[MoparNorm]

The only thing surprising about this is why didn't they do it 10 years ago?

 

[TripleT]

Laffer Death Spiral

 

[Erik Latranyi]

More cities will join Detroit over the next few years.

 

[BASONE88]

Yep..heard that was a good possibility this morning..that whole "Imported From Detroit" thing doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

 

[TWX]

Is it possible for a city to un-annex land?

One of Detroit's problems is that there are huge tracts of land that are sparsely populated that it's technically responsible for as they were annexed and developed as part of the city in the past. Given the problems, if they could divest themselves of that jurisdiction and let it become county land, it would free them from the costs to administer it. Obviously there'd need to be a plan formed to transition those living there to other services, but around where I live, county lands are served by Rural Metro Fire Department, a private fire department that one pays a subscription to (or else gets billed for the cost of fighting the fire) and the county sheriff provides policing. Most utilities heree aren't city-provided anyway, though they'd have to figure out how water, sewer, and trash would work, but without the city collecting taxes in those areas, the residents that choose to stay would have a little less taxation and could probably figure out how to afford to make it work.

For this to work, there'd need to be some kind of guarantees on the parcels that the city couldn't re-annex them immediately if things turn around at the landowners' expense...

 

[jerseyjoe]

Seems to have worked for Chrysler, now a 6 Billion Dollar company.

 

[JohnRogers]

Is it possible for a city to un-annex land?

One of Detroit's problems is that there are huge tracts of land that are sparsely populated that it's technically responsible for as they were annexed and developed as part of the city in the past. Given the problems, if they could divest themselves of that jurisdiction and let it become county land, it would free them from the costs to administer it.

Unfortunately "shrink to survive" is not all that easy, legal hurtles and such. Detroit has teased about it for a decade or more, maybe Chapter 9 will make it possible.

 

[dana44]

And the only way to both maintain and grow as needed is to make incentives to return, rebuild, or start a new business. Doesn't matter how small one gets, if there isn't a reason to be there, why stay? ONe simply needs to see what the pattern is which made this and several California cities go through chapter 9, and at that point maybe the whole country will realize our current path is simply Detroit on a grander scale. There is a pattern and it is very obvious if you look at it, but I am not being political about it.

 

[SouthPawXJ]

Is it possible for a city to un-annex land?

One of Detroit's problems is that there are huge tracts of land that are sparsely populated that it's technically responsible for as they were annexed and developed as part of the city in the past. Given the problems, if they could divest themselves of that jurisdiction and let it become county land, it would free them from the costs to administer it. Obviously there'd need to be a plan formed to transition those living there to other services, but around where I live, county lands are served by Rural Metro Fire Department, a private fire department that one pays a subscription to (or else gets billed for the cost of fighting the fire) and the county sheriff provides policing. Most utilities heree aren't city-provided anyway, though they'd have to figure out how water, sewer, and trash would work, but without the city collecting taxes in those areas, the residents that choose to stay would have a little less taxation and could probably figure out how to afford to make it work.

For this to work, there'd need to be some kind of guarantees on the parcels that the city couldn't re-annex them immediately if things turn around at the landowners' expense...

I know this is a serious topic... but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1m20s&v=g3YiPC91QUk

EDIT-Around 1:25ish in the video...

 

[dana44]

Laffer Death Spiral

Saw the report, and yes, the wrong fundamental transformation Rome took, so history could very well repeat itself.

 

[dfarc]

Feel sorry for the people who live there and the people who put in their years working for the city. They're both gonna get reamed.

 

[TWX]

I know this is a serious topic... but...



EDIT-Around 1:25ish in the video...

You're welcome! *wink*

 

[marlon_jbt]

I live on the very edge of the city. I can literally just walk to the suburbs in just a few blocks. I wonder how that would work myself if the city did shrink.

 

[GasAxe]

I wonder if Chrysler will start producing ED-209's?

 

[duster92]

I visited Detroit on business a couple of years ago. It has potential. PIttsburgh could be a model. The steel industry collapsed there and that city found new life. Detroit could as well. Chrysler might be motivated to tone down the "Imported from Detroit" ad campaign.

 

[jerseyjoe]

Hopefully Chrysler doesn't lose its tax breaks,

 

[CDJSalesPro]

I visited Detroit on business a couple of years ago. It has potential. PIttsburgh could be a model. The steel industry collapsed there and that city found new life. Detroit could as well. Chrysler might be motivated to tone down the "Imported from Detroit" ad campaign.

 

[MoparNorm]

Hopefully Chrysler doesn't lose its tax breaks,

The gentleman running the city's bankruptcy, was on Fox a few minutes ago. Very sharp and articulate and used Chrysler as an example of Detroit's potential.
I think he gets it, but this is a politically caused bankruptcy. They have different rules.

 

[Guest]

I'm curious. What is meant by a political bankruptcy?