[zenocon]

FUD. This is total nonsense. I've lived in and around Detroit for the greater part of my life. I've even lived in the Bay Area for a couple years. There have been tremendous strides to turn this city around even in the last 5 years. I don't live in the city now, but I do work downtown every day in the Ren Cen. Even in the last year alone, I've noticed things pick up in the downtown area. I'm glad you took your cranky hatred elsewhere.

[danso]

FWIW, government officials admit to the hour-long 911 waits:

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/07/19/emergency-manager-sho...

> [Gov.] Snyder said it’s been a long period of decline in Detroit, and now is the time to do something about it. With “unacceptable” 58-minute emergency response times, he said the 700,000 residents of Detroit deserve better.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20100916/METRO08/9160409

(2010)

> Most shocking, perhaps, occurred when a building collapsed on six firefighters, half of whom were taken to the hospital in squad cars and fire trucks because there were no ambulances on the scene. If that is how people in uniform are treated, imagine what it is like for the average citizen in the dark of night.

>> Mack made a claim to Fox 2 News a few weeks ago that the average response time in Detroit for an ambulance to arrive on a 911 call is 12 minutes -- even while admitting that often there are no units available to get to calls.

According to that 2004 audit, the two-year average at that time was about 12 minutes. And that was before the city cut its paramedics and emergency medical technicians by nearly 40 percent.

As a comparison, the city of Grosse Pointe reports its average ambulance response is five minutes. Dearborn's is four minutes. Warren's is 5:35.

In 2005, there were 303 paramedics and EMTs working the streets and the EMS division of the Fire Department had a budget of nearly $25 million. Today there are just 188 paramedics with a budget of nearly $23 million. With that many fewer paramedics, what happened to their estimated $11.5 million in salaries and benefits?

[sneak]

The five square blocks around the rencen and the casino don't count, though you can't get emergency services there either.

It's not nonsense, you just don't use emergency services like police, EMS, or fire every day. That doesn't make it any less stupid to live somewhere they aren't available, though.

Enjoy unplowed streets and no street lights while things "pick up", though. Oh, wait, the rencen has a parking garage. Nevermind.

PS: obviously this "pick[ing] up" hasn't been reflected in tax revenues, eh?

[zenocon]

Listen, I'm really just fucking tired of people slagging Detroit. The people that are doing it always seem to fit the profile of this guy here, "I used to live there...I have relatives there...I visited there once..." -- quite frankly, fuck all y'all. We're doing fine in Detroit, we're making it better...slowly but surely.

[semiprivate]

we're making it better...slowly but surely

That's a feeling not a measurement. Clearly economically it's getting worse. And emergency services seem to be getting worse. What exactly is getting better?

All I'm saying is that, especially in crisis, the truth and measurement are far better than emotion. What exactly is getting better?

[sneak]

I lived there for 23 years. I am back for a week at least once a year.

If you're tired of people slagging on your town, maybe your town should be one that doesn't suck?

[cobrausn]

You know, saying someone recounting his personal experience of being robbed at gunpoint several times is 'spreading FUD' because you haven't (yet) seems... myopic.

[rmason]

Agree with you, the city is turning around. There's a spirit that wasn't there eighteen months ago. There's a vibrant and growing tech community. If you're not there its easy to miss it with the constant bombardment by the national media of what's called locally 'ruin porn'.

A group of us is having a civic hackathon this fall at the M@dison Oct 4-5 to celebrate the state's release of open API's for five themes: jobs, tourism, safety, veterans and foster kids.

If you want to see the real Detroit please join us:

http://www.codemichigan.com

[zenocon]

This guy gets it.