Barron's article on rise of Detroit
This isn't exactly real estate related; however, since there seems to be a lot of conversation around the possible success/turnaround of Detroit, I found the article very interesting.
It's in the March 17, 2014 edition of Barron's; it's the lead story on their cover and starts with this:
Detroit Will Rise Again
Anyway, I thought it may be food for thought; especially for those who are considering, or are investing in Detroit.
I agree with the overall sentiment of the cover, although turning around Detroit is like turning the proverbial battleship. Downtown and Midtown are definitely improved, but there are neighborhoods that need police, fire, and lights. Get those up to par, and improve the bus service, and you have the potential for a lot of growth in the city. People vote with their feet, and Detroit has been losing population for a long time. Get some people moving back in and then a turnaround could be real and lasting. I'm not only rooting for the city, but have put some money where my mouth is.
A severely depressed school district is another major issue. What parent would want to sacrifice living in the city and having their children suffer through the DPS? I wonder what movement, if any, will take place when the younger, hipster midtown crowd gets married and has kids in 5-10 years.
I am with Carson on this.
I am not the normal suburbanite that sees downtown and thinks everything is doing better. I go into the heart of the dragon and see the chaos that is going on down there
The neighborhoods are garbage. They are tearing down not just houses but blacks of houses. Now you will have the Detroit apologist come in here and say different but that's not the reality I live. When I stop finding dead people and getting shot at I will change my tune. Until then I say Detroit is a hellhole
@Scott K. and @Carson M. , no argument about the school system from me. The state's solution to take schools away from DPS and let a state-appointed group run them mistakenly thinks that the biggest problem is the school board. Problem is that you have students who are only there because their parents can't get them somewhere else or don't care enough to move them. Kids can't learn under the current conditions,and it does not matter who their school board is. The change needs to be in the neighborhood around the school before the school gets better.
I also agree that the neighborhoods are generally as bad as can be, but I see signs of that turning around, slowly. Right now, you have to be careful and know where you are investing.
Originally posted by @John Knappmann:
@Scott K. and @Carson M. , no argument about the school system from me. The state's solution to take schools away from DPS and let a state-appointed group run them mistakenly thinks that the biggest problem is the school board. Problem is that you have students who are only there because their parents can't get them somewhere else or don't care enough to move them. Kids can't learn under the current conditions,and it does not matter who their school board is. The change needs to be in the neighborhood around the school before the school gets better.
I also agree that the neighborhoods are generally as bad as can be, but I see signs of that turning around, slowly. Right now, you have to be careful and know where you are investing.
I don't and would never invest in those neighborhoods. I go there for my work. The only way to fix Detroit is to move all the people in the neighborhoods to different cities. So really that is no help at all. All it does is transfer the problem to another city.
All these pie in the sky plans cannot change the people. Until the people wake up and want to be better people and do the right things. Detroit will always be a hellhole.
I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle of this argument. It's not inconceivable that the schools could eventually improve and a cultural shift occur in the city, and the existing culture of most of the city's residents appears antithetical to such a shift.
The overwhelming impression I have when I drive through the city is the problems are bigger than people can solve without Divine assistance. The transformation that is required to make it a safe and livable city is radical personal transformation on the part of many thousands of individual residents. In my own experience this transformation is impossible when we try to make it happen of our own accord. But when we surrender to allow Higher Power to do the work through us, nothing is impossible. So I would never say never about any place. And I wouldn't say we'll see changes quickly - it'll take many years. It'll be more like watching the shape of clouds change than like watching a movie, if it even happens.
I work downtown, have for almost 30 years now, and have seen the transformation there over the last five years. I have seen Midtown change. I have seen other cities change. Detroit has a bad element, but the majority are good, law-abiding people who want to live in peace and raise a family, just like anywhere else. Change will be slow, but change is possible.