[Igglyboo]

Detroit has a ton of affluent residents within 30 minutes of the city that regularly venture down there for various sporting events, gambling, and other events like NAIAS. Getting them to actually move to the city is the problem.

I live 30 minutes from detroit and come from an upper-middle class household.

[emcrazyone]

and why would you? Detroit has problems picking up the trash, snow removal, and keeping the lights on. Who would pay taxes for no services coupled with the crime stats.

See my post further up. I grew up 30 minutes in what many around here call the down river area (Riverview) and when I bought my first house, I went north. I'll happily pay more taxes for blue ribbon schools, trash pick up, snow removal, and be able to take an evening bike ride under street lights in a safe neighborhood.

Why would anyone trade any of this for living in Detroit. The bad areas are where people go who can't afford to live anywhere else. A hard cycle to break.

[karpodiem]

I live on Virginia Park St., just a couple blocks north of the Fisher building, between Second and Woodward (New Center). I grew up in Troy, MI - went to school at UofM. Hometown guy, I've seen a good portion of the metropolitan area.

You are spot-on; until it's safe to raise a family in Detroit (which, based on the lead and heavy metals residing in the soil from the torn down structures, this may never happen) I can't see myself raising a family in the city. I'll be moving to the suburbs, if I'm still living Detroit.

D3 and Loveland are doing a great job documenting the upcoming housing apocalypse - and I don't care how geneous the city gets with payment terms to the debtors, if there is no present or future income to service the debt, it's game over.

For as much building as going on in Midtown/Downtown along with the new entertainment megaplex that Illitch is constructing, there is a two factorial amount that's decaying in concrete/wood/basic raw building materials, because there is zero disposable resident income to upkeep the property.

The city will have to decompose fully to thrive. I've sometimes played with with the idea in my head to split Detroit into three or four separate cities (to help certain portions thrive), but this of course would be politically untenable.

ps - See the 'Detroit by Air' article from a few days ago.

[Igglyboo]

I wouldn't. But if those problems were alleviated I would in a heartbeat, I would love to live in a big city but do not want to move far from where I am now.

Also, the downtown area of Detroit is extremely nice and if the rest of it was even half as nice I would consider moving there.