  Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 1910 Registered: 06-2006 |
At least the majority appreciates him and all he's done for the city, even if many on this forum do not... http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll /article?AID=/20070823/NEWS06/ 708230402 | ||
Rrl Member Username: Rrl Post Number: 885 Registered: 12-2003 |
While he has done some great things IN the city, I wouldn't necessarily call him a civic leader. Mike Ilitch only does things that are good for Mike Ilitch. I don't fault him for that, but if we're talking true civic leaders, I would suggest folks more along the lines of Dave Bing or Roger Penske. | ||
Tkelly1986 Member Username: Tkelly1986 Post Number: 402 Registered: 01-2004 |
They have it right that he is better than any of the Detroit and Wayne County elected officials. Not that they are a hard group to trump. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 1436 Registered: 04-2006 |
^I agree with Rrl. | ||
Goat Member Username: Goat Post Number: 9718 Registered: 10-2003 |
Ilitch just gets more media hype than Penske or Bing hence his #1 position. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 9861 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Yes, the people voting on a Freep poll (have you read the commment boards) illustrates reality. This is a poll based upon arbitrary opinions. I am guessing that many/most of the people that voted in the poll think the city should do something with all of those empty buildings Ilitch owns. A poll of uninformed doesn't amount to much. Just another situation were perception trumps reality. Ilitch has done a lot for downtown and gets a lot of positive press for it. On the other hand whenever a story is run about downtown slumlords he ususally gets a free pass. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3625 Registered: 02-2005 |
Ha. On the whole, he's done good for Detroit. He has a vision of a suburbanized downtown (see CoPa and MCC), so his developments come at a great cost. He's not the best. | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 1918 Registered: 06-2006 |
JT1: I believe this is a poll they actually conducted, and not an online poll of freep.com readers. I don't know if that changes your confidence in the results any. (Message edited by thejesus on August 23, 2007) | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 9864 Registered: 10-2003 |
Any poll that is of Freep readers drops my opinion considerably. Since this is not Freep readers I have a little more confidence in the intelligence of those voting. | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 294 Registered: 11-2003 |
Perception IS reality - not perception trumping reality. Perception is what actually affects people's decisions. What this forum forgets sometimes is that we're having a conversation with each other, who for the most part, know a ton more about issues even if we're partially informed. Even when we disagree, in a way, we're preaching to the choir. Most people do not take the civic effort to be as involved, and many cannot because they have their own lives and they tune in the week before their local election. That's why the perception battle, even though it's not reality, is so important. People make decisions on what's popular and cool - and if you want their money or want their vote for change, you need to put it into a bow and sell the idea whether you're in downtown Detroit or at Somerset Mall. Illitch has done a great job of making a cool place in the eyes of many as well as putting a nice big bow on it with the Fox and everything else, which has given him years of positive publicity. | ||
Detroitbill Member Username: Detroitbill Post Number: 304 Registered: 09-2006 |
I don't agree that Illitch has done things that only are good for Illitch. The man is obviously a good business man, and invests in projects where he thinks he can make money, but he chose to do it in Detroit, at a time when few would. He could have easily taken his money elsewhere and made money in suburban areas that were flourishing. His HQ could have been placed anywhere, probably more convenient for his employees. He chose to invest in Detroit but he wanted to see the city make a comeback, which he viewed to be good for everyone, including himself. How anyone can fault him is beyond me. Take him out of this scenario and Detroit would look much like it did in 1980 today. He provided a major part of the energy to get downtown going again. I know of few individuals in any city that have invested heavily in it not to make money somehow and at the same time improve their city. | ||
Kenp Member Username: Kenp Post Number: 744 Registered: 03-2006 |
It makes me wonder if there was no Illitch what this city would be like now. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 5803 Registered: 11-2004 |
Obviously we can't take Ilitch out of the mix & fabric of Detroit now, but he has done a fair amount of good for the City. Is he the most philanthropic guy around? Probably not but weigh the good things he's done to some of the porr things he's done and I'd say he comes out on the positive side for the most part. He's instilled some civic pride in some people and he's also instilled some hatred as well- but on an over all perception thing for the populace, I'd say the poll is pretty accurate. | ||
Apbest Member Username: Apbest Post Number: 617 Registered: 03-2006 |
regardless of whether we think Illitch is good or bad for the city, the fact that he was selected over other leaders in the metro (Patterson, Ficano, etc) shows that people care about the city more than one might think | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5173 Registered: 08-2004 |
I think that with Mr. Ilitch as an all around guy people tend to like him. It those folks who familiarize themselves with the details of the Ilitch empire's modus operandi, that people start liking him less. | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 1499 Registered: 10-2006 |
"None of the other eight civic, business and political leaders reached 50% -- though generally because many poll respondents had no opinion about them." Clearly the way the Freep framed this survey (heck, they didn't even tell us who the other 8 are) makes me frustrated. It is easy to set up a survey so that you get the results that you want. |
