Life in the Big City

     
      From the dawn of humankind upon the face of earth, we, as a species, realized that there was safety in numbers. However, it was not always possible to sustain a large group of humans in one area until the invention of agriculture, and even then, it took some time to develop a logical system of laws to govern a large group of people. With these two things, the city was inevitable. As the ages progressed, so too, did the cities. Today we stand at ever impressive heights with cities so vast and complex that issues such as sewage and drinking water are solved through use of ever increasingly technical advances. The city became a hub for those looking for jobs, and eventually, it became the place specialization in certain fields of work that came to be known as factory work.

The ruins as they were.

       One such city is that of Detroit, as seen in the aptly named “documentary” “Requiem for Detroit.” Detroit was a major center of the automobile industry and it flourished around it. However, capitalism, as Marx predicted, has a way of finding the lowest price for work, and as such, Detroit was rapidly stripped of it's automobile plants due to outsourcing on foreign shores. Detroit's economy was smashed; all it's eggs were in one basket. What remains may be seen by some as an apocalyptic future destined to hit other cities as outsourcing of jobs continues.

      However, is this the future of all cities? The most notable example for us would be the closest “mega-city” to us, Chicago. This city holds a rough estimate of 10 million people, global prestige, and a wide variety of different job fields – all in all Chicago seems like it has quite a lot going for it, but what can stop the continued and increasing outsourcing of American jobs? Frankly, it seems inevitable that this should continue to occur. But it really can't be said by any one person, or even a group of people; only time will tell. On the other hand, a city like Detroit where it specialized so heavily in one field was also inevitably going to be outdated by increasingly efficient automated technology. The days when a factory full of human beings was necessary are simply behind us as technology has given us machines that can more effectively produce parts and machines.
       But what of Detroit? Can the city still survive? Some people certainly think so. Despite the one sided view that is passed around, Detroit still is there, and is still functioning to some degree. A large number of buildings have been abandoned or outright destroyed due to that abandonment, however, people still live and work in Detroit, and some are even investing money into it!

Success doesn't look at cameras.

       Dan Gilbert is one such person. One might think it foolish to invest in a city that seems to be in it's death throes, but Dan is quite the successful man. 

      “Mr. Gilbert, though, is not just any innovative, optimistic developer. This is a guy who at age 12 organized a pizza delivery service, with children on bikes rushing store-bought pies to neighbors. (Local restaurants eventually shut down the operation with a complaint to the health department.)

       He remains just as driven, but now his self-made fortune stands at $3.5 billion, according to Forbes. He has learned from mistakes of previous efforts to reimagine downtown, and he and his staff will apparently have a largely free hand. Government officials have promised to expedite permits for renovations, signs and so on.”

       One does not need to be deeply invested in economics to understand that when there is vastly more supply than demand, the supply is going to cheap – Detroit is a buyer's market, and this is just what Detroit needs. Mr. Gilbert has a vision of remaking the downtown Detroit area to be a bustling hub for commerce as it once was. Where some see the ruins of a former bastion of America, people like Mr. Gilbert see the opportunity to invest and renovate.

       But what of the outsourcing of jobs, and the increasingly proficient technology that simply outdates the work that people can do. Part of the problem of trying to understand, or even more difficult, fix, a thing so complex as a city is that no one person can truly understand the economy. People are complex, and a system set up by people to govern millions of people is even more so. Only time can truly tell what will become of Detroit, or even some of our other cities with their economic issues, crime, etc., but one thing is for certain. Despite what seems to be popular opinion, though diminished – Detroit is still there.

G-g-g-ghost!