Quote:
Originally Posted by The North One
Oh yes we know, everybody who's seen a thinkpiece or half witted documentary is an armchair Detroit expert who knows just about everything. I encourage you to be the same way!
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I don't pretend to be an expert on Detroit. But I do know that the level of disinvestment there is far beyond what is present in any other major American city, and it's spread throughout the entire city. North to South, East to West, inner city neighborhoods, neighborhoods on the edge of the city boundaries--- you simply don't see this other places. St. Louis and Chicago both have pretty bombed out areas, but they are confined to one side of those cities, and other sides are either moderately successfuly (STL) or booming and extremely wealthy (CHI).
The reason I brought up my thoughts after watching that documentary is in response to thinking like 'all Detroit needs is some commuter rail and voila, the city will be booming like it's 1940 all over again! That's simplistic and misguided, imo. There is no silver bullet for Detroit. It's a totally different situation than many other cities that face disinvestment issues and on a totally different scale. It's not like Cincinnati where you have amazing architecture and walkable urbanism just waiting to be rehabbed while the outer neighborhoods are stable. If the rest of Detroit was in OK shape and Midtown and Downtown just needed a shot in the arm, I'd say sure, introduce some rail, land some key rehabs and new construction projects, and get the revitalization ball rolling. I'm not sure how one even starts in Detroit other than what they're doing now- which is focusing on a very small geographic area. The reliance on the auto industry is still there, the racism is still there, the incredibly wide and ugly thoroughfares are still there, the buildings and historic charm are getting lost all the time...I don't know the answer. I think the narrative of Detroit 'coming back' is simplistic and not really rooted in reality.