How would you fix Detroit?

[Solauren]

Orbital Bombardment.

Okay, seriously...

The answer is simple; national guard, martial law, and search every home, arrest everyone for anything, seize property.

[Broomstick]

However, if the worst is in a convenient, easily targettable section, it simplifies matters. Domain that section, sell it cheap to people who will build actual factories and employ locals.

You still don't get it.

No one will build a factory in Detroit, no one will hire locals

Employers pulled out years ago.

Because of lack of education, criminal history, and active gang affiliation the vast majority of the locals have no job skills and no work ethic. I'm not saying that nothing good ever comes out of that city - the world has gotten some quality folks like Ben Carson, a world class neurosurgeon, out of that pesthole - but it's damn rare.

[Prozac the Robert]

How about some really big government project? Hire people to build a giant pyramid or something.

That way, there would be lots of police guarding the thingymajig, which would cut crime, and everyone could get jobs working on the project.

The only problem is justifying the cost to the tax payer of hireing a million people to build a waste of resources, but I have an answer to that: classify it as a military project.

To sum up the benefits of my plan:
*police/military people will restore order
*people in the city will have money and sensible jobs can therefore begin to spring up
*There will be a new wonder of the world, which will increase civic pride.

[SirNitram]

However, if the worst is in a convenient, easily targettable section, it simplifies matters. Domain that section, sell it cheap to people who will build actual factories and employ locals.

You still don't get it.

No one will build a factory in Detroit, no one will hire locals

Employers pulled out years ago.

Because of lack of education, criminal history, and active gang affiliation the vast majority of the locals have no job skills and no work ethic. I'm not saying that nothing good ever comes out of that city - the world has gotten some quality folks like Ben Carson, a world class neurosurgeon, out of that pesthole - but it's damn rare.

Then my original suggestion of simply levelling all of it might be what's needed. Because frankly, if you can't get some source of sustainable jobs, it's never going to come back up, and you might as well save some time and burn the place down. Cruel? Yes. But if it's as unsalvagable as you seem to indicate(And I've no reason to doubt this), nothing's gonna save it. Just make it a merciful death.

[Darth Wong]

As with the youth-gang thread, I recommend the Gulag option. If they swept the city for drugs and weapons and shipped all of the criminals out to a northern tundra gulag, they could start rebuilding the city.

These people are hurting and terrorizing more American citizens than Osama Bin Laden, but there is no will to take action to do anything about it.

[tharkûn]

As with the youth-gang thread, I recommend the Gulag option. If they swept the city for drugs and weapons and shipped all of the criminals out to a northern tundra gulag, they could start rebuilding the city.

The last time they tried that sort of thing the political class in Detroit went up in arms about "racial profiling", "being cruel to children", "why are we only doing this in Detroit" and a bunch of other vapid BS. Aside from that I'm not sure if Detroit has enough honest manpower on the police force to make that viable.

These people are hurting and terrorizing more American citizens than Osama Bin Laden, but there is no will to take action to do anything about it.

Osama isn't black and hence if someone arrests him or empties a magazine between his eyes there won't be inevitable cries of racism, profiling, police brutality, etc. and the elected officials calling for whomever shot him to be investigated. In Detroit there is always a large hue and cry from the political establishment whenever someone tries to get serious about cracking down.

The populuous, the education establishment, and the political establishment have made a suicide pack. As long as Detroit keeps electing jackasses, and the rest of the state/country has to respect the authority of these elected officials ... then you can expect that anything upsetting the status quo will be opposed and eventually buried by the schmucks in charge.