State may take over Belle Isle

[Shadow]

http://www.windsorstar.com/travel/State+take+over+control+Belle+Isle/7234545/story.html

[Don Quixote]

Rats and all!

[Andrew Longman]

The state has taken over much of the state --booting a lot of local government.

Can't disagree that Belle Isle hasn't been properly cared for though. In the late 70s when I was in school in MI it was common knowledge there the place had gone to rot.

[Elmo T]

The state has taken over much of the state --booting a lot of local government.


Sorta OT, but wow bad is it in Detroit. The city has seriously cut their FD. The proposed solution? Turn a ride-along program into a tourist attraction for $$. :saywhat:

Tourists paying to help fight Detroit's fires: Is this idea for real? (http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/19479115/detroit-fire-department-tourist-brigade-is-this-idea-for-real)

Ride-along programs are not uncommon - but only as observers.

[Andrew Longman]

True. Google Earth provides shocking evidence of how much of the city has literally gone back to nature.

OTOH, there are some pretty cool examples of people coming back to the city attracted by cheap real estate to start businesses, do urban agriculture and revitalize parts of the city.

Detroit may have actually hit bottom and in 15 years surprise us as among the cutting edge of America's 21st Century economy. I hope so anyway.

[stroker]

Nothing's going to change in Detroit until people start voting differently.

[cameraman]

Nothing's going to change in Detroit until after the asteroid hits.

Fixed that for you.

[stroker]

Fixed that for you.

Thanks! That's what I luvs about OC. Everybody is lookin' out for everyone else.

:)

[Andrew Longman]

Nothing's going to change in Detroit until people start voting differently.Or until different people start voting.

Bless the people of Detroit, I don't mean this as a knock at all, but the city lost a whole lot of talent over the years. The best and the brightest had no reason to stay. The nation and world's best and brightest had no reason to go there.

That seems to be changing though. A lot of motivated young entrepreneurs are moving in and starting businesses. The Big Three are becoming a destination again for talented people. I'm not moving there myself just yet (even if I literally could buy a house in Detroit for less than I pay each year in NJ property tax) but I see reason to hope.

[Anteater]

For those of you who haven't seen it before:
http://www.detroityes.com/downtown/60dbc_full.htm

Lots of haunting photos on this site. :(

[Ruok]

For those of you who haven't seen it before:
http://www.detroityes.com/downtown/60dbc_full.htm

Lots of haunting photos on this site. :(

Thanks for that, I showed that to my folks who are native to Detroit, kinda broke their hearts. They had the foresight to get out in'59 if you can believe it, they saw major issues back then. Dad grew up just 3 miles from Belle Isle and was there a lot as a kid, much different world in a very short amount of time, hard to believe in some ways.