I know that Detroit is an armpit..but this is just beyond sad.. rop

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1665125.html

For instance, Omaha's unemployment rate of 5.4% in June increased over the past year, but only by 1.7 percentage points. This ranked Nebraska's largest city at or near the top among areas evaluated by Brookings' economists.

Modesto's unemployment rate in June, by contrast, was 16.5%. This was second worst in the nation among all metropolitan areas, trailing only Detroit. Always high, Modesto's unemployment rate had increased 5.8 points over the prior year.

Of the bottom five metropolitan areas nationwide with the highest June unemployment rate, four -- Modesto, Stockton, Fresno and Bakersfield -- are in the San Joaquin Valley.

Fresno's unemployment rate of 15.3% in June marked a 5.7-point increase over the prior year.
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Why not cry for Modesto or Fresno since they are in about the same boat as Detroit?
 
Great article in the WSJ I read on the history of one house in Detriot.



DETROIT -- On a grassy lot on a quiet block on a graceful boulevard stands the answer to a perplexing question: Why does the typical house in Detroit sell for $7,100?

The brick-and-stucco home at 1626 W. Boston Blvd. has watched almost a century of Detroit's ups and downs, through industrial brilliance and racial discord, economic decline and financial collapse. Its owners have played a part in it all. There was the engineer whose innovation elevated auto makers into kings; the teacher who watched fellow whites flee to the suburbs; the black plumber who broke the color barrier; the cop driven out by crime.

The last individual owner was a subprime borrower, who lost the house when investors foreclosed.

A city that began a slow slide 60 years ago has now entered a free fall, pushed by the twin crises of housing and cars. Detroit's population peaked at 1.85 million in the 1950 census. It is now less than half that. In July, unemployment hit 28.9%, almost triple the national average.

And the median selling price for a home stood at a paltry $7,100 as of July, according to First American CoreLogic Inc., a real-estate research firm -- down from $73,000 three years earlier. A typical house in Cleveland sells for $65,000. One in St. Louis goes for $120,000.

But, battered and forlorn today, both Detroit and 1626 W. Boston Blvd. were solid and optimistic 90 years ago.
 
no_vaseline said:
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1665125.html

For instance, Omaha's unemployment rate of 5.4% in June increased over the past year, but only by 1.7 percentage points. This ranked Nebraska's largest city at or near the top among areas evaluated by Brookings' economists.

Modesto's unemployment rate in June, by contrast, was 16.5%. This was second worst in the nation among all metropolitan areas, trailing only Detroit. Always high, Modesto's unemployment rate had increased 5.8 points over the prior year.

Of the bottom five metropolitan areas nationwide with the highest June unemployment rate, four -- Modesto, Stockton, Fresno and Bakersfield -- are in the San Joaquin Valley.

Fresno's unemployment rate of 15.3% in June marked a 5.7-point increase over the prior year.
Click to expand...

Why not cry for Modesto or Fresno since they are in about the same boat as Detroit?
Click to expand...

Im not "crying" for anyone. I am merely pointing out how sad it is that Detroit, with some really beautiful architecture, and a proud history is suffering so badly, and said architecture is being destroyed.

While what is happening in Modesto, and Fresno is sad, I dont think their buildings have been burned out the way that buildings have been burned out in Detroit, and honestly I do believe that they with recover, where Detroit is without a question past the point of recovery. At least in my humble opinion.
 
GraceOMalley said:
While what is happening in Modesto, and Fresno is sad, I dont think their buildings have been burned out the way that buildings have been burned out in Detroit, and honestly I do believe that they with recover, where Detroit is without a question past the point of recovery. At least in my humble opinion.
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The really cool stuff in Fresno got wasted in the 1970's and 1980's. There was never the population, industry, or wealth that there was in Detroit. Fresno got ruined by urban sprawl.

I have a magazine article for you next time we meet up you may find interesting.
 
no_vaseline said:
GraceOMalley said:
While what is happening in Modesto, and Fresno is sad, I dont think their buildings have been burned out the way that buildings have been burned out in Detroit, and honestly I do believe that they with recover, where Detroit is without a question past the point of recovery. At least in my humble opinion.
Click to expand...

The really cool stuff in Fresno got wasted in the 1970's and 1980's. There was never the population, industry, or wealth that there was in Detroit. Fresno got ruined by urban sprawl.

I have a magazine article for you next time we meet up you may find interesting.
Click to expand...

Cool. I look forward to it.
 
What has happened to Detroit is what makes me extremely negative about the prospects of the exurban house farms. Detroit has been/is being killed by a combination of no jobs and low population density (Detroit is now less dense than your typical suburb). No jobs means lots of idle young men who often turn to crime, gangs, and vandalism. Plus, it means not much money for the city. Low density means few civilians are watching for the criminals -because they're not there - and patrol and response is expensive for the police.

The exurban house farms already have the same problems and they'll likely get worse - especially jobs if the investor/speculators every manage to rent all those empty places out. The fact that the homes per se are nice for what they are is not going to help, any more than the often-spectacular architecture of Detroit saved it. It just makes it more depressing to see what has happened.
 
Buffalo, NY is in a similar boat. We used to live in the shadow of the H.H. Richardson Complex. The neighborhood was full of beautiful, two story victorians built at the turn of the century to house the workers for the Pan American Expo. Hard wood floors, pocket doors, leaded glass windows, and large front porches characterize the homes in the area. Our next door neighbors bought their home for $3,000 in 2000. Actually, I should restate that. They paid the city $3,000 to cover the back taxes that the previous owner never paid. The city then gave them the house for free.

The silver lining is that people like this - Queen City Farm- are moving into the city, purchasing entire blocks of housing and land for less than the purchase price of a new car, and making a home and a difference.

In the meantime, there are some real architectural gems being lost in cities like Detroit and Buffalo. I doubt if there is much in Modesto or Fresno that could compare to much of what you'll find in a place like Detroit.
 
Want to buy a stadium, cheap?

The Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions and site of Super Bowl XVI is up for auction, no minimum.

SDKey.jpg
 
"Put your hands up for Detroit!" love that song

at some point, would it make more sense to just start bulldozing neighbor hoods and neighborhoods?
 
I don't know, I'd rather leave emptying neighborhoods and buildings in place, they could end up like historic ghost towns (like Bodie CA) or get re-purposed in some new way like SacFarm's post above...I personally wouldn't advocate tearing things down unless a structure becomes dangerous like bits and pieces of old buildings falling from 10 stories up.
 
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