Detroit again

Back when our mutual sister lived in Detroit, it was mostly known for 2 things, being a major epicenter for the crack epidemic, and Dr. Kevorkian. Even back then, she referred to the city as a "doughnut", with inhabited suburbs around outside and burned out or abandoned shells of public housing in the inside.

Today Detroit is rapidly heading into ghost-town territory. As my bro has already pointed out, the median house price in the city is down to $7,500, with no end in sight. Buyer's market? Well, it might be if there was anyone actually interested in buying a house in Detroit.

What I find interesting is the slow decline of Detroit, spread out over at least 20 years now, never gets mentioned, but the rapid decline of Katrina-stricken New Orleans does. Both cities are or were on life support. One because of a natural disaster and the other solely because of man-made problems.

So, the rule of thumb seems to be: If a massive natural disaster strikes, it's man's fault; but if man creates a massive disaster, it's no one's fault.