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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

Come on man, ain't no fixin most of em, they've already been stripped to the friggin beams by scavengers, are haven to rats and skells, and a goddamn fire hazard - and the city won't even LET folk take em down, although we managed to wrangle permission for Habitat for Humanity to jack some of the less trashed ones for useful parts.

And every bulldozed house is somewhere to plant food, keeping the damn Monsanto-sponsored DNR goons playing whack a mole so that poor folk can manage to harvest out of the fields they didn't get to yet.

So, why act like this is a bad thing ?

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Originally posted by dmaanlileiltt:
I didn't know how bad Detroit was getting (is). It's kinda scary that it's become this economic Chernobyl. Nobody really wants anything to do with it.

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Karen Dumas, in her July 15 column ("Detroiters need to take city 'comeback' to next level"), wrote that Detroit residents need to "stop trashing the very street you live on, or the streets you ride or walk down. And stop buying into the mentality that Detroit is dead, dying or in need of some external force to 'save' it."

This is a disheartening attack on Detroit's heroic residents.

For nearly 30 years, I've lived in Brightmoor, one of Detroit's poorest neighborhoods. During that time, I've watched and participated as community groups and concerned neighbors have fought to save our neighborhood. Time after time, we've been stymied by corrupt politicians, impossible city government infrastructure, and city leaders who have paid lip service to the neighborhoods while refusing to take action that would improve them.

We have called 911 about emergencies only to be put on hold and then waited hours for emergency responders even to be dispatched. We have complained about drug houses, dog fighting, dangerous buildings, illegal dumping, illegal scrapping and stolen cars only to have our complaints dismissed by authorities who claim they're doing all they can. Even our efforts at neighborhood revitalization have been stonewalled by the city.

Anybody who visits Brightmoor can see the difference that urban gardens are making. Teenagers are employed growing, marketing and selling fresh fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood. Unemployed people are farming vacant lots, selling the produce at markets and making enough money to meet their needs.

Instead of honoring this effort, the Bing administration has implemented new rules that make it illegal to use outside soil, build anything on these lots (including rain collection systems, fences or compost containers), or sell the produce -- rules that threaten to end urban gardening.

Detroit 300 is an effective crime-fighting organization, organized and operated by residents. Nearly every church in the city has found ways to mobilize their congregations to build and improve the city. Residents have started tuition-free schools, tutoring programs, neighborhood watches and clinics.

Many of us already pick up the garbage in the streets, and hundreds of Detroit residents mow the vacant lots next to them. Detroit's residents are taking responsibility, but City Hall is resisting resident-based revitalization.

If Mayor Bing wants us to mow the vacant lots, tear down vacant houses, hire our own security, clean the streets, attract new businesses, start our own ambulance service and take our own garbage to the dump, he should return the confiscatory income tax Detroit charges and let us do it ourselves.

Timothy Miller

Detroit

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