January 30, 2015
DETROIT (AP) Chris Mathews' (click here) crew showed up to demolish a vacant home as part of Detroit's grand plan to bulldoze its way to prosperity when a call from his office stopped them in their tracks: Someone was living there.
A middle-aged woman who watched the crew tear away the home's warped wooden steps the day before had called their company, Adamo Demolition, to point out she was living on the second floor, despite no power, heat or gas and a flooded basement.
"It was like a swimming pool. We would never have thought anybody was upstairs," said Mathews, noting that the incident cost his crew time because the demolition wasn't called off until after they had shown up with their equipment.
As Detroit carries out its plan to tear down tens of thousands of homes to combat blight and tailor the city to fit its population, which has dwindled to about a third the size of its 1950s peak, it will have to deal with an unknown number of squatters. About 10 percent of the houses Adamo goes out to demolish have squatters or evidence of squatters, according to Mathews....
There are other approaches to simply creating a larger problem in homelessness. Plutocrats simply think if they own the property all that needs be done is to evict human beings and demolish the buildings to make a profit on the new construction. "W"rong. There are people living in these buildings and have for a long time. There were residents complaining about having their water turned off. It is called abject poverty and it requires the attention of the city government and quite possibly the governor and legislature that came up with these plans.
March 18, 2015
The message implicit (click here) in the prizewinning documentaries “Detropia” and “Searching for Sugar Man,” in Detroit’s declaration of bankruptcy in 2013 — in even a casual drive along Gratiot Avenue, past mile after mile of burned-out or boarded-up houses and stores — is that Detroit is in a pitiable state....
The facts are obvious. There are people living in old buildings in Detroit that actually are a part of a new economy. Where the poor have congregated simply to find a place 'to be' can be the leaser of the new residential areas of Detroit. If Detroit is going to consolidate their residential areas, it has to make room for residents they displaced in demolishing the old structures. There may be a need for a government program to assist with rents, but, it has to be addressed and not ignored as an unfortunate reality to one person.
That is the mistake of American capitalism; it sees human beings as disposable when one can't make the rent or pay a bill. If an entire city is disregarded as important, especially the elderly, it turns into Detroit. That mistake should not be repeated. Detroit was abandoned by those that could be mobile and find better standards of living, but, the reality is there are those that simply couldn't and became those left behind.
"The True Detroiters" are the residents that have stayed. I am confident they have valuable stories and insight to the years of deterioration and blight. Those stories need to be captured and regarded as some of the most important stories about the survivors of Detroit's abandonment.
It is cold outside in Detroit. There is absolutely no way people can be dismissed as unimportant and in the way to be turned out on the street only to succumb to capitalism's cruelty. They are people. They deserve to be part of a picture that includes them as part of the continuing residents of Detroit. They, of course, have choices if family can be found and they are loved by their family, but, if they are alone, they belong to the new renovated residences and not simply the street. Every person is an economy, without exception. The impoverished are, too. They simply need to be appreciated and found a place to fit into the picture of the new Detroit.
West Hollywood conducted renovations to deteriorating areas differently.
January 14, 2015
...In a letter delivered to residents (click here) of the 8 bungalow units, which are on Detroit Street between Lexington Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, WHCHC’s director of real estate development, Jesse Slansky, said: “You are not being evicted. If a project is approved by the city, everyone will be relocated temporarily, and only if you so choose, permanently.”
“You will have first preference for a unit at the new building,” Slansky said in the letter. “If you have a qualifying disability, there is a high likelihood your future rent will be lower than what it is now.
“A relocation consultant will help you, if you like, to identify a variety of options for temporary housing. We are also looking into the possibility of providing units together in one building, if that is an option you would prefer....
DETROIT (AP) Chris Mathews' (click here) crew showed up to demolish a vacant home as part of Detroit's grand plan to bulldoze its way to prosperity when a call from his office stopped them in their tracks: Someone was living there.
A middle-aged woman who watched the crew tear away the home's warped wooden steps the day before had called their company, Adamo Demolition, to point out she was living on the second floor, despite no power, heat or gas and a flooded basement.
"It was like a swimming pool. We would never have thought anybody was upstairs," said Mathews, noting that the incident cost his crew time because the demolition wasn't called off until after they had shown up with their equipment.
As Detroit carries out its plan to tear down tens of thousands of homes to combat blight and tailor the city to fit its population, which has dwindled to about a third the size of its 1950s peak, it will have to deal with an unknown number of squatters. About 10 percent of the houses Adamo goes out to demolish have squatters or evidence of squatters, according to Mathews....
There are other approaches to simply creating a larger problem in homelessness. Plutocrats simply think if they own the property all that needs be done is to evict human beings and demolish the buildings to make a profit on the new construction. "W"rong. There are people living in these buildings and have for a long time. There were residents complaining about having their water turned off. It is called abject poverty and it requires the attention of the city government and quite possibly the governor and legislature that came up with these plans.
March 18, 2015
The message implicit (click here) in the prizewinning documentaries “Detropia” and “Searching for Sugar Man,” in Detroit’s declaration of bankruptcy in 2013 — in even a casual drive along Gratiot Avenue, past mile after mile of burned-out or boarded-up houses and stores — is that Detroit is in a pitiable state....
The facts are obvious. There are people living in old buildings in Detroit that actually are a part of a new economy. Where the poor have congregated simply to find a place 'to be' can be the leaser of the new residential areas of Detroit. If Detroit is going to consolidate their residential areas, it has to make room for residents they displaced in demolishing the old structures. There may be a need for a government program to assist with rents, but, it has to be addressed and not ignored as an unfortunate reality to one person.
That is the mistake of American capitalism; it sees human beings as disposable when one can't make the rent or pay a bill. If an entire city is disregarded as important, especially the elderly, it turns into Detroit. That mistake should not be repeated. Detroit was abandoned by those that could be mobile and find better standards of living, but, the reality is there are those that simply couldn't and became those left behind.
"The True Detroiters" are the residents that have stayed. I am confident they have valuable stories and insight to the years of deterioration and blight. Those stories need to be captured and regarded as some of the most important stories about the survivors of Detroit's abandonment.
It is cold outside in Detroit. There is absolutely no way people can be dismissed as unimportant and in the way to be turned out on the street only to succumb to capitalism's cruelty. They are people. They deserve to be part of a picture that includes them as part of the continuing residents of Detroit. They, of course, have choices if family can be found and they are loved by their family, but, if they are alone, they belong to the new renovated residences and not simply the street. Every person is an economy, without exception. The impoverished are, too. They simply need to be appreciated and found a place to fit into the picture of the new Detroit.
West Hollywood conducted renovations to deteriorating areas differently.
January 14, 2015
...In a letter delivered to residents (click here) of the 8 bungalow units, which are on Detroit Street between Lexington Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, WHCHC’s director of real estate development, Jesse Slansky, said: “You are not being evicted. If a project is approved by the city, everyone will be relocated temporarily, and only if you so choose, permanently.”
“You will have first preference for a unit at the new building,” Slansky said in the letter. “If you have a qualifying disability, there is a high likelihood your future rent will be lower than what it is now.
“A relocation consultant will help you, if you like, to identify a variety of options for temporary housing. We are also looking into the possibility of providing units together in one building, if that is an option you would prefer....
