I know a lot of you have a personal stake in this piece of news. Just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about this. Frustratingly, my wifi isn't functioning well enough tonight to click on the link itself, so I don't know the first thing about how this will affect the city itself. Layoffs? Public programs closing? Does a city declare bankruptcy just like your next door neighbor, or more like Spain?
Apparently, the biggest difference between a municipal bankruptcy and a corporate one is that municipalities don't just get to discharge their bonds the way a company can. There still are going to be a lot of negotiations about who gets paid how much and when. I think the biggest asset Detroit has is the water department, which is among the best in the world and supplies most of SE Michigan. There are going to be tons of stakeholders trying to get that sold to the highest bidder. The people in the rich counties who hate Detroit and who don't care about the city's fate are going to be in for a rude awakening when their water bills double. Other than that I can't imagine too many services getting much worse. The biggest fight will be over changes to pensions, as that is where more than half of Detroit's long tern debt is.
Yes -- just now read the article finally. Thanks for the answer. Do you live in Detroit, or just near? Also, selling various assets (including public services) to the highest presumably private bidder sounds like either a spiraling disaster or the thing that will save the city.
I think the most absurd comment I've seen about this was a person attributing this to Detroit trying to build that Robocop statue. Two questions for the Michigan based Hubski contingency (or anyone else): 1. Is this the bottom for Detroit, was this something that needed to happen before things can look up? 2. I know cities in California have gone bankrupt before, but how will a city as large as Detroit declaring bankruptcy affect the rest of Michigan?
The place is absurd right now. Amid all this, a bunch of new, fancy retail shops have begun opening, including one that features $400 tennis shoes and $3000 fixed gear bicycles. It seems almost like they're making fun of the people who live around their storefronts, most of whom can't afford a $2 half pint of 5 o'clock vodka. Anyway, as for "functionally doomed", I don't think there is much chance that Detroit could be run any more poorly than it has been for the last half century. Therefore, I think it's doubtful that city services will be any worse. At the very least the trash is funded by an annual special collection fee and is not part of the general fund, so I don't think they will stop picking up trash. As long as I have that I'll not complain.
Yeah, but the pols have been basically marginalized by the bankruptcy filing and the emergency manager. This is the silver lining (or perhaps maybe the main thrust) of the decision to go for chapter 9. The current top mayoral candidate (who is running as a write in, because of dirty politics that kept him off the ballot) is a seemingly good candidate who used to run a big hospital here in town. I'm optimistic about the future. There is more construction going on in downtown than there has been at any time since I've lived here, and the core of the city is gaining residents rapidly (rental capacity is at greater than 95% in any decent area). We need to trim the fat, so to speak. Hopefully the new class of politicians who have a chance to win after the emergency manager is gone will have the stones to make that happen. Of the $15-20 billion that Detroit is in the hole, the vast, vast, VAST majority is in unfunded retirement obligations. Obviously, this has to change and change now. If we can get that monkey off our back, which won't be easy due to a lot of impending litigation, I think the city has a chance to reemerge from bankruptcy leaner and brighter. We shall see.
No, because the same exact people (maybe different flesh on the outside) will be in charge after the bankruptcy. Are the voters going to vote at 102% for different people from a different political party with a different set of economic theories? Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a new result. -XC PS - Construction around the country is because of Bernake's pumping. Going to all disappear with the next regime change.
Mike Duggan, the current front runner for mayor is a different sort of candidate. He is a white (not that that should matter, but it's unavoidable to talk about race here), former CEO of a large company. He isn't from the career political caste, which is corrupt beyond recognition, so if anyone can make a difference, I think he can. The other two candidates who have a chance of winning are business-as-usual types who will continue to ruin the city. It's an interesting time to live here, to say the least. I fear that you are correct. I also think that we are due for a sizable market correction.PS - Construction around the country is because of Bernake's pumping. Going to all disappear with the next regime change.
It's not as big as it used to be. I don't say that to sound... I don't know. I guess I mean it out of a strange sadness that this once great city that rivaled many great cities... is now in such a terrible state of affairs. I guess I'm just sad. I hope this step allows them to tun it around. I'm afraid greed, fear, and anger will slow the process.but how will a city as large as Detroit...
I was talking population wise but also magnitude of debt. Both of which are much larger than the other cities that have declared bankruptcy. The metro population is still large, it's just the city itself that has shrunk right?
according to the google, it's down to about 700k. That's about the size it was in the early 20th century, and less than half of it's peak. She used to run with the big dogs... but a combination of factors slowly killed the city over the last few decades. Here's hoping she can make a comeback.
1. I hope so. Rock bottom has to lie somewhere. It would be hard to imagine a much worse situation. 2. I don't think the state will be affected greatly. Detroit is already a money sink, so this won't change that. My personal hope is that some processes can be streamlined. But it's hard to imagine a dramatic turnaround. Deep problems require deep solutions. I guess we are going to find out if this is actually a solution or another bad joke.