 
Miketoronto
Member
Username: Miketoronto
Post Number: 606
Registered: 07-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 7:27 pm: |    |
What do you guys think of the idea of the other car companies moving their head offices into downtown Detroit?
It seems weird to me that GM is the only car company to be headquartered in the City of Detroit.
Why have the other car companies not helped out the city, by locating their corporate offices in the city?
Downtown Detroit should be the centre when it comes to the head offices of car companies and their assoicated business, yet it is not.
Ford for example helped set up Detroit Renaissance to help out the city, yet I don't see them helping by actually moving back to their birthplace. |
Mayor_sekou
Member
Username: Mayor_sekou
Post Number: 1237
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 7:30 pm: | |
That would be great but I dont see it. Both Ford and Chrysler have pretty big complexes out there in the burbs so and they look relatively modern. |
Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 3661
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 7:37 pm: | |
Ford's real estate is all mortgaged, to boot. In addition, why would Ford subject their employees to city of Detroit personal income taxes? Doesn't make much, if any, sense.
Ditto for Chrysler, except that they haven't mortgaged their assets--yet. The new owners of Chrysler won't budge from Auburn Hills. Why should they? |
Lilpup
Member
Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 2578
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 7:43 pm: | |
Ford now is rather literally in Henry Ford's birthplace. Their HQ hasn't been in the city since...Piquette? The Highland Park plant was built in 1908. But the Ford family has HUGELY contributed to the city over the years.
Chrysler never was in Detroit - their HQ was also in Highland Park.
GM is the only one with a long time corporate HQ presence actually *in* the city. |
Taj920
Member
Username: Taj920
Post Number: 239
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 7:45 pm: | |
I think we should be more concerned about them staying in business. |
Rustic
Member
Username: Rustic
Post Number: 3128
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 8:22 pm: | |
BRING BACK PACKARD! |
Burnsie
Member
Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 1119
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 8:25 pm: | |
BRING BACK HUDSON! |
56packman
Member
Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1607
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 9:13 pm: | |
Rustic--I like the way you think. |
Rustic
Member
Username: Rustic
Post Number: 3129
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 9:17 pm: | |
56', ... the site IS available |
Rustic
Member
Username: Rustic
Post Number: 3130
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 9:20 pm: | |
Burnsie ...they couldn't call it Hudson, it would have to be Marshall Fields ... er ... um ... I mean Macy's |
Burnsie
Member
Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 1120
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 9:26 pm: | |
Speaking of Hudson, I didn't know until I read the Jean Maddern Pitrone (sp?) book that the car company was named after J.L. Hudson, since he was the main investor that got it going. He was an absentee investor, not showing much interest in the actual day-to-day operations of the company. |
Rustic
Member
Username: Rustic
Post Number: 3132
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 08, 2007 - 9:27 pm: | |
hey kinda like bill ford ... |
Trainman
Member
Username: Trainman
Post Number: 491
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 5:33 am: | |
It's time to learn that NEW big three.
SMART
DDOT
SEMCOG
Michigan's answers are more taxes and not jobs, until we get new elected officials that care about the working class people. |
321brian
Member
Username: 321brian
Post Number: 406
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 5:47 am: | |
UGH. Trainman.
You should just write one post and then cut and paste. It would be easier.
Riding the bus sucks. Working class people don't usually ride the bus. Poor people do, and as far as i know they don't vote much. So, good luck getting politicians to care about them.
Didn't we just have a small thread about the big 3 and detroit anyway? |
Toolbox
Member
Username: Toolbox
Post Number: 1095
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 7:37 am: | |
Ford and Chrysler never left the city as far as HQ's go. Ford was in HP and moved to Dearborn and Chrysler was in HP and moved to Auburn Hills. |
Chris_rohn
Member
Username: Chris_rohn
Post Number: 317
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 9:49 am: | |
Brian, you'd be surprised how many "working" and "non-poor" people ride the bus when the routes work in their favor.
Particularly in the Woodward & Gratiot corridors. |
Iheartthed
Member
Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 1327
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 10:41 am: | |
I think Detroit would have an easier time attracting the American HQ's of foreign car makers. Now that Daimler and Chrysler have divorced, where is Benz's North American component going to be HQ'd? Obviously, metro Detroit would be the ideal place for Benz to have it's American HQ, considering the history, so why not in the city? |
Craig
Member
Username: Craig
Post Number: 210
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 12:26 pm: | |
Foreign OEMs are not coming to Michigan, let alone Detroit. That Nissan could have come but opted for Nashville is a frightening indication of how others truly regard the calibre of our local auto expertise.
The only viable way out of this mess is to grow market share. |
Dan_the_man
Member
Username: Dan_the_man
Post Number: 28
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 12:42 pm: | |
On the other hand, Toyota has a huge tech center here, so they must not think it's too bad. |
Scs100
Member
Username: Scs100
Post Number: 1369
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 1:37 pm: | |
Brian, that has to be one of the dumbest posts I have ever read. |
Iheartthed
Member
Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 1331
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 1:41 pm: | |
>The only viable way out of this mess is to grow market share.
And have the local economy remain as vulnerable as ever to this industry? That may be a way of fixing the american auto companies, but sitting around and waiting for the auto companies to fix themselves is not a viable solution for Detroit's economy. |
Professorscott
Member
Username: Professorscott
Post Number: 614
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 2:20 pm: | |
I agree with lheart. The only viable way out of this mess is to diversify our economy.
Look around, folks. Do you see any televisions made in the United States? How much of the clothing you buy is made here?
We have been shoved into the post-manufacturing era in the U.S., and it's adapt-or-die time. |
321brian
Member
Username: 321brian
Post Number: 407
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 3:12 pm: | |
Why did my post suck?
If you want posts that suck just wait for Trainman to post something. Talk about one trick.
Hey, if you like the bus more power to you. Me, I like the freedom to run errands and do whatever else I want to do on my way home.
And don't try to tell me politicians care about poor people. |
Professorscott
Member
Username: Professorscott
Post Number: 615
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 4:02 pm: | |
321brian, more and more of my non-poor peeps ride the bus, despite the less-than-wonderful schedules and service. Try it some day when you don't have a lot of errands; if you're going any significant distance it's much cheaper than driving around on $2.80 gasoline. Warning, though: it's a lot slower; you're trading time for money.
Back to the main topic: do you think Chrysler will even stay in Michigan at all, headquarters-wise? They will still have a big presence here but my sneaking suspicion is they will move the suits closer to where the hound can keep a closer eye on 'em. |
Scs100
Member
Username: Scs100
Post Number: 1370
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 4:11 pm: | |
Brian, I was criticizing the middle of your post, not the attack on Trainman. Plenty of non-poor people take the bus, it's how I get around most of the time when I'm by myself. And the only time it sucks is when you hit some massive pothole going at a pretty good speed. |
Craig
Member
Username: Craig
Post Number: 212
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 5:48 pm: | |
I agree that a diverse economy is probably the safest bet for long-term health, but consider what is possible today. For every additional vehicle sold by "Detroit" thousands of dollars come into the local economy. In the long-run something as lucrative could, possibly, develop in Detroit, but who can wait that long to eat?
The big thinkers can ponder how to cultivate sea food or relaunch the area as a hotspot for music, but the people designing, building and marketing vehicles offer the only solution that will stop today's hemorrhage.
Re: Toyota here... good point. But why do you think that Nissan passed us over? |
Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 3670
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 6:43 pm: | |
Toyota has six research centers in the US with two being in MI--AA and Plymouth. The UofMI's nearby location is probably the sole reason for their having any MI presence.
AFAIK, Toyota does little, if any, manufacturing in MI. However, Toyota has manufacturing operations in California, Missouri, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Texas, in addition to two Canadian manufacturing centers. |
Trainman
Member
Username: Trainman
Post Number: 493
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, August 09, 2007 - 7:19 pm: | |
321brian, after all my posts you just don't get it.
I want Michigan to have jobs and not high taxes.
I have the very best bus service in the entire world because I drive a car but I want to support the handicapped with my tax dollars and good quality bus service also which is essential to our area. I prove this with many facts on my webpages.
I want to take over SMART and run it myself or see someone who knows how to do this. Then I will support transit tax proposals.
Livonia lost bus service because people just simply got tired of constantly waiting up to two hours for the late buses. If the buses ran on time, the voters would have kept SMART.
I led the fight to keep SMART and got hundreds of passengers but SMART and DDOT refused to take care of these people and they both lost because of poor service.
321brian, there is just no excuse for buses running up to two hours behind schedule on Plymouth road nearly every other day and no posted timetables. The transit advocates tried to get support but our leaders in Lansing said NO.
The state leaders pretended to care with the DARTA agreement that really SUCKED because of no money from Lansing to coordinate city and suburban buses and some people just laughed and joked but it was not funny to me because I really do care.
The state officials at Livonia city hall knew about the SMART buses that I filled up with strong industry support and they not only ignored me but very openly and publicly supported the state transit cuts and the trucking industries demand for large freeway interchanges such as Beck Rd/I-96 with a multi-million dollar grant but no money to keep SMART in Livonia.
Wal-Mart refused to keep the large bus shelter and Livonia city hall knew of this multi-million dollar federal transit loss but looked the other way.
321brian, I care about people and I will get my message across because SMART is required to provide a study on the Livonia loss and they know they must come back or they will lose federal transit grants, if they don't. |
Kaptansolo
Member
Username: Kaptansolo
Post Number: 85
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 - 12:14 am: | |
I read somewhere not too long ago that the reason most of the foreign auto manufacturers steer clear of Detroit and the midwest in general is because the rank and file workers in this region are used to high wages and will not settle "easily" for lower wages...in an automotive manufacturing facility. Supposedly, this is why many of them decide to open plants in the south.
Cars vs. the bus
I live in New York City and I still own a car. It is hard to give up. I do ride mass transit most of the time if I am working in Manhattan or if I am going to be at the same site for an extended number of days.
Being a Detroiter though "cars" are a part of "my" culture. Cars are a part of Midwest culture...PERIOD. New York has a vibe that does not require a vehicle but...move out to Jersey or Long Island and it is not much different than the Metro Detroit suburbs. These areas I just mentioned require cars as well as Michigan. Here it does not matter whether you are rich or poor when it comes to mass transit. Although the upper class does tend to use taxis and or car services on a regular basis.
I'm glad to hear people here who do seem to understand that Detroit was built and maintained itself based on high paying manufacturing jobs. The taxes were lower at one time because the auto industry carried much of the tax burden.
The problem today is corporate america which runs the auto industry is not interested in whether it's rank and file workers make a lot of money. Henry Ford believed in hiring people who would be with him for the rest of their lives. That is not the social air of corporate america today. Stockholders want huge returns on their money and they do not give a damn about a blue collar worker being able to afford a home.
I am all for them coming back to Detroit along with the Pistons. I think there is more than enough vacant property to accommodate research and development facilities, plants and HQ of anything that would be made...but, corporate america is not interested in saving a city like Detroit. I mean that is like trying to get people to save old ball parks and giant train stations. The problem is the people who want to save it are not great enough in numbers to keep whatever they want to save breathing financially.
Look at Route 66. I have driven the mother road and had a blast finding all these old places that were once great but...in spite of a new interest in the road...semi trucks and most people are not going to start using it as a real artery for transportation and that is what it would take to make it work.
just my opinion... |