A Tale of Two Cities

On Tuesday, a New York Times Article was published titled “A Private Boom Amid Detroit’s Public Blight,” in light of the Michigan governor’s impending decision to appoint an emergency financial manager to the city. This appointment is controversial for many reasons; some feel it is an effort to take away democracy because a city that votes overwhelmingly democratic may be run by a Republican. Even more alarming is the fact that if Detroit comes under an EM, half of the African Americans in the state of Michigan will live in areas where use of funding is controlled by the state (others include Flint and Pontiac). Though emergency financial management has been fairly common in Michigan cities in the past ten years, it has never proven very successful, with many cities still considering declaring bankruptcy when the management is lifted. These controversies are certainly alarming, but I also believe that the state’s record of public-private partnerships, particularly within Detroit, does not bode well for emergency management to help all residents in Detroit but rather continue catering to business, entrepreneurs, and the upper classes of Detroit.

As the New York Times article points out, the public and private sectors are “diverging.” A picture at the beginning of the article represents the dual cities that have emerged showing a boarded up with the GM building in the background. “As private investors contemplated opening coffee bean roasters, urban gardening suppliers and fish farms, Detroit firefighters complained about shortages of equipment, suitable boots and even a dearth of toilet paper.” Mayoral candidate Krystal Crittendon laments government incentives that have helped encourage business, but ignored “the common folks.”

Much investment in Detroit by corporations, such as the auto industry, has been poured into downtown and midtown and locked out other areas. For example the new M1 rail, slated for completion in 2015 with the use of federal, state, and private funds and input, runs in a straight line from Downtown (connecting to two stops on the circular People Mover) through Midtown to New Center where the existing Amtrak station is located. Thus, public transportation will only really be more available in the most affluent parts of the city. The state also funded ten million dollars of blight removal, which uproots homeless and lower income people.

The eminent emergency management of Detroit will significantly reduce the ability of local governments. In regards to privatization, Squires says, “One of the costs is the reduced ability of local municipalities to provide the public services that are far more critical in assuring a favorable climate for the operation of successful business” (Squires 212). In Detroit, the local governance is becoming increasingly locked out of governance. First it was private interests that set the agenda, and now a state appointed EM, which will probably also have private interests, will decide the power that local elected officials can hold. “The economic stability of entire communities and essential public services have been crippled,” and fixing this problem in cities will require a drastic shift in where the power lies (Squires 212).

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/us/a-private-boom-amid-detroits-public-blight.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0