Re: New "What Ifs?"

Posted by Mr.Pushbutton  On 2014/8/12 9:55:31

Leedy-- that is the $64,000 question, and as I write this Detroit is being systematically dismantled by low-rent, don't want a real job losers who are thriving in an underground economy that rivals narcotics. These people are making money that is not taxed, it is not helping pay police, fire or services for city residents, and it's a lot of money.
Any building that sits idle is fair game, and the police are so vastly outnumbered and outgunned that they can't begin to respond to scrapping calls. They can't keep up with murder calls, so the priority of scrapping is low on the scale.
Almost every one of the 100 or so school buildings closed has been scrapped, including the lovely 1924 English Tudor elementary school I attended.
The city is full of scrap dealers, some are somewhat honest, most are not. The city recently enacted a scrapping ordnance, things like catalytic converters are not permissible for fast cash transactions and business transactions must have a paper trail--but there are ways around this.
I honestly think the only way around this is to starve out the bad dealers by taking the supply of scrap away--I'd station the national guard at every abandoned building for a year. Apply the rule your mother gave you "if it's not yours, don't touch"
But that's not going to happen.
We have one of the most impressive stocks of historic buildings in the country, if they can survive this wild, wild west thing until order prevails, if ever.