Fixing Detroit (Wayne, Nashville: transfer, schools, taxes)

[y2c313]

Is the best solution to permanently fixing Detroit and putting it on the best track for success merging the city with Oakland, Wayne and Macomb county?

[InchingWest]

Nope, the best solution is to replace most of the current population with higher quality individuals.

[y2c313]

But if you merge the 3 counties with the central city, you improve the tax base overnight. That's a lot of revenue to help speed up the rejuvenating of the city.

[2nd trick op]

Dissolve the city government of Detroit, with its political hacks and hangers-on. Transfer the essential functions to state authority; outlaw (or at least, drastically curb) the abuses of public employee unionism; downsize and renegotiate the overbuilt pension system; crack down (and very hard) on the gang / drug / welfare / criminal underclass who spoil things for the rest, and let a new, disciplined private sector run things as much as possible.

The whining and outrage from the usual suspects over in Left Field may now begin.

[InchingWest]

Originally Posted by y2c313

But if you merge the 3 counties with the central city, you improve the tax base overnight. That's a lot of revenue to help speed up the rejuvenating of the city.

Why would you want to put more money into the hands of those who will simply abuse it, waste it, and give it away to their cronies, families and political backers?


All you would do is ruin the areas that merge into the city and cause residents and businesses to flee further outward in order to escape the higher taxes and the abuse and waste that will come along with it.

[y2c313]

Most folks in the suburbs say that they want more say in how the city spends money because they get money from them already. This is a compromise to that. The suburbs get say and the city gets revenue.

[Coldjensens]

No. The wants and needs of the City vs. suburbs are too different and often in conflict. One or the other would end up getting neglected. It is already a problem with county governance of such large and disparate areas, especially road repairs.

The core of Detroit is fixing itself and the city government has improved many times over. However the City cannot be "fixed" until there are decent options for schools. For now, it is a place for young people and those with grown children. Downtown and midtown and similar areas will continue to improve, but Detroit will not be able to sustain a viable and diverse population until there are some decent school options.

[MS313]

Originally Posted by y2c313

Most folks in the suburbs say that they want more say in how the city spends money because they get money from them already. This is a compromise to that. The suburbs get say and the city gets revenue.

I agree I think it's a win win and I've been saying it for a while. If Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Nashville, Indianapolis, Louisville, ect can merge suburbs into the city to benefit themselves why can't Detroit?

The burbs get to vote for who they think should run Detroit. And Detroit gets a sh*t ton of tax revenue and all of it's bad stats go away overnight. Also, property value would probably skyrocket in the (orginal) city.

Idk what would happen with the schools though, that would be my biggest concern.

[craig11152]

Originally Posted by MS313

I agree I think it's a win win and I've been saying it for a while. If Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Nashville, Indianapolis, Louisville, ect can merge suburbs into the city to benefit themselves why can't Detroit?

Can you explain what you think happened in Phoenix? As far as I know the suburbs of Phoenix,particularly Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale,Gilbert, Chandler are pretty much their own entities with their own local government, police, fire etc.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by craig11152

Can you explain what you think happened in Phoenix? As far as I know the suburbs of Phoenix,particularly Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale,Gilbert, Chandler are pretty much their own entities with their own local government, police, fire etc.

They are their own entities. Though to be clear Phoenix never merged with it's county(Maricopa county covers more land area than New Jersey) or other suburbs. Cities in the Valley of the Sun just started gobbling up massive amounts of land around them as they grew. They all compete with Phoenix for the same development investments as well. The big difference is that they all cover substantial land areas. Instead of having 140 local governements in the region there are maybe 12. The upside being the region is far more aligned when it comes to things like transit and infrastructure projects. You don't have all of these tiny city governments refusing to cooperate, holding the area back from progress. The downside is that these larger civic governments have enough weight to pull in some in pretty big developments that should otherwise go into the core. Its like having six core cities instead of one. It's the biggest single reason why Phoenix is behind its peers in core amenities. Though it's a fairly common problem for every city that exploded during the age of the automobile.