Can Detroit and other industrial cities come back?
Detroit can make itself a more livable, comfortable city and make life better for children growing up there. The mistake is to try to attain some long-held ideal about what Detroit once was. It probably needs to shrink: Focus on which abandoned neighborhoods can be torn down and replaced with more productive space. And consolidate services. Detroit is fascinating, beautiful, and challenging. I recently visited Detroit Dry Docks, one of the places Ford got its start. It’s now an empty hulk. That’s the story behind your $6,900 house. This was a city that was one of the most productive on the planet, and they built housing and infrastructure accordingly. Even though the business leaves, the houses and infrastructure remain.
