Downhill Detroit
A few days ago, my buddy Zack sent me the following article…
It’s pretty hard to disagree with the points the author makes. Reading the Detroit Free Press and other news sources doesn’t paint a good picture of this city. I don’t actually live in Detroit, and I think that’s one of the main things that brings home the points in the article.
When I first moved to the Metro area, I seriously considered living in downtown Detroit. Several factors played into that decision, not the least of which being a city income tax of 3%, high property taxes (if I bought, which was a remote possibility), and semi-high rent costs. In the end, I got more for my money by moving to Southgate, and now Royal Oak. The decision was made without knowledge of all the other issues that plague Detroit, and I have to say it was the right one for me.
One of the hardest thing for me to understand about the city of Detroit is the largesse of city government. If you look at the population growth and decline for Detroit, you notice the city hasn’t kept it’s workforce proportional to the population. Now, call me a simpleton, but if the taxable base (thus tax revenue) is reduced, then you can’t afford to pay for city employees and/or services in the same volume you did previously. Do the city and it’s employees not get this?
Lastly, we get to what could possibly be a good thing for Detroit: going into recievership. Granted, it would be a painful process, people will lose jobs, etc. etc. etc. As outlined in the article, it’s going to be very difficult to accomplish this, especially with this being an election year for Governor Granholm. Hopefully, she’ll either get replaced or turn her attention to Detroit very early in her next term.
