Cold or Cancer?

Detroit's abandoned housing problem just won't go away. Of course, the housing problem is a symptom... like a cough is to lung cancer.

Now city and county officials are worried that "they need to kick-start efforts or risk embarrassment when the world's spotlight is on Detroit, which will happen even before the NFL championship game" according to The Detroit News. That's like saying Detroit needs to get stronger cough medicine. Sure, it will help... but it doesn't address the underlying problems.

Go back and read these.

• http://hallofrecord.blogspot.com/2005/02/ethnic-divisivness-unintended.html
• http://hallofrecord.blogspot.com/2005/01/government-chicken-or-egg-chapter-2.html
• http://hallofrecord.blogspot.com/2004/12/government-chicken-or-egg.html

Detroit's mayor is a caricature of what ails Detroit:

• Large, but no real substance
• Talks a great game, but can't deliver
• Sense of community extends as far as his family (and their automotive needs)

Unfortunately, he is a living representation of what the city has been for a quarter of a century and more. Randomly demolishing a few houses is not a plan for the future. It is a photo-op for a newspaper story.