Sounds like fun. I'm thinking of retiring there. But seriously, if you think strategically, it's a great long term investment. As the world population competes for land, but more importantly, infrastructure, even a rundown, raggity crack house like Detroit has untapped potential.
The only problem is that it has been a scumhole for at least 30-40 years. If you think investment you need a reason for big money to go there and spend. Newark, NJ has been getting built up. They put in a performing arts center, a minor league baseball stadium, etc. I would not consider it a nice area, but its a thousand percent better than it was. now they are talking about a waterfront district with restaurants. Thats a place to invest because in the next decade it will get even better. Who is going to spend money in detroit? slums and run-down, abandoned industrial buildings take big bucks to fix. that takes time. maybe in the next 10-30 years???
Generally I'm pretty unimpressed by anyone that tries to define poverty as anything other than not having enough money for food, shelter, clothing and medical care. If someone can afford cable TV and a big truck they can afford all these things if they simply spent their money more responsibly. Of course, people in lower wage jobs are usually there for a reason. Either they aren't very smart, or aren't very motivated, or both. People like this don't tend to manage their money poorly. To prevent these people from killing or damaging themselves and their children I think it's reasonable for a government to provide subsidies to all citizens in key areas of necessity like medical care, daycare and so on. As for people that are actually in poverty, as in can't afford food and shelter, better be physically or mentally disabled because that's the only reasonable excuse for being that goddamn poor in any western economy at this point. I laugh whenever I see a fat person say that they don't have enough money to make ends meet. There are about 5 billion people out there that would trade places with him in an instant.
Living Paycheck to Paycheck Gets Harder http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071020/stretching_paychecks.html?.v=6 NEW YORK (AP) -- The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder. What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner. Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It's starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc. Food pantries, which distribute foodstuffs to the needy, are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help. While economists debate whether the country is headed for a recession, some say the financial stress is already the worst since the last downturn at the start of this decade. "It even costs more to get the basics like soap and laundry detergent," said Michelle Grassia, who lives with her husband and three teenage children in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y. Her husband's check from his job at a grocery store used to last four days. "Now, it lasts only two," she said. To make up the difference, Grassia buys one gallon of milk a week instead of three. She sometimes skips breakfast and lunch to make sure there's enough food for her children. She cooks with a hot plate because gas is too expensive. And she depends more than ever on the bags of free vegetables and powdered milk from a local food pantry. Grassia's story is neither new nor unique. With the fastest-rising food and energy prices since the 1980s, low-income consumers are stretching their budgets by eating cheap foods like peanut butter and pasta. Industry analysts and some economists fear the strain will get worse as people are hit with higher home heating bills this winter and mortgage rates go up. It's bad enough already for 85-year-old Dominica Hoffman. She gets $1,400 a month in pension and Social Security from her days in the garment industry. After paying $500 in rent on an apartment in Pennsauken, N.J., and shelling out money for food, gas and other expenses, she's broke by the end of the month. She's had to cut fruits and vegetables from her grocery order -- and that's even with financial help from her children. "Everything is up," she said. Many consumers, particularly those making less than $30,000 a year, are cutting spending on nutritious food like milk and vegetables, and analysts fear they're further skimping on basic medical care and other critical services. Coupon-clipping just isn't enough. "The reality of hunger is right here," said the Rev. Melony Samuels, director of The BedStuy Campaign against Hunger, a church-affiliated food pantry in Brooklyn. The pantry scrambled to feed 5,000 new families over the past 12 months, up almost 70 percent from 3,000 the year before. "I am shocked to see such numbers," Samuels said, "and I am really concerned that this is just the beginning of what we are going to see." In the past three months, Samuels has seen more clients in higher-paying jobs -- the $35,000 range -- line up for food. The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, which covers 23 counties in New York State, cited a 30 percent rise in visitors in the first nine months of this year, compared with 2006. Maureen Schnellmann, senior director of food and nutrition programs at the American Red Cross Food Pantry in Boston, reported a 30 percent increase from January through August over last year....
Do you understand what the word illegal means? It means they DON'T have the right to stand on the street looking for work. Let me clue you in to what many illegals receive wage wise, ....those illegals you see standing around street corners. In 1994 in Concord, Ca I saw a bunch of illegals standing around a 7-11 at around 11:00 am. So I asked if one of them would like to wash/wax my truck, I offered $20 for about an hours or two of work. I made the mistake of asking if they wanted some work, I thought I was doing them a favor and helping them out. There were over a dozen of them and they didn't want the job, they pretty much laughed at my offer of $10 an hour. They wanted $100 to wash/wax my truck! They explained to me that they get a $100 minimum for a days work, whether they are painting, clearing brush from a yard, mowing lawns, construction etc, and mostly $100 for a half days work or less time. Meaning if the job takes 4 hours to get done or 3 hours they get $100. That is a lot better than what many Americans that are LEGAL and working at Walmart or in another minimum wage jobs get. AND These illegals do take jobs and opportunities away from young kids and others trying to learn a trade in construction such as cabinet building, painting, flooring, general construction skills, tile work, putting in kitchens/bathrooms, electrical, plumbing etc. Some legal high school kid could be learning these skills and a trade but they won't get the job because illegals are getting hired to do them. I recently read in the SF Chronicle that the lead spanish speaking illegal(the supervisor in charge of the rest on a construction site) makes $30-40 an hour on average. That is pretty damn good money and alot of Americans would love to be making that kind of money or even $100 a day.
No that ain't going to happen. There is a population bust going on all over the world. People nowadays are barely having enough kinds to replace the older generation. Especially true in industrialized countries.
that brings back memories of the "broke guy" that used to work in my yard... $1000 phone bills, huge wastage of food, drove a pickup truck on a long commute that got horrible mileage.. and I forgot, the first thing he did when he got paid was LOAD UP ON CIGARETTES....
Cry me a river... It's hard to feel sorry for people like this. I would have to cut a lot of corners to live BY MYSELF working at a grocery store... what kind of idiots would decide to have 3 kids and then act surprised when they discover that a family of 5 can't live on a grocery store income?
I am surprised by the general callous disregard for the human condition. Given that almost everyone on here likely is fairly affluent, perhaps instead of blaming the poor on being stupid being fat being lazy walk a week in their shoes, try being a single mother with kids, paying for daycare and no opportunity for advancement. I wonder who would be doing the name calling. We can all come up with examples that the poor are poor because they choose to. I can tell you from personal experience having lived through it, and now when I volunteer its getting worse especially for the elderly, the retired and the less fortunate with small children. A single young man can cut to the bare necessities and make it.... having to care for the defenseless and weak while making your way in the world is a different story. Everyone on this board is "relatively" educated, perhaps take a little of that energy and direct it to helping those who need it. You don't have to give money, but perhaps one less evening at the bull and bear and volunteer one evening at the food bank or local family shelter might put things in perspective for you. Very few people want handouts (except the dysfunctional and drug dependent).