• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

25 interesting facts about Detroit

MaggieD

DP Veteran
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Messages
43,244
Reaction score
44,664
Location
Chicago Area
Gender
Female
Political Leaning
Moderate
Blog: '25 Facts About The Fall Of Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head'

1) At this point, the city of Detroit owes [COLOR=#11B000 !important]money to more than 100,000 creditors.[/COLOR]
2) Detroit is facing $20 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities. That breaks down to more than $25,000 per resident.
3) Back in 1960, the city of Detroit actually had the highest per-capita income in the entire nation.
4) In 1950, there were about 296,000 manufacturing jobs in Detroit. Today, there are less than 27,000.
5) Between December 2000 and December 2010, 48 percent of the manufacturing jobs in the state of [COLOR=#11B000 !important]Michigan were lost.[/COLOR]
6) There are lots of houses available for sale in Detroit right now for $500 or less.
7) At this point, there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.
8) About one-third of Detroit's 140 square miles is either vacant or derelict.
9) An astounding 47 percent of the residents of the city of Detroit are functionally illiterate.
10) Less than half of the residents of Detroit over the age of 16 are working at this point.
11) If you can believe it, 60 percent of all children in the city of Detroit are living in poverty.
12) Detroit was once the fourth-largest city in the United States, but over the past 60 years the population of Detroit has fallen by 63 percent.
13) The city of Detroit is now very heavily dependent on the tax revenue it pulls in from the casinos in the city. Right now, Detroit is bringing in about 11 million dollars a month in tax revenue from the casinos.
14) There are 70 "Superfund" hazardous waste sites in Detroit.
15) 40 percent of the street lights do not work.
16) Only about a third of the ambulances are running.
17) Some ambulances in the city of Detroit have been used for so long that they have more than 250,000 miles on them.
18) Two-thirds of the parks in the city of Detroit have been permanently closed down since 2008.
19) The size of the police force in Detroit has been cut by about 40 percent over the past decade.
20) When you call the police in Detroit, it takes them an average of 58 minutes to respond.

Read more: Blog: '25 Facts About The Fall Of Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head'
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

I'll add one more: The city of Detroit hasn't had a Republican mayor since 1962.
 
Also they had the 67 Riot which lasted 4 days and ended up killing 49 people.....Just Sayin! ;)

As far as their Economic downfall.....they knew this was coming. Even other Democrats had been telling them for years.
 
Quite an info about Detroit..exposes some of its negative aspects..good post.
 
Maggie,

I think one of the interesting points you brought up is the Casinos. They were a HORRIBLE idea from 10 years ago. They are based inside the city. They encourage people with little income or even better, EBT cards to go and gamble for the big win. They are just sucking the money out of the poor. The casinos were put there to attract tourists. Horrible. It was the nail in the coffin for the city.
 
Maggie,

I think one of the interesting points you brought up is the Casinos. They were a HORRIBLE idea from 10 years ago. They are based inside the city. They encourage people with little income or even better, EBT cards to go and gamble for the big win. They are just sucking the money out of the poor. The casinos were put there to attract tourists. Horrible. It was the nail in the coffin for the city.

I believe it. Tommy Boy and I enjoy watching the pawn shop reality shows. It is amazing how, in Detroit specifically, people pawn their TVs, jewelry, electronics, etc. to trip over to the casino. Between casinos and lotteries, we shoulder a whole lot more tax burden on the poor than we think.

I used to go to casinos quite regularly. (I can afford it, but always spent more than I was comfortable with.) On my way home, I always felt guilty. Not one good job by all that money spent. Not one refrigerator built. Not one anything built. Should've left 'em in Vegas.
 
I believe it. Tommy Boy and I enjoy watching the pawn shop reality shows. It is amazing how, in Detroit specifically, people pawn their TVs, jewelry, electronics, etc. to trip over to the casino. Between casinos and lotteries, we shoulder a whole lot more tax burden on the poor than we think.

I used to go to casinos quite regularly. (I can afford it, but always spent more than I was comfortable with.) On my way home, I always felt guilty. Not one good job by all that money spent. Not one refrigerator built. Not one anything built. Should've left 'em in Vegas.

I show up in Michigan for about a month to two months a year. I land in Detroit, take my rental, and get the hell out of there.
 
Detroit is a liberal utopia, Obama is doing his best to make the whole country just like Detroit.
 
9) An astounding 47 percent of the residents of the city of Detroit are functionally illiterate.

There is that 47% number again.
 
Maggie,

I think one of the interesting points you brought up is the Casinos. They were a HORRIBLE idea from 10 years ago. They are based inside the city. They encourage people with little income or even better, EBT cards to go and gamble for the big win. They are just sucking the money out of the poor. The casinos were put there to attract tourists. Horrible. It was the nail in the coffin for the city.

Actually, Detroit put in casinos because Windsor, across the river from Detroit, opened up a casino and built a couple more and a lot of the players in these casinos were residents of Detroit and its suburbs. Detroit had to decide if it wanted to continue to lose those dollars to Windsor or fight back.
 
Actually, Detroit put in casinos because Windsor, across the river from Detroit, opened up a casino and built a couple more and a lot of the players in these casinos were residents of Detroit and its suburbs. Detroit had to decide if it wanted to continue to lose those dollars to Windsor or fight back.

I was always under the impression it was for tourists. That is how it was marketed to me. Either way, it is simply destroying the city.
 
I was always under the impression it was for tourists. That is how it was marketed to me. Either way, it is simply destroying the city.

The death of the automotive industry killed Detroit not the casinos.
 
The death of the automotive industry killed Detroit not the casinos.

Heya Blaxshep
yo2.gif
Well that and another interesting fact that Detroit Politicians are like Chicago Politicians just not in the same league. But still always into that corruption. Just like with the rest of the State of Illinois and with Michigan.

Democrat Brian Banks, an eight-time convicted felon with a rap sheet spanning several years, on Tuesday handily defeated his Republican opponent in the race to represent Michigan’s first district as a state representative, taking 68 percent of the vote.

Brian-Banks-e1352322491963.png


Banks’ district includes northeast Detroit, Harper Woods, Grosse Pointe Woods and Grosse Point Shores.
The 35-year-old Banks was convicted of credit card fraud and writing bad checks eight times between 1998 and 2004. His latest conviction came eight years ago, when he was 27 years old.

However, Banks, who defeated Grosse Pointe Shores city councilman Republican Dan Schulte on Election Day, has insisted he has turned his life around.

His campaign slogan was “You can Bank on Banks.”

But recent events have cast doubt on Banks’ claims that he has, in fact, opened a new chapter in his life. In August, Banks was evicted from a Harper Woods home on Berden Street. The case involved a judgment of approximately $2,000.

On Oct. 31, a $3,751 judgment for nonpayment of rent was entered against Banks after his landlord discovered bounced checks. Banks was evicted from a second Harper Woods home last week, this time on Fleetwood Drive.....snip~

http://www.debatepolitics.com/midwest/142119-michigan-elects-8-time-felon-state-rep.html

Ex-convict Brian Banks wins Michigan state representative seat on Election Day | The Daily Caller


His Campaign Slogan was.....You can Bank on Banks. :lamo

Whats so screwed up about it was they voted him in anyways. :lol: NE Detroit too. ;)
 
Maggie,

I think one of the interesting points you brought up is the Casinos. They were a HORRIBLE idea from 10 years ago. They are based inside the city. They encourage people with little income or even better, EBT cards to go and gamble for the big win. They are just sucking the money out of the poor. The casinos were put there to attract tourists. Horrible. It was the nail in the coffin for the city.

I think the nail in the coffin was when people and businesses started voting with their feet...

Detroit is a perfect example of what happens when a government bleeds businesses and the productive dry....
 
I was always under the impression it was for tourists. That is how it was marketed to me. Either way, it is simply destroying the city.

Heya Blue State. :2wave: Not around us they aren't.....they Casino Commercials catered Right to the Downtown Chicago people. Course a lot of them are branched in other states and cities too. So one can have that memorable vacationing experience.





They even personalize their service for taking peoples money that want to give it away. :lol:
 
I was always under the impression it was for tourists. That is how it was marketed to me. Either way, it is simply destroying the city.

Many tourists in Detroit come from Canada for sports like the Wings, Lions, Tigers and to watch Toronto teams, as an example, play their rivals - there are strong, long term rivalries there. I'm sure some of them go to the casinos on occasion. But in Canada, winnings in casinos aren't taxed at all at source or as income so if a Canadian wins in a US casino, they have to apply for a tax rebate - many would rather not suffer the hassle and many in the border cities in the US would prefer not to as well - if they win in a Canadian casino, no tax and just keep quite on the way back home.
 
Quite a bit of commentary from people that are pretty far removed from the situation.

Detroit is suffering for two reasons:

One corruption - for decades, the leadership has extracted as much as they could out of the city either by giving jobs to every last one of their relative down to 3rd cousins, skimming the top with various "funds", or by simple extortion, pay to play, etc. Keep your partisan dribble - corruption is corruption - it doesn't matter if its democrat or republican.

Two, and probably the biggest reason - Detroiters are too dumb to get out of their own damn way. Everytime somebody starts making sense, he's beaten back as an outsider trying to "take" something from Detroit. The irony is that the ones leading the charge are usually doing the most taking. Mayor's like Kilpatrick somehow get reelected to a second term while every halfway decent mayor runs as fast as he can after his first term is over. The state offers to lease bell isle - a place with huge potential that would have only gotten better with consistent control. But people are too afraid that something is being stolen from them. Basically the same conversation happens regularly around the water department. In the mean time, they'll elect any crook that talks jobs and D-Troit pride - A pedophile city council president, and illiterate dept. of education president, the list could probably go on for ever but this is a good example:
Investigators: Wayne County Confidential | Detroit, Michigan | WXYZ-TV. Then when the state finally has enough, they send in an emergency manager. Rather than lambast the elected officials that drove the city into the ground, they defend them with B.S. like "voter's rights" not realizing the rest of us in the state have just as much right to try to keep the next "son of Detroit" from pissing away our tax dollars on a 100k a year salary for the position he created for his sister for a fund that only has 400k.

The automotive losses are a big deal, but nothing that can't be recovered from in the long term (relative to other major cities anyway). Casinos are a minor issue - somebody covered the Windsor competition. As for the list of symptoms somehow being tied to a political party - just plain stupid. I suppose Catholicism leads directly to pedophilia too.
 
The auto industry isn't dead, look out your window at all of the cars. This was the Motor City, with all of the resources to make great cars, and the politicians took this once great city with all of it's potential and wasted it.

The death of the automotive industry killed Detroit not the casinos.
 
Many of the citizens of Detroit are hooked on entitlements and have also bought the xenophobia sold to them by their politicians that states that their problems are all someone else's fault, pitting them against outsiders and fostering a victim mentality that makes it so much more difficult to become successful. Would you say these are prominently Republican or Democrat inner city tactics?

Quite a bit of commentary from people that are pretty far removed from the situation.

Detroit is suffering for two reasons:

One corruption - for decades, the leadership has extracted as much as they could out of the city either by giving jobs to every last one of their relative down to 3rd cousins, skimming the top with various "funds", or by simple extortion, pay to play, etc. Keep your partisan dribble - corruption is corruption - it doesn't matter if its democrat or republican.

Two, and probably the biggest reason - Detroiters are too dumb to get out of their own damn way. Everytime somebody starts making sense, he's beaten back as an outsider trying to "take" something from Detroit. The irony is that the ones leading the charge are usually doing the most taking. Mayor's like Kilpatrick somehow get reelected to a second term while every halfway decent mayor runs as fast as he can after his first term is over. The state offers to lease bell isle - a place with huge potential that would have only gotten better with consistent control. But people are too afraid that something is being stolen from them. Basically the same conversation happens regularly around the water department. In the mean time, they'll elect any crook that talks jobs and D-Troit pride - A pedophile city council president, and illiterate dept. of education president, the list could probably go on for ever but this is a good example:
Investigators: Wayne County Confidential | Detroit, Michigan | WXYZ-TV. Then when the state finally has enough, they send in an emergency manager. Rather than lambast the elected officials that drove the city into the ground, they defend them with B.S. like "voter's rights" not realizing the rest of us in the state have just as much right to try to keep the next "son of Detroit" from pissing away our tax dollars on a 100k a year salary for the position he created for his sister for a fund that only has 400k.

The automotive losses are a big deal, but nothing that can't be recovered from in the long term (relative to other major cities anyway). Casinos are a minor issue - somebody covered the Windsor competition. As for the list of symptoms somehow being tied to a political party - just plain stupid. I suppose Catholicism leads directly to pedophilia too.
 
Back
Top Bottom