[Sys1]

Ah Ah! I already get the picture of 21st century America :
Rusting cars, empty buildings and dead people lying on the sidewalks

[Cabrone]

Things are looking grim in the motor city.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')oney to bury Detroit's poor has dried up, forcing struggling families to abandon their loved ones in the morgue freezer.

[ohanian]

Why don't they auction off the dead on ebay?

After all, society does not belong to you, you belong to your society.

If your society is in (financial) strife, then you should do all you can to help including selling your own reliquiae.

[bonehead]

Maybe the movie Soylent Green wasn't so farfetched after all,auction them off,ship 'em to the highest bidder.The winning bidder gets to defrost 'em and doesn't go hungry,plus you get the added benefit of consuming the dead person's 'Power".

[deMolay]

This can't be true. http://www.howestreet.com/articles/inde ... e_id=11370

[timmac]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'U')nemployment In Detroit Pushing 50%?

Nearly one out of two workers in Detroit are unemployed, according to a report by The Detroit News. It's a figure far higher than the government's official figure, which is still close to a staggering 30 percent.

But the newspaper says that rate doesn't take everything into account. For every person who is still looking and collecting unemployment, there are scores of others who have had benefits run out, accepted a part-time position, taken early retirement or a job outside of their regular field.

Here's how the paper arrived at it's assessment:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that for the year that ended in September, Michigan's official unemployment rate was 12.6 percent. Using the broadest definition of unemployment, the state unemployment rate was 20.9 percent, or 66 percent higher than the official rate. Since Detroit's official rate for October was 27 percent, that broader rate pushes the city's rate to as high as 44.8 percent.

The report says at least 100,000 in the city have given up the job search all together. Think about that number for a second. There is a small population-within-a-population that has just given up. The job market is so bad in Detroit that this group is betting it's better to just throw in the towel than continue to be silently mocked by their job search.

Also, if you tell the unemployment office you stopped looking for a job more than a year ago you're not counted in the official tally.

Detroit has been the poster child city for how quickly a city can spiral downward in an economic decline. Scores of major car making plants have been shut down, leaving thousands of workers in the dust. Then, you have suppliers shutting down who once made a living producing parts for the factories. Finally, with no employees working nearby, restaurants close up shop because nobody's stopping in for a breakfast, lunch or dinner. Mix all of that in with the stagnant real estate market and it's a recipe for disaster.

Even the city's mayor - Dave Bing - agrees with the more realistic assessment. At the recent White House Job Summit he pegged the city's unemployment rate as "closer to 50 percent." He is urging the government to start sending money Detroit's way so it can be used for city clean-up projects and infrastructure development that will put some people to work.

[Tyler_JC]

A few problems here:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')or every person who is still looking and collecting unemployment, there are scores of others who have had benefits run out, accepted a part-time position, taken early retirement or a job outside of their regular field.

[timmac]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he top 3 most unemployed cites listed by the Business Insider on 11-04-09.

1. Detroit, Michigan

Unemployment Rate: 17.3%

Labor Force: 2.1 million

Unemployed: 361,100

It's Detroit. Need we say more?

[Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area]

2. San Bernardino, California

Unemployment Rate: 14.2%

Labor Force: 1.8 million

Unemployed: 253,000

3. Las Vegas, Nevada

Unemployment Rate: 13.9%

Labor Force: 1 million

Unemployed: 141,000

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'B')etween 2000 and 2008, nearly 500,000 more people left Michigan than moved to Michigan. That's astounding if you really think about it. That's 5% of the population in only 8 years.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'B')etween 2000 and 2008, nearly 500,000 more people left Michigan than moved to Michigan. That's astounding if you really think about it. That's 5% of the population in only 8 years.

[Pretorian]

oh, sorry. i confused it with Detroit

[hironegro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', 'o')h, sorry. i confused it with Detroit

[gollum]

Detroit isn't in depression it's in collapse. Did anyone catch the photo essay that either Time or Newsweek did last summer?

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gollum', 'D')etroit isn't in depression it's in collapse. Did anyone catch the photo essay that either Time or Newsweek did last summer?

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gollum', 'D')etroit isn't in depression it's in collapse. Did anyone catch the photo essay that either Time or Newsweek did last summer?

[Revi]

Detroit is the first truly post-modern city.

The fall of this place presages the end of industrial civilization.

I like the way that we are so unsentimental about it that even Ford's model T plant is abandoned.



Here are some great pics of Detroit's forgotten landmarks:

http://www.forgottendetroit.com/

[hillsidedigger]

There's something of Detroit in most locations in the United states.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hironegro', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', 'o')h, sorry. i confused it with Detroit

[Quinny]

Back to the same old stupid racist arguments.

You really bear a grudge don't you.

[Phoeberose]

My son and his friend were walking in a 'nice' area of Detroit a few weeks ago, at 10:30 at night. They were held up by three 12 yr olds (appeared to be) at gunpoint. One of the three told the one holding the gun to "Shoot this a-------". (he didn't shoot). The police were called, and arrived at 2:00 am. My son lives in Detroit, because that's all he can afford. He bought his house for $7000. One house across the street is now going for $3000. I work near the Manoogian Mansion, the Mayor's home, and even that area, while safe enough, has 2 or 3 abandoned properties, and is just a bit shabby looking.