What is wrong with Detroit?

inb4 “libruls”

I just read the first few paragraphs. As we say at my job, there are three sides to every story. The both sides and the truth.

I kind of don’t understand. The people aren’t paying their bills. If you don’t pay your bills, your stuff gets taken away. If they repo your car, you don’t go running to the UN shouting “NOT FAIR.”

Detroit itself has been declining every year. I think the city itself declared bankruptcy. The city is filled with abandoned houses, buildings, entire neighborhoods…large amount of crime, large amount of unemployment. Seems to me that the city is going down the shitter.

@Dutchess_III I understand that, but not even access to cold water, at least? Wow. Well I guess I don’t know how it works in the US, but in Canada running water is free. If you don’t pay your heating bills then you don’t get warm and hot water, but if you have a place to stay, no matter how poor you are, you have running water. I agree that denying this to people is a violation of human rights.

But what is wrong with Detroit; shitty ass economy that hasn’t been getting better since 1950, according to Wiki.

But why? Can’t somebody turn it around?

Good thoughts about basic running water, @Symbeline.

It has to do with Detroit once being a city that maintained itself on building cars and car parts. And how today, that doesn’t work so good anymore.
The city encourages the people living in depopulated areas to move to the more populated ones. This would save money on trying to maintain the parts of the hoods that are falling apart anyways. Then they can tear down the stuff, stop public transportation to places where barely anyone uses it anyways, it would save money on services like the police to go down there…that would reduce the city’s size itself, but it could save money, then perhaps they can build anew if things get better. Mind you, that would never be done overnight…

Also, look here.
As you can see, solutions are being sought. It’s hard to help a city that’s in decline and in debt, but it seems people are trying.

@Dutchess_III The same reason you can’t re-float the Titanic, the city went downhill in 1950’s 1960’s. There is limited moneys and limited property for collateral to rebuilt the city.

I hope they use that money wisely, @Symbeline.

Detroit put all their eggs in one basket. Once cars started being made elsewhere, they didn’t adapt or diversify. All their jobs and money went to Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Canada, Mexico, and other places, and without anything else to fall back on, they fell down. And since America isn’t known for treating poor people as humans, well, this happens.

The US auto industry turned to crap. They stopped building a really decent American made automobile back in 1974 or 1975. Once that happened it was all over for Detroit.

Don’t they have another basket, or baskets, to put their eggs in?

Some houses in the Detroit area are worth 30% of what they were 15 years ago.

I just watched a show on Netflix called “Abandoned America” and was totally shocked at the segment on Detroit. All the empty factories, shops, and even worse, the beautiful turn-of-the-century Victorian homes that are just abandoned. Really? I had no idea.

As a fan of Victorian homes, these pictures almost made me cry:

http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2012/09/brush-park-detroit-historic-abandoned-mansions-houses/

That is pretty sad. Such gorgeous houses, abandoned and decaying.

I’m a big fan of anything abandoned, but that doesn’t change how sad it can be sometimes. And it doesn’t even have to be a pretty building; even normal run of the mill abandoned buildings make me a bit sad.