Should Canada buy Detroit?

[ue]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

It's fun to think about, but ultimately wrong. How would we feel if a border city like Vancouver was struggling for example and the US decided to buy it?

I would think places more similar culturally to Canada like Buffalo-Niagara, New England, Bellingham, etc would be an easier sell than Detroit which is very different from almost anywhere in Canada.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by ue

I would think places more similar culturally to Canada like Buffalo-Niagara, New England, Bellingham, etc would be an easier sell than Detroit which is very different from almost anywhere in Canada.

Well a big part of Bellingham's economy is suburban Lower Mainlanders shopping at Costco and filling up with gas...

[dc_denizen]

Detroit's current sad state would not change whether it was in Canada or the US.


Meanwhile suburbs like Oakland and Macomb are too wealthy and would be expensive to "buy".

[Crawford]

I hate to be "that person", but I really would hope that SSP would have a slightly higher collective IQ.

Detroit has a bigger economy than any Canadian metro excepting Toronto. Again, excepting Toronto, there is no Canadian equivalent to the wealth and corporate might in Detroit. How about richer Detroit buy parts of poorer Canada?

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

Meanwhile suburbs like Oakland and Macomb are too wealthy and would be expensive to "buy".

Well I don't think Canada could get any of them at all basically because we're to far as to get to Oakland you have to buy Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. To get to Macomb you have to buy even more states Which are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and most of Illinois.

I think it is more feasible to get a small town like International Falls or maybe even a little bigger like Grand Forks. Not some megacity like Detroit.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

Basically from what I've gathered from the numerous articles I read on the topic today, Canada is willing to pay for the construction of the entire bridge. Canada is also getting prepared to acquire parcels of land on the American side for the bridge. Canada would be investing about $2B on the bridge. All that they want the Americans to pay for is their own customs, which has a pricetage of about $200M (don't ask me how that's possible), but Washington has been unwilling to comply as of early February.

I hope the U.S. never gives a dime for this bridge, which is an economic boondoggle and will harm U.S. interests.

Michigan is paying a huge amount of debt on the expanded Blue Water Bridge to Canada, where traffic is running well below expectations, and there is fear of a default. Yet another bridge will further harm the existing crossings. And the U.S. has spent something like a half-billion expanding capacity at the Ambassador Bridge, where traffic is also running below expectations.

Not to mention the proposed bridge will decimate yet another inner city Detroit neighborhood with a series of off-ramps fly-overs and the like (and actually a neighborhood showing some growth).

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I hope the U.S. never gives a dime for this bridge, which is an economic boondoggle and will harm U.S. interests.

Michigan is paying a huge amount of debt on the expanded Blue Water Bridge to Canada, where traffic is running well below expectations, and there is fear of a default. Yet another bridge will further harm the existing crossings. And the U.S. has spent something like a half-billion expanding capacity at the Ambassador Bridge, where traffic is also running below expectations.

Not to mention the proposed bridge will decimate yet another inner city Detroit neighborhood with a series of off-ramps fly-overs and the like (and actually a neighborhood showing some growth).

Lol, yeah, right, like Delray is growing! The new bridge that is much needed and that is gonna be built can only help this decaying industrial neighbourhood and it's ultra poor residents.
Who cares about the Blue Water Bridge, Windsor and Detroit need the new crossing, get over it!

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by north 42

Lol, yeah, right, like Delray is growing! The new bridge that is much needed and that is gonna be built can only help this decaying industrial neighbourhood and it's ultra poor residents.

Actually, yes, SW Detroit is the one part of Detroit city proper that is showing some limited population growth. Delray is a sub-neighborhood of SW Detroit that is basically uninhabited at this point (all industrial).

And I have no idea how the residents of SW Detroit benefit from more particulate pollution when they currently have some of the worst air quality in the entire U.S.

Originally Posted by north 42

Who cares about the Blue Water Bridge, Windsor and Detroit need the new crossing, get over it!

I care about the Blue Water Bridge, and so should all U.S. taxpayers. That's why the U.S. has never supported this asinine bridge proposal.

You already have three underutilized crossings costing the taxpayer, now they want a fourth bridge that is supposedly "free" because Canada wants it, but Canada's interests have nothing to do with U.S. interests in this matter (Canada actually wants the Ambassador Bridge/Blue Water/Tunnel traffic re-routed to the new bridge).

[sbarn]

Its funny that Americans are usually accused of being arrogant.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Actually, yes, SW Detroit is the one part of Detroit city proper that is showing some limited population growth. Delray is a sub-neighborhood of SW Detroit that is basically uninhabited at this point (all industrial).

And I have no idea how the residents of SW Detroit benefit from more particulate pollution when they currently have some of the worst air quality in the entire U.S.


I care about the Blue Water Bridge, and so should all U.S. taxpayers. That's why the U.S. has never supported this asinine bridge proposal.

You already have three underutilized crossings costing the taxpayer, now they want a fourth bridge that is supposedly "free" because Canada wants it, but Canada's interests have nothing to do with U.S. interests in this matter (Canada actually wants the Ambassador Bridge/Blue Water/Tunnel traffic re-routed to the new bridge).

Yes Southwest Detroit is growing, but it's not near Delray, it's in the Mexican Town area near the Ambassador Bridge. You know, the bridge who's owner has decimated the area, and the one you support. You support Maroun and all his neighbourhood busting, but worry about Delray residents? Give me a break!

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I hate to be "that person", but I really would hope that SSP would have a slightly higher collective IQ.

Detroit has a bigger economy than any Canadian metro excepting Toronto. Again, excepting Toronto, there is no Canadian equivalent to the wealth and corporate might in Detroit. How about richer Detroit buy parts of poorer Canada?

Obviously, if Canada were to "buy" Detroit, it would be Canadas second largest city. Montreal is just barely past 4 million.

[pip]

lol what

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by north 42

Yes Southwest Detroit is growing, but it's not near Delray, it's in the Mexican Town area near the Ambassador Bridge.

Not true. The part of SW Detroit that is growing is the Mexican part, which is the Springwells area, and right where the bridge is being built.

The old original Mexicantown area, near the Ambassador Bridge, does not have a large Mexican population, and is in decline. There are relatively few people living around the Ambassador Bridge (partially due to bridge expansion).

Originally Posted by north 42

You know, the bridge who's owner has decimated the area, and the one you support. You support Maroun and all his neighbourhood busting, but worry about Delray residents? Give me a break!

I don't support any bridge owner. I don't want any more bridges or tunnels, when we already have too much capacity.

And your response gets to the real motivation behind the bridge- Canada has been at war with the Ambassador Bridge owner, and now the U.S. is being asked to pay the price. No way. Canada can settle with Maroun without building more capacity.

And there are almost no Delray residents. This has nothing really to do with Delray specifically.

[iheartthed]

The U.S. would never let Canada annex Detroit because then Canada would have complete sovereignty over the Detroit River.

[dimondpark]

Okay so the aggregate value of owner occupied residential housing units for Metro Detroit in 2012 was $236 billion. Let's say the total for rental units is $100 billion. Then let's look at commercial properties, that's probably $50 billion or so. Then there's Detroit's infrastructure(airport, railroad, highways, public transportation, utilities, etc), I'll give you a deal on that-say $30 billion?

So far for the real estate alone, not even getting into other assets, we're at 416 billion USD.

So yeah...

[Xelebes]

Canada needs not to purchase Detroit. If we feel we need to, we will simply wait for the next ousting of a president a la Tricky Dicky and say that Canadians in Detroit are under threat. We will then summon minutemen of loyalist silks to take over the military and administrative facilities and hold a referendum in fifteen days.

[Hed Kandi]

[middeljohn]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

Okay so the aggregate value of owner occupied residential housing units for Metro Detroit in 2012 was $236 billion. Let's say the total for rental units is $100 billion. Then let's look at commercial properties, that's probably $50 billion or so. Then there's Detroit's infrastructure(airport, railroad, highways, public transportation, utilities, etc), I'll give you a deal on that-say $30 billion?

So far for the real estate alone, not even getting into other assets, we're at 416 billion USD.

So yeah...

Buildings belong to private entities, not Detroit or the US and thus can't be used as part of the valuation.

[jd3189]

Instead of Canada trying to buy Detroit, why not both Canada and the US try to revive Detroit back to a normal state to get it back running again. Throughout the decline since the mid-20th century, I have yet to see real solid government interference in preventing many neighborhoods in Detroit from falling even more into decay and crime. The problems are simply going to continue unless real economic aid is given and big changes happen. I'm sure this that been though out before and it either is close to impossible or did occur but failed. However, the best way to revive Detroit is to create a better relationship between the US and Canada in this international border. Canada trying to fix a problem by just absorbing Detroit and hoping that the "Canada effect" will work is very strange.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

Buildings belong to private entities, not Detroit or the US and thus can't be used as part of the valuation.

Yes, but you think your going to simply buy a little debt and get half a trillion dollars worth of added value for free? Surely you jest.

That's like saying 'I replaced your mailbox therefore I get to own your house'. LMAO. Um, No.

The federal govt and state government get billions in revenue every year from the 5 million people who live in Metro Detroit, both from income and property. Not to mention export dollars from Ford and GM.

And then there are institutions like the University of Michigan, one of the most formidable public universities in the United States and 23rd in the world according to the 2013 Academic Ranking of World Universities, higher than ANY Canadian school. That alone will set you back what? 15, 20 billion?

I mean, the cost just keeps adding up and keep in mind, Canada already has 1.2 trillion in sovereign debt.