{"id":2032,"date":"2015-05-29T08:42:46","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T14:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=2032"},"modified":"2015-05-29T08:45:36","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T14:45:36","slug":"devolving-detroit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/05\/devolving-detroit.html","title":{"rendered":"Devolving Detroit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"By<\/a>
By Jengod at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/), GFDL (www.gnu.org\/copyleft\/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/) or CC BY 2.5 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. It is a form of decentralization. Devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s from Wikipedia<\/a>. \u00a0The context in which I\u2019m most familiar with the term is from the UK and the ongoing devolution of power to Scotland. \u00a0Maybe that\u2019s just because of reading The Economist.<\/p>\n

But I was thinking about this the other day in connection with Detroit.<\/p>\n

Detroit, as you know, is losing population steadily, and, since it\u2019s predominantly a city of single-family houses, its population decline manifests itself in abandoned, burned-out and, eventually demolished homes, as far north as 8 Mile itself<\/a>. \u00a0A couple weeks ago, I speculated<\/a> that its downfall has been particularly spectacular due to the single-family nature of its housing. \u00a0(By the way: \u00a0can I propose a new grammar rule, or rather the restoration of an old rule, and add the apostrophe back into its\/it\u2019s as a possessive? \u00a0I\u2019m tired of backspacing and correcting all the time.)<\/p>\n

The usual remedy is some variant on urban farming \u2014 planting orchards or vegetables on all those vacant lots. \u00a0But this makes no sense.<\/p>\n

The population of suburban metro Detroit is still growing \u2014 slowly, to be sure, in recent years, but growing nonetheless, and if I could hive off some of the more Detroit-like suburbs, I expect the suburban growth would be more striking yet. \u00a0(See wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0for the Metro Detroit population and the population of Detroit proper<\/a>, as well as this slideshow<\/a> of places with heavy growth and others with declines.) \u00a0On our last trip, coming into metro Detroit from the north, we observed just how far north development stretched, far more so than when I was growing up near 16 Mile Road; heck, the new \u201cDetroit\u201d aquarium<\/a> is in the far north suburb of Auburn Hills, and I\u2019m probably dating myself in calling that far<\/em> north.<\/p>\n

So, when it comes down to it, it makes no sense (outside of Hollywood<\/a>) for the sprawl to proceed ever-northward, ever-westward (Novi, Northville, and wherever further west development is occuring now), and into Ann Arbor and beyond, while Detroit remains hollow.<\/p>\n

Hence, devolution. \u00a0That is, could parts of Detroit shake off their curse if they weren\u2019t \u201cDetroit\u201d?<\/p>\n

The city is already trying to do this, in a way. \u00a0Not long ago, a new development was announced<\/a> in a now-mostly-vacant area, Brush Park, adjacent to the so-called \u201cmidtown\u201d area, once home to stately mansions, of which virtually none are left. \u00a0(If it works, it\u2019ll be a good sign \u2014 talk of revitalizing that neighborhood has been around for decades.) \u00a0And the article, as I read it at least, implies\u00a0a plan\u00a0to prioritize policing in this area:<\/p>\n

Gilbert said the solution to having people move back into the city was the revitalization of neighborhoods with good schooling and a strong police presence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also, back a year ago, there was reporting around a law<\/a> intended to permit Detroit neighborhoods to choose to levy a homeowner\u2019s association-type fee to pay for supplemental private security.<\/p>\n

Detroiters, who have had to deal with a lack of city services, now have the option to pay for enhanced security, snow removal and mosquito abatement in their neighborhood through a special assessment that would show up on their property tax bill.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the new special assessment district ordinance passed unanimously by the City Council last week say that it can enhance quality of life services that the city can\u2019t afford, stabilize neighborhoods and eventually increase property values. And although many residents may generally be in favor of amenities that make life easier, the devil is in the details \u2014 and the dollars. But they\u2019re willing to listen.<\/p>\n

A state law passed in 2011 allows Detroit to set up the process for collecting special fees specifically for snow removal, security and mosquito abatement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So what if you dismantled Detroit \u2014 its neighborhoods, at least \u2014 into smaller autonomous units, each of which would share in the revenue from the downtown\/industrial areas (such as exist), would keep their own revenues otherwise (plus block grants as necessary), and would generally manage their own affairs? \u00a0In a way, you\u2019d be restoring Detroit to some version of its pre-annexation borders<\/a>, though I\u2019m unable to quickly find any information on whether the areas annexed by Detroit in the early 20th century had any cohesive identity prior to their being swallowed up (it\u2019s my understanding that, in Chicago, some or all of the neighborhoods which make up the last several stops on the Metra line before leaving the city \u2014 Edison Park, Norwood Park \u2014 had their own identities before being annexed).<\/p>\n

Great idea, huh? \u00a0Yea, I thought so, except: \u00a0there are two cities within the city limits of Detroit which could be seen as test cases for my little idea: \u00a0Highland Park<\/a> and Hamtramck<\/a>. \u00a0And each of these cities is worse off than Detroit, though, to be sure, perhaps not worse than its neighboring Detroit neighborhoods (see the\u00a0Census explorer<\/a>\u00a0if you have time on your hands).<\/p>\n

According to the Census Bureau<\/a>,<\/p>\n

Hamtramck \u2013 poverty rate 43.5%; per capital money income $10,890<\/p>\n

Highland Park \u2013 poverty rate 51.1%; per capita money income $13,539<\/p>\n

Detroit \u2013 poverty rate \u00a039.3%; per capita money income \u00a0$14.870<\/p>\n

(The rates for Hamtramck actually surprised me; I had had the impression that they were doing OK in maintaining their \u201cwe\u2019re a special enclave unaffected by everything going on in Detroit\u201d approach.)<\/p>\n

Oh, and their population declines: \u00a0Highland Park is down 77% from its peak, and Hamtramck 60%, though it did have a considerable uptick in the 2000s.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s what I have for you this morning.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. It is a form of decentralization. Devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area. 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