Quote:
Originally Posted by uaarkson
Downtown seems to be hitting escape velocity, no?
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It would seem that way. However, a lot of projects still seem to be slow to start either because of financing or red tape. Financing is getting easier to come by these days because of the economy, but I think at the city government level, Detroit still isn't quite friendly towards developers. For as many incentives as the city offers, there's still a bunch of special conditions attached to them.
For instance there's this big deal about requiring developments (for example, within Renaissance Zones) to "provide jobs" for the community (Detroit residents) whether through hired construction workers or from the purpose of the development itself. The government is still trying to play the role of job creator rather than make it favorable for the private sector to create jobs naturally.
So really, Downtown Detroit could be growing a lot faster than it presently is, I think, if the city government was able to shift its priorities. I don't understand how they think requiring the market to specifically hire Detroit residents would be effective if much of the city is still shrinking.