1 / 7

Detroit – Unprecedented Challenges and Opportunities Benjamin Erulkar Vice President

Detroit – Unprecedented Challenges and Opportunities Benjamin Erulkar Vice President Economic Development May 15, 2014. Challenges and O pportunities. “Paris of the Midwest” in 1950 1.8 million population Now: Detroit as the prototype of urban ills Bankruptcy (Chapter 9) in July 2013

oleg
Download Presentation

Detroit – Unprecedented Challenges and Opportunities Benjamin Erulkar Vice President

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Detroit – Unprecedented Challenges and Opportunities Benjamin Erulkar Vice President Economic Development May 15, 2014

  2. Challenges and Opportunities • “Paris of the Midwest” in 1950 • 1.8 million population • Now: Detroit as the prototype of urban ills • Bankruptcy (Chapter 9) in July 2013 • Under 700,000 population • A more complex reality: • $10 billion in direct investment since 2008 • Place-based redevelopment • Beginnings of sectoral diversification

  3. History • Deindustrialization • 300,000 manufacturing jobs lost since 1947 • Population • Great Migration leads to mass exodus • Taxation, debt financing weigh more heavily on a shrinking tax base • Leads to a decline in services • Great Recession hit Detroit especially hard

  4. Current and Future Considerations • Short Term: Make the City work again • Fiscal Solvency • Provision of essential services • Medium Term: Redefine the City’s footprint • 142 sq. miles (227.2 sq. km.) is not sustainable • Long Term: Education and population • Make Detroit a destination of choice

  5. Bankruptcy and Beyond • Goals: Restructure $18 billion in debt, and • Minimize reductions to pensioners • Preserve the City’s art collection • Leave the City with a sustainable fiscal base • The Grand Bargain: $816 million • Coalition of government, philanthropies and City institutions (DIA) • Union approval is threshold indicator of voluntary or court-ordered resolution

  6. Policy Priorities • Essential City services • Security and first response • Lighting and sanitation • Regional transportation • Remaking the City • Detroit Future City • Education • From a school system to a system of schools

  7. Lessons for Other Cities • Industrial Policy • Focus on autos? Diversify? Or both? • Legacy costs • How to manage public pensions • Planning • Benchmark from best-in-class • Accountability • Demand more from the leadership

More Related