'The change in Detroit is real': Mayor Mike Duggan promises better parks, cheaper insurance in State
Source: Detroit Freep
Mayor Mike Duggan laid out what he said is a strong case that change can come quickly for Detroit, insisting that recent improvements in fixing streetlights, boosting bus service and a major new assault on blighted houses are a foundation for a recovery.
Almost every day, somebody asks me, Arent you discouraged? Duggan told a packed audience at City Hall on Wednesday night, noting that Detroit is in a bankruptcy fight for its life under state oversight.
But Duggan told the crowd gathered for his first State of the City address that hes far from discouraged. He said that he and members of the City Council have forged a calm, rational response to the citys challenges including a record snowfall in January that hammered the citys public works and trash-collection efforts.
Heres what I know for sure: The change has started, and the change in Detroit is real, he said to applause.
Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20140226/NEWS01/302260149/
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)I think we know that answer but I would like to hear them say it. It is coming from the two pension funds they raided so its coming from the backs of Detroit seniors. Not too much to cheer about there.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Or any time in the 45 years after?
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)That the pension funds should have been gutted 45 years ago?
Demeter
(85,373 posts)need first became obvious, and before everything deteriorated beyond repair. So that the city would have the funds to pay those pensions, which they contracted to do.
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)Detroit was already on the way downhill fast by the time of the riots of the 60s. White flight was in full steam and black flight had begun, continuing to the point where the population is less than 700,000 now.
But this is not 1943 - it is too late to stop the white flight from beginning. This is not 1954 - the Packard Plant has closed. It's not 1967 - too late to stop the riots which have done even more lasting damage to the city's image than they did to its buildings.
Shoulda woulda coulda don't do jack shit for the poor suffering people of City of Detroit. Getting things done and bringing in money and good people will. Personally, I wish Mayor Duggan all the luck and support he can get in this noble endeavor. He's gonna need it!
Demeter
(85,373 posts)I was born in 1955, don't have personal knowledge before that...