Socialism wins again - Detroit goes Bankrupt!

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by glatt

This public library. They even left books on the shelves.

Originally Posted by glatt

I'm a little surprised there isn't more scavenging going on.

I recently saw that 47% of Detroit residents are functionally illiterate. Why scavenge a doorstop?

Seriously the decay of Detroit is scary. This isn't a little mining town that faded when the silver ran out, this is a major bloody city.
If it were a stand-alone entity, a Somalia-like collapse would be quite plausible. Being part of the US, it shouldn't go like that; the rest of the country can provide enough support to maintain a semblance of civil life ... but what happens if three, four, ten US cities go the same way? At what point can the US no longer hold it's act together as a socially and economically developed society?

And then what?

How many spare rooms are there in Grifftopia?

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

How many spare rooms are there in Grifftopia?

Not knocking Grifftopia. But I'll be at Ali's Dad's farm I think.

Or whatever commune 'Spode can get together. Not that you can rely on damned hippies to get organised. But you can bet that's where the sex will be at.

Or of course my always go-to in times of trouble; Wolf.
This pacifist will accept a gun might be needed at the end of all times. Edgar Wright thinks so, who am I to cavil.

And if it's just gonna happen regardless, I want to be with my Christmasteers and Mr Limey makes four. Assuming my slower moving 'rents have karked it, I want to be with friends.

Wait, how did I get onto this subject...?
I am Cassandra!

[gvidas]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

I recently saw that 47% of Detroit residents are functionally illiterate. Why scavenge a doorstop?

That number comes from a study dating to 1993, with a margin of error noted only as "greater than plus minus 5%."

Originally Posted by glatt

I'm a little surprised there isn't more scavenging going on.

There's a huge amount of scrapping. It's actually a really bizarre part of the problem, and a huge industry to boot:

- From one angle, drug users/dealers routinely squat houses, strip it out, then burn it down and move on. Non-owner neighbors are powerless to call the cops, since it isn't their building they're trying to evict someone from.

- From another, brazen dudes will just roll into vacant commercial buildings and pull structural steel out by the truck load. I saw this just yesterday, a block away from Eastern Market. One dude, one bobcat, one trailer. Parked his truck around the corner, worked at it for a day, and then drove off.

- From a third, building owners who want the land to be vacant but happen to own a historically significant building will leave it open to the elements (and scrappers) until they can get an emergency demo permit due to the building's now-imminent threat to public safety.

- From a fourth, people buy buildings (that step is optional) and then pull architecturally significant stonework, woodwork, etc, out and sell it or move it to their out-of-state mansion.


Detroit is a silly complicated mess.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

How many spare rooms are there in Grifftopia?

At the moment we're at capacity but we could swing by Detroit for building supplies.

I caught the end of a NPR story last week on abandoned buildings being scrapped out and the metal being shipped to China. From here that does not look like an efficient or sustainable model for development.