1%ers: we need MORE of them!

[jimAKAblue]

Here's what the 1%ers are doing for Downtown Detroit. My son happens to be living down there right now and he tells me that there is a lot of excitement and positive energy. Investors should take heed.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...xt|FRONTPAGE|p

[MarkMc]

If there are more wouldn't they have to rename? Something like 2%ers maybe...

[parkwest]

Detroit is too high a risk until they remove the victim/entitlement mentality.

[rogerg]

If there are more wouldn't they have to rename? Something like 2%ers maybe...

That was quick witted. Very good.

roger

[dgbldr]

Jim, yes I agree there's been a significant amount of rebuilding downtown and we're very pleased and optimistic about it. It may take a while, but we're certainly on the right track.

My favorite rehab was the Opera house, 15 yrs ago. It is an absolutely magnificent old theater that was rescued at the last possible moment and fully restored over several years. 5th largest theater in the world when built in 1922. No tax money involved.

[Hoover]

Glad to see someone is willing to take the risk. The city of Detroit has a LONG way to go to get even to a mediocre city. They really need to get much better people in charge. Having a city run by the likes of people like Conyers, Kilpatrick, et al. will keep business and good people away. I know they dumped Kilpatrick's mother and Monica Conyers is doing Fed prison time now, but the gov't there is terrible. Get good people in charge, fix the schools and their massive dropout rate and things will get better.

Anyone who isn't familiar with the demise of Detroit. Go to google maps and do the street view and virtually drive down neighborhoods of Detroit. There are empty overgrown lots and abandon houses and businesses everywhere.

Some great (al beit sad) pictures of what Detroit once was and is now.

http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/

[parkwest]

I grew up there during the late 50's - early 60's, then my parents moved us out to the farm outside Detroit in the early 60's.

My grandparents owned a lot of commercial and residential property in Detroit but sold it all in the late 60's and moved out when my Grandpa got mugged while walking from his car to his house. I still remember the Elm tree lined streets and the beautiful, large homes.

I went back there for a visit a few years ago and it was sad to see the total demise of the old neighborhoods AND all the Obamao for Prez signs in every yard and on every street corner.

[Hoover]

I grew up there during the late 50's - early 60's, then my parents moved us out to the farm outside Detroit in the early 60's.

My grandparents owned a lot of commercial and residential property in Detroit but sold it all in the late 60's and moved out when my Grandpa got mugged while walking from his car to his house. I still remember the Elm tree lined streets and the beautiful, large homes.

I went back there for a visit a few years ago and it was sad to see the total demise of the old neighborhoods AND all the Obamao for Prez signs in every yard and on every street corner.

Romney's childhood house in Detroit before his family moved to the burb's was demoed a few years ago. The house looks like it was a really nice house at one point. 5k sq ft, nice design, etc. But like other houses in Detroit, someone couldn't sell it or whatever and it just fell apart.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...435338728.html

[parkwest]

When the race riots hit in '68, a company I worked for out of college used Detroit for imaging war torn cities.

[Mbeezo]

I still have to wonder where all those folks moved to. I mean a city full of people, now almost nothing. Last I remember reading about Detroit was when they were talking about condensing the city by closing off services to areas that had one homeowner in a 10 block area, taking down street lights and such. Make it almost like you were living in the country again.

[Hoover]

I still have to wonder where all those folks moved to. I mean a city full of people, now almost nothing. Last I remember reading about Detroit was when they were talking about condensing the city by closing off services to areas that had one homeowner in a 10 block area, taking down street lights and such. Make it almost like you were living in the country again.

They moved to the burbs like everywhere else. And like all the larger northern states for the most part, people have left the state and moved south and west. My state isn't violent, even most cities but the state has very high costs in terms of taxes, real estate values, etc. So people move south.

Just this past census, MA lost one congressional seat out of 10, NY state lost 2, OH lost 2, MI lost 1, IL I think lost 1, etc. Most of the seats went to lower tax/cost states down south i.e. GA, SC, FL, TX, AZ, UT.

[jimAKAblue]

The biggest reason that Detroit lost population was the cross district busing issue. When they forced everyone to load their kids on a bus and ship them across town, everyone who could get out, got out.

It also did the same thing in Pontiac, MI. My aunt/uncle and cousins moved out of Pontiac because of the busing issue. They had purposely bought a house at 45 Putnam because the elementary school was at the end of the block. They wanted my cousins to be able to walk to the school yard to play and to go to school. When the federal government forced cross district busing, they moved. My cousins never boarded a bus.

Its the law of unintended consequences!

[johnny watt]

If there are more wouldn't they have to rename? Something like 2%ers maybe...

The beauty of 1%ers is that every time one of us is created from the unwashed masses and a pair of bootstraps, we create 99 unwashed masses in the process, to take our place.

[S.Joisey]

Expanding the 1% is a goal of liberal policy.

[parkwest]

Expanding the 1% is a goal of liberal policy.

How'd that work out in Cuba, Russia or Eastern Europe following WWII?