Sarah Rodriguez
Making the Pivot from DIY to Do It Together. Vince Keenan | Friday, October 26, 2012.
Detroit Realtors See Bankruptcy as Potential 'Turning Point' By Gabrielle Karol Two Detroit realtors see the city's filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection last week as a potential turning point toward rebirth.
"I think a lot of people feel that getting rid of some of the debt will allow the city government to reinvest in the city neighborhoods that haven't seen investments or city services," says Austin Black II, a broker and the president of City Living Detroit. He says recent growth in the downtown and midtown areas of the city has been fueled by an influx of young-somethings and corporate investments -- in spite of the government's unbalanced books. Mortgage rates slide to less than 4% after five straight weeks of declines. With mortgage rates sliding for a fifth straight week, the possibility of locking in a rate below 4 percent is tempting for consumers and could unleash a wave of refinancing.
It may even convince some Americans to buy their first home. Yet there are limits to how far the wave can extend. Millions of homeowners already refinanced in 2013, when the average 30-year mortgage rate stayed below 4 percent until mid-year. And the overall housing market remains hampered by tight mortgage credit, rising home prices and stagnating incomes. This week the average rate on the 30-year loan fell to 3.92 percent, mortgage company Freddie Mac reported Thursday. That is sparking a boomlet of homeowners looking to refinance as long-term mortgage rates plummet. The average 30-year mortgage rate nationwide that week breached the 4-percent threshold and hit 3.97 percent from 4.12 percent the previous week. How Bankruptcy Will Impact Detroit's Housing Market. Detroit files for bankruptcy - Jul. 18, 2013.
The bankruptcy was filed by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and approved by Michigan Gov.
Rick Snyder. Snyder said the financial condition of the city left him no choice. "Now's our opportunity to stop 60 years of decline," Snyder said at a Friday news conference with Orr. "How long had this been going on and people were kicking the can down the road and not doing something? Mass Tax Foreclosure Threatens Detroit Homeowners. Homeowners sit in a conference room in Detroit's Cobo Center while waiting for their cases to be heard to avoid foreclosure from tax debts in Detroit on Jan. 29.
This year, Wayne County officials sent out 62,000 foreclosure notices to city homeowners behind on property taxes. Paul Sancya/AP hide caption itoggle caption Paul Sancya/AP. How Detroit was reborn: The inside story of the city's historic bankruptcy case. U.S.
District Chief Judge Gerald Rosen wondered what the hell he'd gotten himself into. Rosen was in Florida in August 2013 for a quick golf vacation but was rising before dawn each day to read Detroit's massive plan to restructure its debt. The numbers were horrific: $18 billion in liabilities, 78,000 blighted buildings, four of every 10 dollars already devoted to debt, pensions and retiree health care. The Gentrification Effect. Using data from 1990, 2000 and 2010, Maciag found that in four major cities 50 percent or more of poor census tracts gentrified from 2000 to 2010: Portland, 58.1 percent; Washington, 51.9 percent; Minneapolis, 50.6 percent; and Seattle, 50 percent.
What it takes to call Detroit home for natives, newcomers. DETROIT — In 1950, Detroit had a population of 1.85 million.
Today, 690,000 remain — a mere third of those who lived here when this was the fifth-largest city in America. The city's downturn includes decades of white flight, the auto industry's decline and a financial crisis that ended in bankruptcy. Detroit adopted this motto after it was nearly destroyed by fire in 1805: ''It will arise from the ashes.'' Those who choose to live here now still believe that, whether they're natives or newcomers. Here are some of their stories, with a focus on housing, from a $500 abandoned building to the city's most expensive apartment:
Mogk: Strong schools make strong neighborhoods. Strong local schools are the foundation of sustainable neighborhoods.
With the city moving aggressively to stabilize and rebuild neighborhoods and the Detroit Public Schools, Gov. Rick Snyder and the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren proposing restructuring K-12 education in Detroit, now is the time to make local schools once again the center of Detroit’s neighborhoods. It will require establishing competitive attendance zones incorporating both DPS schools and charter schools within the city’s seven neighborhood districts.
Local schools were the centerpiece of the city’s neighborhoods through the 1950s when Detroit was a leading American city with a model urban school system. Officials: Downtown Detroit needs strategic housing moves to ensure solid future. DETROIT, MI - Downtown Detroit needs more carefully developed housing, according to the minds behind the 7.2 SQ MI data report released a few weeks ago.
David Egner, president and CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation, and Keegan Mahoney, program officer with Hudson-Webber, took a few minutes to explain to MLive what all the data they reported really means. How is Federal Housing Money is Spent in Detroit? The federal government provides $37 million annually to Detroit for housing programs that help stabilize life for people, according to Arthur Jemison. As the director of the city’s housing and revitalization efforts, he manages those grants which pay for, in part, 3,700 units of public housing and 6,000 Section 8 vouchers. Jemison characterizes that money as being designed to directly fight poverty in a city where 40 percent of residents are at or below the federal poverty threshold. Tax burden, low property values lead to exodus of Detroit residents.
Detroit — For a generation, Detroit has levied as many property taxes as it legally could on its citizens. Now, after decades of plummeting population and property values, some wonder if that was such a good idea. Few officials defend Detroit's tax rate, which is tops among big cities nationwide.