Reviving a declining city that has high crime and significant poverty isn’t easy.
Detroit is on waterfront, if rich people lived there in fancy homes and high rises the view would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I’d they found a way to attract people back to Detroit, it would likely displace many of the people who live there now, that’s part of the problem.
From what I have observed young adults, gay people (I’m sure I’ll get slammed for that stereotype) and new transfers to cities for jobs can help revive a city. Also, if a developer will renovate a huge area of the city it can be dramatic, but it’s a big money risk. By huge I mean a few blocks of shopping and residential very close by. You need to police it too.
As mentioned above, Detroit is doing some experiments with neighborhood farming. I’m waiting to see if that transforms parts of the city. I love the idea.
Maybe Detroit will eventually have mega buildings built that have work and residential in one building complex. It’s been theorized for a long time that we might live that way in the future. It makes sense in cold climates.
I haven’t been to Baltimore in years. Growing up (I grew up in Maryland, but we suburbs DC, I rarely went to Baltimore) we would hear about the crime in Baltimore and the high rate of teenage pregnancies, and other negatives I don’t remember well. There of course are some great things in Baltimore. Johns Hopkins, some very nice suburbs, and people used to like the Harbor Place, I assume they still do. I dance with a woman where I lived who lived and worked in Baltimore for years. She said where she worked was very unsafe.
You have to fix the crime. The crime keeps businesses and developers from going to cities. It’s a little bit chicken and egg.
Cities can give business huge tax breaks to help attract corporation Headquarters. It helps if there is decent education in or close to the city.