Author Topic: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid  (Read 7237 times)

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Offline Her3tiK

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Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« on: May 26, 2012, 04:43:33 pm »
Seeing as Detroit is basically abandoned as it is, the city is planning to cut power to half the grid and consolidate its public services (bus, police, etc.) into the most populated parts of the city that remain.
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In 2010, Bing began a project called Detroit Works, which is examining ways to reorganize and reconfigure Detroit. It seems one part of that reorganization is encouraging residents and businesses in more sparsely populated areas into more populated areas by reducing the number of streetlights from 88,000 to 46,000. That will leave 713,000 residents in the dark in an area larger than Boston, Buffalo, and San Francisco combined.

Twenty Detroit neighborhoods are only 10 to 15 percent occupied, and the government can't force residents to leave their homes, and Michigan law makes it difficult for the government to seize them under eminent domain. So the government is instead "phasing out" these neighborhoods by turning off their streetlights; or, in many cases, just leaving them off. (Forty percent of Detroit's streetlights are currently broken.) Bing hopes the cash-strapped city can focus its bus and police services on the still-lit, more population-concentrated areas of the city.
I'm torn on what to think on this issue. On one hand, it's really dickish to cut power to half the city and not help relocate the affected population. On the other, Detroit's been going downhill for a while now, and this kind of cost cutting would need to happen eventually.

Personally, I think this is an opportunity. Imagine what could be done with a city that needs a major infrastructure overhaul and revitalization. Get the right people interested, and Detroit strikes me as a great place to develop and test new technologies. Sustainable energy, cheap & efficient building techniques, thousands of jobs in construction, engineering, and all the things that go in to developing and (re)building a city from the ground up. As long as nobody wants the land, it's going to be dirt cheap for any interested party to buy up and get started on such a project.
And yes, I realize all that's a bit of a pipe dream, but the possibilities here seem endless with the right drive and ambition.
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Offline RavynousHunter

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2012, 04:49:00 pm »
I can't help but think of RoboCop 3 and Delta City after reading that.  Just don't let OCP take the reins, okay?
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Offline MadCatTLX

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2012, 07:16:05 pm »
Detroit must be an urban explorers paradise.
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Offline Thejebusfire

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2012, 07:22:32 pm »
It might help if we kept manufacturing jobs here in American instead of sending them to China.


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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2012, 08:03:48 pm »
It sucks that people living in the more sparsely populated neighbourhoods will be cut off from so many services. That said, there's simply nothing else that can be done about it (at least in the short term). Hopefully Detroit will rise again at some point in the next decade.

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2012, 08:11:54 pm »
Detroit will rise again!
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Offline Fpqxz

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2012, 08:13:44 pm »
It might help if we kept manufacturing jobs here in American instead of sending them to China.

Detroit would be a prime candidate for some sort of urban redevelopment program.  But our government is content to let Detroit and other cities rot because OMG DEFICIT SPENDING, even though they don't seem to mind deficit spending on war and the ever-expanding prison state--both of which have a much lower rate of return on investment (usually, a negative return).

Yeah, that makes sense.
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Offline largeham

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2012, 08:19:43 pm »
It might help if we kept manufacturing jobs here in American instead of sending them to China.

Detroit would be a prime candidate for some sort of urban redevelopment program.  But our government is content to let Detroit and other cities rot because OMG DEFICIT SPENDING, even though they don't seem to mind deficit spending on war and the ever-expanding prison state--both of which have a much lower rate of return on investment (usually, a negative return).

Yeah, that makes sense.

Non-productive production always gets priority.

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Offline Morgenleoht

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2012, 08:25:13 pm »
...What the fuck?

I'm... speechless. Couldn't they at least offer incentives for people to move closer to the city or something?
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Offline ThunderWulf

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2012, 09:37:01 pm »
Detroit must be an urban explorers paradise.

No kidding.
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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2012, 09:40:05 pm »

Offline MadCatTLX

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #11 on: May 26, 2012, 10:01:59 pm »
Detroit will rise again!

Looking at all that has happened in recent years, I think we actually have a better chance of the confederacy rising again. I bet Arizona will be leading it this time.
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Offline Fpqxz

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #12 on: May 26, 2012, 10:13:20 pm »
It might help if we kept manufacturing jobs here in American instead of sending them to China.

Detroit would be a prime candidate for some sort of urban redevelopment program.  But our government is content to let Detroit and other cities rot because OMG DEFICIT SPENDING, even though they don't seem to mind deficit spending on war and the ever-expanding prison state--both of which have a much lower rate of return on investment (usually, a negative return).

Yeah, that makes sense.

Non-productive production always gets priority.

It pisses me off that there is so much that we could be doing in the USA to revitalize the economy, reduce urban decay, and advance alternative energy...and we just don't do it.

Politicians will tell you that the solutions are too expensive and that we can't afford more debt.  What they don't tell you is that we are already in debt and that if we maintain the status quo, nothing will get better and the situation will continue to deteriorate.

Which means that we may as well spend more on public works, urban development, and scientific research.  Doing nothing will get us nothing.
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Offline Thejebusfire

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #13 on: May 26, 2012, 11:52:55 pm »

Offline nickiknack

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Re: Detroit to shut down half it's power grid
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2012, 12:42:31 am »
Detroit must be an urban explorers paradise.

And that would extend to the surrounding areas, as well.

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