If you were in charge of Detroit what would you change?

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PENDRAGON

First step I would take in repairing Detroit would is that I would give the staff of complete face lift. Everyone already knows the city council needs wiped with a clean slate because of all the corruption and, bigotry amongst them. Then I would appoint members made up of representatives from all different communities within Detroit to insure all parts of Detroit have a fair chance at seeking improvement, not just one area and, every ones voice is heard.

The next step I would take is build a mass transit system that reaches out lying suburbs (like the railroad system for the D.C. area) maybe as far as Ann Arbor; Pontiac, Brighton, and other rural areas. That would allow more tourist, less traffic, more jobs, and of course more money for the city of Detroit.

Next of course would be to improve the Detroit city police, Fire departments and, put more Ambulances on the road. Not only will this create more jobs, but it will add to the safety criteria for living and, simply being in the city of Detroit. It help home owners in Detroit save money on home insurance as well.

Than I would like enforce stricter building codes, laws, and standards for howe owners, land lords, and other building owners to prevent further decaying of old buildings just sitting around for years. If a home; building, or apartment doesn't meet certain standards, either they fix it or, tear it down.

Last but not least. Lets improve the public schools system. Lets reopen some of the schools that have been closed down. I would like to make smaller class room enviroments, give the teachers a raise instead of overpaid superintendants and, school board members. It seems tto me cor4ruption is amongst the school board as well, so that may need a face lft itself. We can't blame the teachers fully because, in most cases they aren't given the proper resources requested that they need to do thier job properly. Also, maybe we can encourage more business to come into Detroit and, build more private schools as well. Another thing I would do is enforce a strict dress code in all schools. Every school in Detroit will have school uniforms. So kids boys won't dress like thugs, girls won't loojk like hookers, and children from lo0w income homes won't have to worry about not being able to fit in because they don't have the latest desighner clothes. Believe it or not, this is a bigger problem than many people realize. This is actually one of the reasons why many kids in the city will turn to selling drugs and, other crimes that can make them easy cash.

These are just a few things on my list. As with any one in any political power that does any good thing for the place they're running, nothing takes overnight. Improving things takes longer than it ever took to mess it up. Hopefully right now we are seeing a new beginning for Detroit starting with the new mayor. Hopefully this will eventually grow into a new city council and, so on.

Iguana

I would say un-annex. Give back all the area that Detroit took from the original townships, essentially turning Detroit into a bunch of smaller, easier to manage cities.And make sure that the Detroit school district gets split up along with it. I know crazy!

Me, Myself, and I

Maybe it's the teacher in me, but first and foremost, I'd fix the public school system. The teachers need to have the support, supplies, resources, and pay they deserve. The students need to have a safe, clean place of learning, that will prepare them for success in the "real world".

Eh, we can wish, right?

Barracuda

The city would have mass transit leading into the city.

The government would at least TRY to get jobs in the state, but that would start from Lansing, the capitol.

Those union people need to get a dressing down.

The government should have started new auto companies or broken some of the existing ones up in order to encourage them to compete better.

Ron Paul girl

wow, that would be cool!

At the beginning, picking up the city as it is now, I would:
*** say good-bye to liberals & democrats, and run the city in a conservative fashion. ban the Dems from ever being elected to city council again - can I do that? lol
*** say good-bye to "black nationalism" and make it be known loud and clear that whites and anyone else wishing to visit or settle in Detroit are welcome in the city
*** let it be known that middle-class and upper-middle-class people can safely consider moving to Detroit, where the new city government will make sure they feel welcome: protected, respected, and not taxed to death anymore
*** develop a short-term, temporary program with activists who would volunteer in the D to help clean up and restore (or demolish) the abandoned, boarded-up homes, and/or distribute food to the numerous homeless
*** increase significantly the number of police officers in the city - tough-on-crime attitude with anyone breaking the law.
*** develop an efficient, comprehensive public transportation system

Then, when things start to get better:
*** promote Detroit as being a city with a great, interesting history, and as a center of African American life
*** promote Detroit French heritage: encourage residents to learn French and become more familiar with the French culture. Doing that will ensure that the strongly biased French medias will now paint Detroit as the absolutely best and greatest place to visit in America... leading bored & well-off retired frenchies to visit the D instead of Quebec!

Then, when the city is back on its feet:
*** promote Detroit as a chic, sophisticated French American city with a strong African American background ... smile at the irony remembering what Detroit was like a little while ago.

RDG78

Eliminate as many barriers as possible to business development.
Additionally, specific construction projects I'd like to see are: Making a complete freeway connection from the Jeffries (I-96) to the Davison (M-8), and extending the east end of the Davison to serve the (expanded) City Airport and meet the (extended) Van Dyke (M-53) at the Reuther (I-696).
I'd also want to extend the People Mover service area along the principal avenues (Michigan, Woodward, Grand River, East and West Jefferson. and Gratiot) as I understand the plan once was to do. Hell, if we have to, build stations at the casinos. At least then there would be traffic generators. And could we get a train, or even a flippin' bus line, to Metro Airport?
And let's get at least two more bridges to Canada, eh?
About a week or so back, someone ( I think it was RPG) proposed a metropolitan police force. This might not be all bad, combining over 100 jurisdictions under one command. There is a question with that, though, of how far out we'd want to extend Metro Detroit. There are at least thirty police agencies just in Wayne County to merge. Then, there are Oakland and Macomb counties, and shall we include Washtenaw, Monroe, Livingston, and St. Clair? (Would they want in?)
The city sure needs a lot of work.

The M.R.

Shoot everyone on the city council and, appoint some honest people.

LOL, Jenn, Detroit is much larger than Atlantic city. What do you mean by "small"? And Bleachers, why only single out people with DUI's? I can understand if it's a job that requires a person to drive and a job with law enforcement. But why prevent them from doing anything else? Maybe we should prevent people with any kind of misdameanor from working then.

ignatz

Seriously, why would anyone who has the means to leave want to
live in Detroit.
It was always a working man's town and now that there is little work for the average person and a horrible school system, downtrodden neighborhoods, high crime rate, won't even talk about the Lions, etc.
I realize people get trapped because of family, economics, etc but it is not a good place to live.

goingsouth

Just to start I would contract the City. Pick an area and build small affordable housing and apartments , then take the areas in the worst shape and remove all the houses ,streets and power lines letting nature take it back or farm it. a more compact city would be cheaper to run and as things get better people will come back

aussieamerican

I'd change the person in charge. I'm no more qualified than the yahoos that are currently running the place.

48127

I would rebuild houses; help the homeless by giving them a job. Fund our schools (because man Detroit schools are going down in the level, specially the high schools , we need better teachers). Make the whole city look good and better than Dearborn and all that. I would build parks so kids can play instead of carry a gun. I would open counseling centers, where people can seek help instead of going out and killing people.and a lot more

bleacherbrat34

Ok.. THIS will be harsh so bear with me.

First I would gather up all the un employee and high school drop outs and gather connector's and builders,
Have them work together to learn an new skill by on the job training.
By demo all empty buildings that need to be demo and clean up the lots that have rubbish. Then rebuild/rehab the buildings that can be save. And build new homes in the areas that need new homes.

The next step , any big area of empty land will be used as farm land.

Then replace and put in new street lights and lighting in areas that need lighting and street signs. Yes there are streets without signs.

Next step work with the FBI< CIA and State police do a massive clean sweep of all wanted criminals the city.

Next have drug testing for all city empolyees and city council or esle go back on the unemployment line.

Also no DUIS on any of city empolyees drivers record.
InculidiIncluding DRIVERS> there are at least 5 drivers with at least a dui on their record.

Also no more relatives can work together in any city department.

by doing some those things that I had listed may turn the city around for the better.

Jenn

Bring in more casinos and make it a small Atlantic City or Vegas. Alot more jobs and increase in tourism. Imagine all the new hotels and restaurants that would be needed. And with Comerica, JLA, and Ford Field, it would be a place that people would want to come to.

Christopher B

Well I wouldn't want to live in Detroit, nor it's suburbs. Though I think the suburbs can somehow try to fade the negative image of Detroit metro by forming a larger positive city right next door. Basically, I think if a group of Detroit suburbs were to become one large city, it could possibly be one of the largest safest cities... form a downtown etc... and have a larger positive image in that area. More so, Detroit would no longer dominate, and hopefully including the negative image.

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