Can Detroit manage to make a comeback? The new census results are showing a new picture of how bad things are.
The fact that Detroit has been facing some huge challenges as a city is no secret, but the recent census report shows that Detroit is in bigger trouble than we thought. The economic recession has been hard all across the country. Record numbers of people have lost their homes, their jobs and have been forced to look for new jobs wherever they can find them – and that's happening in almost every city in America.
For the Motor City however, things are looking much bleaker. Auto manufacturers let go of many of their workers, and have been very slow to hire anyone back. Without the support of the automotive industry, and the income from the manufacturing workers buying things like groceries and goods, many local businesses have gone under. Both the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit are facing mounting budget deficits and they are having trouble just keeping the infrastructure intact.
The new U.S Census figures were released early last week and they are showing that the city of Detroit's population has dropped 25 percent over the last ten years. According to Reuters, the population level is now at the lowest level in a century.
The declining population certainly has people worried, and the Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder said:
"The census figures clearly show how crucial it is to reinvent Michigan. It is time for all of us to realign our expectations so that they reflect today's realities. We cannot cling to the old ways of doing business."We cannot successfully transition to the 'New Michigan' if young, talented workers leave our state. By the same token, Michigan will not succeed if Detroit and other major cities don't succeed."
As if the population decline wasn't enough for the city to contend with, they are also dealing with a union fight between the city's police and fire departments. In one of Detroit's many suburbs, Harper Woods, there is a new measure on the table to merge the police and fire departments into one unified department. This would men that the same men who fight fires will be writing tickets and investigating crime.
Merging both departments and cross-training personnel is certainly controversial on many levels. The firefighters' union is fighting the proposal, saying that if they had wanted to be cops, they would have gone to the police academy.
As for the police, they wouldn't be as strongly affected by the change, because they would be called upon to fight fires only occasionally. For the firefighters however, the stakes are pretty high. Instead of spending their time at the station house, they will be out patrolling the city. The Michigan Professional Firefighters Union is fighting the merger, and it remains to be see how the situation will be solved.
With the loss of population, and the high unemployment rate, Detroit and the surrounding cities and towns have lost almost half of their tax revenue. Even still, for many of them, it isn't an easy thing to do. They have already laid off and cut back almost everything until the only thing left to cut is the public safety budget. By taking the downtime away from the fire stations and applying it to law enforcement, Harper Woods could save somewhere between $400,000 to $700,000 a year.
The question is, will the citizens of these areas become accustomed to this different level of service, or will this be a temporary measure until the economy recovers? I guess we will find out when the matter comes to a vote on May 3rd.
Do you think the merger makes sense? Would you accept that cost cutting measure in your city? Let me know in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for ManufacturingWorkersBlog. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!