Detroit: A Dying City

Gotta get the jobs there and gotta get places where people can shop. I would live down there but there are two problems: no jobs, and no where to shop for groceries or anything else. Nearest mall is 10 miles from Downtown, don't know where the nearest grocery store is to downtown. There are some ghetto ones on the outskirts but nobody wants to go there.

 

I do have one question - since this is an argument people in these parts are having right now since casinos and thus taxes on gambling money are a new "save our ship" sort of phenomen in our legislature and whatnot -- how do the three casinos in Detroit (a) survive if nobody has any cash (and nobody is making a tourist trip there) and (b) what are they doing in terms of helping the local economy?

 

True about the grocery stores. There used to be on on Jefferson near Harbourtown but that closed a few months ago. It was my fail-safe one when I didn't want to pack a lunch to go to the grocery. There is Honeybee but that's more a specialty market in Mexicantown. We usually go to Royal Oak to Holiday Market but occasionally we'll go to Kroger in Dearborn. Not having a grocery is one of the biggest pains about living downtown.

 

I believe the Greektown Casino is in bankruptcy. As for the others, they survive some on business people from out of town, I think. Also, some retired autoworkers who are gambling away their retirement.

 

Do these casinos give a boost to the local economy?

I've seen lots of studies that casinos actually in the long run hurt local economies and this is a major debate going on in my neck of the woods right now.

 

Well, a bit of a bump, I guess. Presumably, they pay taxes to the city but in this place, who knows. I guess there's a little tourist traffic in for the casinos. I've met a few people from Toledo and Cleveland who come here specifically for the casinos.

 

I would think a big problem for Detroit casinos is that they're not going to draw from a large area. You've got casinos in Windsor across the river, and with all the restrictions on border travel, I would suspect a lot of Canadians won't make the trip. However, American college students probably still pull out every stop to see Windsor's legendary strippers.

Plus, there are a zillion Indian casinos all over Michigan.

 

One man can't rebuild an entire city.

 

Windsor isn't for anyone over 21-years-old. Plus, you need a passport now. It's a pain in the ass.

Detroit Casinos are ALWAYS busy. MGM gaming floor is packed all day and night, Greektown is making $1 million per day, Motor City.... eek I stay away from there, I don't like it.

And there are a bunch of Indian Casinos in Michigan none within 2 hours of Detroit. It was closer to 3 hours from Detroit until Battle Creek opened Firekeepers this year.

 

Motor City is owned by the Ilitches, so in that empire, it's probably doing ok.


And Magic, you do have a Walgreens and a CVS down by the RenCen for quick groceries. Not the same as a true grocery store, but it could pass in a pinch.

 

You know what has always intrigued me about the Kroger in Dearborn? There is another Kroger right across the street. Two Krogers on Michigan Ave. within walking distance of each other.

And what's the deal with Holiday Market? It's like 2 miles from Hollywood Market, confuses the hell out of me.

 

If Detroit is two hours from Mt. Pleasant then Detroit is also two hours from Tahoe.

Your looking at a 2.5 hour drive from the suburbs, with no construction on I-75, or a complete disregard for the 55 m.p.h zone in St. Johns.