Mackinac Center questions Detroit downsizing plan

The geographical downsizing plan has the virtue of acknowledging, for maybe the first time within the confines of City Hall, the severity of economic and social conditions in Detroit. But it still places an as-yet unjustified faith in the ability of the city government to plan in detail the city's economic future. The People Mover was supposed to reinvigorate downtown. The construction of a GM plant in Poletown (which saw the city evict residents and raze a low-income neighborhood) was supposed to create new auto jobs. Neither has worked as intended. It remains to be seen if the city can plan decline any better than it can plan growth.

Speaking very broadly, what the city needs above all else is jobs and investment. The real source for both is to be found among entrepreneurs and investors whose efforts are more likely to be stymied than aided by detailed government planning. In the short-term the city may or may not benefit by writing off its worst sections and downsizing geographically. But if Detroit is to recover, the downsizing that will need to be done long-term is a withdrawal of city government from the issuance of detailed plans and regulations. By downsizing the ambitions of city bureaucrats, the city will give small businesses the flexibility they need to function, earn profits and create jobs for Detroiters, which is the key to the city's eventual recovery.