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News & ArtsMonday, May 11, 2009
News GM to Pull Out of Detroit...
Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, May 11, 2009 at 6:11 PM
...and then GM is going to slap Detroit's face with it's stanky old cock.
General Motors is open to considering moving its headquarters from Detroit, selling off U.S. plants and even renegotiating parts of its restructuring plan with its major union, the new chief executive said Monday. CEO Fritz Henderson, on a conference call with reporters, said it was more probable that GM was headed for bankruptcy by June 1—the U.S. government-imposed deadline for the automaker to restructure or face bankruptcy.
Best detail:
GM purchased its glass-towered headquarter building known as Detroit's Renaissance Center last year for $625 million.
Good luck unloading Detroit's Renaissance Center, GM. And maybe it's time to come up with a "Buffalo Commons" proposal for the state of Michigan.
1
The problem with the commons proposal lies in assuming that anything would grow in Detroit. That place is going to stand as a warning to future civilizations, boundless and bare.
3
Dan, schadenfreude directed at Detroit is the worst kind of piling on. The current economic climate here has been crushing real people - indeed entire communities. Mocking GM may be easy, and your salacious headline is sure to grab hits - but this post is in poor taste.
4
@3 - You're in Michigan/Detroit, as well? Where abouts?
Actually I think that Dan's headline was rather fitting - especially considering the phallic nature of the Ren Cen (the erect central tower surrounded by the smaller testicular ones - and it doesn't matter if you're viewing it from the West, or if you're viewing it from across the river in Windsor - it still looks like its giving the area 'the finger').
Though they probably won't move (to Warren, a suburb, which is trying to offer them a sweet deal to move the HQ) - especially after moving from their old 'World HQ' to the Ren Cen (aprox 2 miles away) worked so well.
Mocking GM is easy - and the company only has itself to blame for that.
Actually I think that Dan's headline was rather fitting - especially considering the phallic nature of the Ren Cen (the erect central tower surrounded by the smaller testicular ones - and it doesn't matter if you're viewing it from the West, or if you're viewing it from across the river in Windsor - it still looks like its giving the area 'the finger').
Though they probably won't move (to Warren, a suburb, which is trying to offer them a sweet deal to move the HQ) - especially after moving from their old 'World HQ' to the Ren Cen (aprox 2 miles away) worked so well.
Mocking GM is easy - and the company only has itself to blame for that.
6
Now, now, Electra @1 - Plenty of things grow in Detroit, and we also have flocks of wild pheasants throughout the city (what we don't have much of is people in the city itself).
The Commons suggestion isn't too far off from what some people are proposing - but the city needs to demolish many of the old houses and let the land be used for parks and urban gardens.
Of course that is highly unlikely to happen, considering that on any given day the Detroit City Council members try to see who is the most bat-shit crazy.
My roommate in Grad school in Ann Arbor was from AZ and when she came up the first time when we were looking for an apartment she asked me what all the green stuff was coming up through the cracks in the pavement and I had to tell her that it was vegetation - since things have a tendency to grow in Southeast Michigan - what with the moisture and humidity and all.
The Commons suggestion isn't too far off from what some people are proposing - but the city needs to demolish many of the old houses and let the land be used for parks and urban gardens.
Of course that is highly unlikely to happen, considering that on any given day the Detroit City Council members try to see who is the most bat-shit crazy.
My roommate in Grad school in Ann Arbor was from AZ and when she came up the first time when we were looking for an apartment she asked me what all the green stuff was coming up through the cracks in the pavement and I had to tell her that it was vegetation - since things have a tendency to grow in Southeast Michigan - what with the moisture and humidity and all.
7
I guess I'm a bit biased from having lived in New Orleans for many years (and my parents still live down there) prior to moving up to Detroit, and having lived up here for a number of years - that after New Orleans (pre-Katrina), Detroit has a lot more going for it. Which on the surface may not be saying much, unless you've lived in both places.
That having been said, yes, we're planning to move out of the city as well.
That having been said, yes, we're planning to move out of the city as well.
10
The RenCen is the signature building in downtown Detroit - it defines their skyline. As a resident of Windsor for 25 years (I left in the 90's) it's sad to see an old friend laid so low.
11
@10 - Even in GM leaves the RenCen, there's no way that the city will have the money to tear it down - so it will become yet another grand, large, empty building adding to the Detroit skyline.
Actually, the area around the RenCen (the New City area) has really been picking up - so that sometimes it actually seems like there really is a 'downtown'.
Good thing that film companies are taking an interest in filming here. We have all the buildings and streets of a big city with very few people. Sometimes it's like one great big movie set. Except with live ammo being fired off during holidays (I'm still not used to that yet).
Actually, the area around the RenCen (the New City area) has really been picking up - so that sometimes it actually seems like there really is a 'downtown'.
Good thing that film companies are taking an interest in filming here. We have all the buildings and streets of a big city with very few people. Sometimes it's like one great big movie set. Except with live ammo being fired off during holidays (I'm still not used to that yet).
12
Detroit has, what, 250,000 people in the city proper?
The way folks talk about it, it sounds pretty empty!
The way folks talk about it, it sounds pretty empty!
13
10 That's interesting maybe that's the future for Detroit after all the jobs have left it. When a door closes another opens up.
15
@12 - I've just been told (by the Mr. to my Ms.) that the number is higher than that (he says 900,000 - but I think that the number is lower than that, but I'm not up to looking it up).
Also, I was reminded that as part of Henry Ford's will part of his land (near the Ford World HQ) must be farmed. About 10 years ago there were still fields being worked and harvested (and a giant corn maze for the fall holidays). While some of that land has been commercially developed, some of it is still farmed.
And that Detroit has a growing urban farming movement - some of those collectives sell their produce at area farmers' markets (including in our neighborhood - which is in Detroit, but nowhere near downtown).
Also, I was reminded that as part of Henry Ford's will part of his land (near the Ford World HQ) must be farmed. About 10 years ago there were still fields being worked and harvested (and a giant corn maze for the fall holidays). While some of that land has been commercially developed, some of it is still farmed.
And that Detroit has a growing urban farming movement - some of those collectives sell their produce at area farmers' markets (including in our neighborhood - which is in Detroit, but nowhere near downtown).
16
Why GM, dear, I think it's wonderful that you want to leave the US. Really, I do. It's part of your corporate maturity and all that.
Of course, there are a few things here that will need to be taken care of. There's the matter of that money we loaned you, of course, plus all that office and factory space. If you can either sell it - at fair market value or better of course - or demolish it and perform all the necessary environmental cleanups, that would be just great.
And the whole relocation thing means you will have to make good on all those pension obligations you made to your retirees. Yes, I know you say they're "killing" you, but you entered into the agreements after all, and honoring your agreements is part of being a trans-global, unaffiliated corporate citizen.
Of course, if you can't do any of that, and you still want to leave, we're going to force your ass into bankruptcy, and put the US Government first in line, with the UAW right behind us. By the time we're done with you, you won't be able to afford a used steel building in Somalia.
You think We're kidding, GM? Don't forget: We're the ones with the nuclear bombs and ridiculously over sized military. Plus, we were crazy enough to elect George Bush. Twice.
Of course, there are a few things here that will need to be taken care of. There's the matter of that money we loaned you, of course, plus all that office and factory space. If you can either sell it - at fair market value or better of course - or demolish it and perform all the necessary environmental cleanups, that would be just great.
And the whole relocation thing means you will have to make good on all those pension obligations you made to your retirees. Yes, I know you say they're "killing" you, but you entered into the agreements after all, and honoring your agreements is part of being a trans-global, unaffiliated corporate citizen.
Of course, if you can't do any of that, and you still want to leave, we're going to force your ass into bankruptcy, and put the US Government first in line, with the UAW right behind us. By the time we're done with you, you won't be able to afford a used steel building in Somalia.
You think We're kidding, GM? Don't forget: We're the ones with the nuclear bombs and ridiculously over sized military. Plus, we were crazy enough to elect George Bush. Twice.
20
What stinks is that some the bondholders that are blocking any sort of solution that would avoid bankruptcy are holding CDSs with a payout when GM goes under. This could be avoided, but with the prospect of a short term cashout for about 10% of the bondholders for their "side bets", we'll see GM go down in flames, while the blame gets placed on the UAW. How many other companies (or banks) will be forced to go BK because a minority of creditors want the CDS side bet payoff?
22
According to official census numbers, Detroit proper has about 900,000 people. But that's in a city that 50 years ago had twice that. It's not so much that there's only 900,000 people there but that there are empty homes, businesses, and public spaces for 900,000 people who now live in the suburbs instead. Literally millions of buildings are either empty or massively underused.
23
To follow up on Dan Savage's Buffalo Commons point, anyone interested in more information on the Buffalo Commons idea should go to my Rutgers website, policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/popper. The idea originated with me and my wife Deborah Popper, a geographer at the College of Staten Island/City University of New York and Princeton Universities. The only organization explicitly devoted to creating the Buffalo Commons is the Great Plains Restoration Council, gprc.org, with headquarters in Fort Worth and operations in Texas, Colorado and South Dakota. Jarid Manos, greatplains@gprc.org is president and I chair its board.
Deborah, I and some colleagues are also working on Detroit/Michigan/urban-decline issues, which do in fact intersect with Buffalo Commons ones. Deborah and I published "Small Can Be Beautiful: Coming to Terms with Decline" in the July 2002 issue of Planning magazine. Other decline pieces appear on my Rutgers website, including a long literature-review piece that is forthcoming in Progress in Planning, a journal.
Frank Popper
Rutgers and Princeton Universities
fpopper@rci.rutgers.edu, fpopper@princeton.edu
732-932-4009, X689
Deborah, I and some colleagues are also working on Detroit/Michigan/urban-decline issues, which do in fact intersect with Buffalo Commons ones. Deborah and I published "Small Can Be Beautiful: Coming to Terms with Decline" in the July 2002 issue of Planning magazine. Other decline pieces appear on my Rutgers website, including a long literature-review piece that is forthcoming in Progress in Planning, a journal.
Frank Popper
Rutgers and Princeton Universities
fpopper@rci.rutgers.edu, fpopper@princeton.edu
732-932-4009, X689
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