, organisers report an upsurge in appeals for help.

“This is ground zero when it comes to poverty,” Augie Fernandez says. “Here we are in the capital of manufacturing and we’re just seeing it dissipate away.”

A significant trend is now apparent to the Gleaners staff: a marked increase in the number of professional workers who are seeking food assistance.

Prosperity to poverty

Daniel Wolfe worked in civil engineering for 22 years. He lost his job eight months ago.
Foreclosures in the US

We meet Daniel and his wife Cynthia as they collect free groceries from a charity food bank - cereal, muffins and tinned spaghetti sauce.

Theirs is an extraordinary - and salutary - story, one which illustrates the fragility that often underlies American prosperity.

Daniel had been earning $90,000 a year, he tells me. He’s an articulate man, with a professional, warm demeanour.

He was laid off when the state government, itself strapped by a shrinking tax base, cut back on contracts to private companies.

In the course of eight months, Daniel and his family have gone from prosperity to poverty.

His unemployment benefits expired. Much of that money had been spent on trying to keep up the family health insurance. And his savings disappeared, to the point where he says he is, quite literally, broke.


It made me feel like a loser, like I wasn’t able to provide even the basic things for my family, let alone anything beyond that



He had never before accepted charity.

“To find myself in a position where I couldn’t afford a gallon of milk, I couldn’t afford a loaf of bread - it was very humbling,” he says.

“For want of a better term it made me feel like a loser, like I wasn’t able to provide even the basic things for my family, let alone anything beyond that.”

I ask Daniel and Cynthia if they thought of themselves as middle class. They both answer yes. I ask if they still think of themselves as middle class.

“I think we’re on the poverty line right now,” says Daniel. He wonders if he will be able to hold on to his house.



Michigan’s problems stem in large part from the troubles of the big car manufacturers.
A transporter carries DaimlerChrysler vehicles in Detroit, Michigan

The troubles of the big car makers have had an impact on Michigan

But there is much more. A perfect economic storm is hitting this state - falling property prices, a credit crunch, a shrinking tax base and rising oil prices.

At a truck stop on Interstate 94, we found Michael Hatfield, the owner and operator of a huge purple rig.

Every time the cost of fuel rises, he says, the cost of the vegetables he is hauling goes up, and his profit goes down.

“My profit’s gone down big time. That means my wage goes down because I own the truck and trailer,” he says.

“And it has a big effect at home. Luckily I got most everything paid for and my kids are grown. If I had little kids I’d be selling the truck.”

The American economy is geared to cheap, plentiful, fuel. But with prices over $3 a gallon for gasoline, family budgets and business plans all get squeezed.

And winter’s coming. How much to heat that big home that you can’t sell?

‘Canary in the coalmine’

So will Michigan’s pain spread to the rest of the country?


I believe what’s happening here could happen to the rest of America if we don’t watch ourselves

Augie Fernandez

Daniel Howes, a columnist for the Detroit News, tells me that at least some of Michigan’s problems are specific to Michigan.

“What’s happened in this state is somewhat unique to the manufacturing and auto business,” he says.

“The Michigan economy has been tied to the auto business for a century. So it’s hard to generalise that what’s going to happen here is going to happen anywhere else.”

States that have more diversified economies may fare better during a national slowdown, he says.

But back at Gleaners food bank, Augie Fernandez is wary. He calls Michigan the “canary in the coalmine”.

“Keep an eye on Michigan,” he says. “I believe what’s happening here could happen to the rest of America if we don’t watch ourselves.”

November 17, 2007

[thod]

But with prices over $3 a gallon for gasoline

Lol. Its $9 a gallon this side of the pond.

[Bossy Mom]

I used to live in Dearborn, Michigan, when my husband worked for Ford (several years ago). I was not happy there. Between the gloomy weather and the drug- and gang-related crime, it became even gloomier and more dreadful. I didn't watch the local news - it bothered me to see entire families murdered and the crimes never solved. One always knew when they were at the city limits. I was happy when we moved.

My brother-in-law also used to live there. He had been a firearms instructor in the Army, and legally had a handgun in his car. Once in downtown Detroit, a man tried to steal his car (while my brother-in-law was in it), and the criminal ended up with a bullet in his knee. The policeman told my brother-in-law that he did nothing wrong - in fact, he did great!

Whenever I think of Detroit, it is not in a positive light.

[LJB]

Have to admit that my view of Detroit is directly influenced by receiving cable TV signals from there throughout my childhood in western Canada. When you live in a society with so little crime and virtually no gun violence to speak of, seeing the nightly news come from such a dark and gritty place in the world during the 70s and 80s was quite an eye opener.

My all-time favorite was coverage of "Devil's Night" when the city of Detroit would brace for riots and arsonists each year. Really, really bizarre to us in Hicksville, Canada.

Also, when reports weren't coming in about crime, it was about municipal corruption, automaker layoffs, the golden age of Motown, the Pistons or UM football. The newscasters moved from disaster to braggarts in one breath. I found it all very annoying... Detroit might as well have been on a different planet for how little I could identify with it.

Detroit

[bubbles]

I usually don't remember random pictures I've seen on the internet, but this (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) one is somehow very memorable. I've also seen many other pictures of Detroit, saw a couple of Michael Moore "documentaries," and it just gives me a picture of a bad place, but I'm sure it can be a beautiful place depending on where you look.

[rwyatt365]

Have to admit that my view of Detroit is directly influenced by receiving cable TV signals from there throughout my childhood in western Canada. When you live in a society with so little crime and virtually no gun violence to speak of, seeing the nightly news come from such a dark and gritty place in the world during the 70s and 80s was quite an eye opener.

My all-time favorite was coverage of "Devil's Night" when the city of Detroit would brace for riots and arsonists each year. Really, really bizarre to us in Hicksville, Canada.
Ah, Devil's Night! I had almost forgot about that one – the night before Halloween, and unofficial orgy of arson and various other mischief. I have no idea how it got started, but for several years during the 80's that night would wreak havoc throughout the city. There weren't "riots" per-se, just ignorant dolts running around setting fire to abandoned houses and garages just for the hell of it. After several years of this foolishness the city organized volunteers to roam the streets and report any suspicious activities. Things have subsided greatly since then.

One other curious "tradition" that hasn't abated is the annual New Year's Day shoot-fest. The idea is that at midnight you go out and fire off your "best" firearm to celebrate the coming of the New Year. You get small handgun pops, shotgun blasts and even the occasional semi-automatic weapon fire. It's almost like being in Beirut – what a festive occasion!

Also, when reports weren't coming in about crime, it was about municipal corruption, automaker layoffs, the golden age of Motown, the Pistons or UM football. The newscasters moved from disaster to braggarts in one breath. I found it all very annoying... Detroit might as well have been on a different planet for how little I could identify with it.

Detroit newscasts are indeed surreal. One minute the anchor-person (with their serious-face on) is talking about the "brutal slaying of <insert person here>", and then (with their happy-face on) encouraging us to come participate in the <insert occasion here> festival! I stopped watching the news years ago, it was just too damned depressing.

I usually don't remember random pictures I've seen on the internet, but this one is somehow very memorable. I've also seen many other pictures of Detroit, saw a couple of Michael Moore "documentaries," and it just gives me a picture of a bad place, but I'm sure it can be a beautiful place depending on where you look.
Within the city proper, you can go from Palmer Woods – an affluent in-city neighborhood with several mansion-sized homes and manicured lawns throughout – to Seven Mile & Woodward - a wrecked neighborhood with burned-down houses and liquor stores on every block, in the space of half a mile. You can go from Indian Village – one of the places where Detroit's "old money" once lived – to abject poverty in the space of one block. You can drive down Jefferson Ave from Grosse Pointe (where the "new money" lives) though "Da Hood" past the Chrysler plant and miles of closed storefronts and straight into downtown. Most folks that make that trip do so with full tanks of gas and their car windows and doors closed and locked.

Does anyone remember the Detroit Grand Prix? It's a revived race, held on Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River. If you saw it on TV, you'd think that Belle Isle was a pretty cool place. For the most part, it is; wide-open spaces, lots of trees, picnic grounds, athletic fields, an 18 hole par-3 golf course, even it's own zoo and botanical gardens. It's also the biggest hang-out in the summer time for everyone. On a hot summer's day going to "The Rock" (as it's known) is a way to cruise for hood rats, blast your music, buy drugs, or show off you car or bike. Most suburbanites wouldn't go to Belle Isle if you paid them.

What a wonderful city!

[bubbles]

Detroit newscasts are indeed surreal. One minute the anchor-person (with their serious-face on) is talking about the "brutal slaying of <insert person here>", and then (with their happy-face on) encouraging us to come participate in the <insert occasion here> festival! I stopped watching the news years ago, it was just too damned depressing.

We get that here too: "We have some breaking news--there have been another homicide..." Then the news anchor would turn it over to the sports anchor (who always smiles) and talk about how the local sports teams lost yet again. People from the suburbs would never go to those places because of what they hear on the news.

[LJB]

One other curious "tradition" that hasn't abated is the annual New Year's Day shoot-fest. The idea is that at midnight you go out and fire off your "best" firearm to celebrate the coming of the New Year. You get small handgun pops, shotgun blasts and even the occasional semi-automatic weapon fire. It's almost like being in Beirut – what a festive occasion!

Ah... the end of the holiday season hillbilly fireworks... they used to do that in New Orleans as well (don't know how it is since Katrina)! Newscasters warned "revelers" about falling bullets... like you could avoid them!!!

[Kfbr]

I see it as a dieing city, murder capital and all. Mostly because all the jobs have left and the people that can't afford to leave are stuck there.

[bubbles]

I was curious about this "Murder Capital" thing, so I looked it up. Found some interesting stats: To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I'm a bit surprised at St. Louis, Missouri's crime rate.