Bloomberg News brings us this story in which we learn that the city is so broke that they are planning to turn off about half of the street lights because they can no longer afford to pay for them. City leaders are also trying to herd the remaining city residents into those areas that they can still afford to keep lit. This is of course what happens when Atlas packs up and moves elsewhere. Those who are left are now finding out that there is no free lunch and that others have been paying the bills.
The population in Detroit is mostly minority, poor and ill-educated. It is no surprise that the tax base has collapsed. Nancy Pelosi may think that unemployment checks are the way to stimulate an economy, but in the real world you need people who are able to produce things of value. Most of those people have gotten out and gone to greener pastures, leaving the non-producing residue of humanity that sits around waiting for that government check.
Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating almost half its streetlights.
As it is, 40 percent of the 88,000 streetlights are broken and the city, whose finances are to be overseen by an appointed board, can’t afford to fix them. Mayor Dave Bing’s plan would create an authority to borrow $160 million to upgrade and reduce the number of streetlights to 46,000. Maintenance would be contracted out, saving the city $10 million a year.
Detroit’s dwindling income and property-tax revenue have required residents to endure unreliable buses and strained police services throughout the city. Because streetlights are basic to urban life, deciding what areas to illuminate will reshape the city, said Kirk Cheyfitz, co-founder of a project called Detroit143 — named for the 139 square miles of land, plus water — that publicizes neighborhood issues.
