The economic crisis is having highly uneven geographic impacts. Detroit for one is being hammered. David Crary and Corey Williams of the Associated Press provide a detailed look.
The jobless rate has climbed past 21 percent, the embattled school district just fired its superintendent, tens of thousands of homes and stores are derelict and abandoned … “It’s a depression — not a recession,” McDuell said, with the authority of someone who has lived through both. “It will get worse before it gets better.”
Money quote: “Even with no hurricane or other natural disaster to blame, Detroit has — by many measures — replaced New Orleans as America’s most beleaguered city.”
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:23 am
pretty gruesome picture… where to start… I’d love to hear from those on the ground.
December 23rd, 2008 at 6:40 pm
But, Richard, as you’ve pointed-out many times, Detroit possesses all of the intangibles necessary to be reinvented into a really cool place. But the banks will never lend in its current environment, it’s going to have to come from an enhanced SBA plan that hangs low-hanging economic development dollars out there for the entrepreneurs of all levels to come running to grab. Detroit would be a great place to launch a pilot program of the sort.
December 26th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
You get what you vote for. Look at their (former) mayor, and the governor and you can see why there is no hope for Detroit.
January 12th, 2009 at 5:30 am
I have to agree with Mr. Fisher’s comments. Given that every major American city now has access to broadband this may be a fertile ground for startup internet companies. I see homes listed for sale at amazingly low prices. A well capitalized startup could almost buy homes and office space for its first employees.
By providing interesting and challenging work to graduates of local Universities that could cause a turn-around.
Find ways to bring in artists because of all the cheap housing, then the coffee shops, etc, etc.
Or am I way off on this?