Okay not literally. I love Detroit, its mah hometown. If you’ve ever known someone that is from Detroit you know that we are very proud to call this city home. (But none of us actually live in Detroit, more like Metro Detroit).
Anyways. This city sucks right now. The economic slide from good times to almost full on depression have -well – depressed our great city. The Big 3 are practically bankrupt and have been cutting their work force for years now. The last year has been excruciating. This is a place where everyone knows someone that works for one of the Big 3, if not multiple people. Having many of them laid off (and for a long time) and unable to find work in their field has left people down and out. This area has been an industrial mecca for years and is slowly being deserted. People don’t know what to do or where to go, and many people don’t want to go. We have four beautiful seasons, we are surrounded by water and trees and the cultural diversity is unlike anywhere else. What other city has Greektown (4-5 city blocks downtown of only Greek restaurants & shops that play Greek music on speakers), Mexican Town (admittedly never been there), and an entire Polish city within the city of Detroit called Hamtramck? Not to mention Lions and Tigers and Red Wings -oh my!
Back to my point. Its scary here. The bankruptcies of the Big 3 effects the entire city. There are thousands of machine, tool, die, etc shops that supply them. They are small businesses that have the majority of their work come from GM, Chrysler, Ford or other suppliers of them. Many shops are closing because they have not and will not get paid from these companies. Which leads to higher unemployment and gets more and more depressing. Everyone has hope that one day things will turn around. Just not hope that it will happen anytime soon. People are leaving to find work, whether they want to or not.
I don’t want to leave. Our families are here. But realistically we know that if D gets out of the Navy, he won’t find work in this town and we would have to leave anyway. We cant live of my paycheck alone… last week everyone at my company took a 10% pay cut and 6 people were laid off indefinitely.
Talk about a bad week. Hey – 6 people are leaving (out of 30), so you all have to take on extra work… oh and by the way, you are going to get a 10% pay cut in your next check.
But hey at least you have a job, right? That’s always the consolation people offer. Yeh, I’m glad I’m working, but that doesn’t mean I cant be pissed that I have to work harder and make less. Makes sense to me.
So, my beloved hometown… you will always be my heart, but maybe not my address. :-/
Well, you must admit – the Lions are a reason for leaving
The economy will turn around, however I don’t think things will get back to “normal” in Detroit unless other car companies decide to move into the area to utilize the workforce – what kind of production output does the city need to survive? 2-4 million cars a year? With losses in market share and ever increasing competition, courting those other companies may be the best longer term option.