Great Lakes

Resilience System


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Social Crisis - GL

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This working group is focused on discussions about social crisis.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about social crisis.

Members

Kathy Gilbeaux mdmcdonald

Email address for group

social-crisis-gl@m.resiliencesystem.org

From Coast to Coast, Middle-Class Communities are Shrinking

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Pew Research Center - America’s Shrinking Middle Class: A Close Look at Changes Within Metropolitan Areas

latimes.com - by Don Lee - May 11, 2016

America's shrinking middle class, a growing concern for the economy and a central issue in the presidential race, cuts across virtually all communities from coast to coast, according to a study released Wednesday.

The report by Pew Research Center found that the share of the middle class fell in 203 of the 229 U.S. metropolitan areas examined from 2000 to 2014, including major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, which saw a relatively sharp drop in its middle class.

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Detroit Residents Fight Back Over Water Shutoff: It's a Life-or-Death Situation

Of 178 homes whose water was shut off last week, 79 had restarted their supplies, triggering $21,750 in fines on top of what the residents already owed. Photograph: James Fassinger

The beleaguered city says a water shutoff is essential to recoup $89m in overdue bills. But the decision has outraged thousands of Detroiters – who have taken matters into their own hands

theguardian.com - by Jon Swaine - July 21, 2014

When the coast is clear, and the trucks from the contractor shutting off water for the city of Detroit have rolled away, the men with water keys come.

They offer residents whose supply has just been shut off a tempting deal. For $20, they will use their tools to turn the water main back on immediately, and illegally, sparing the household the agonising days spent without showering, cooking or flushing that have already been endured by at least 16,000 of their neighbours so far this year.

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What Happens When Detroit Shuts Off the Water of 100,000 People

      

Eric Thayer/Reuters

Some run dry—and others pay $30 for plumbers to illegally turn the taps back on.

theatlantic.com - by Rose Hackman - July 17, 2014

When the water trucks arrived near Arlyssa Heard’s home on the west side of Detroit at the end of June, the 42-year-old single mother of two said it felt like the entire neighborhood was being taken over. . .

. . . It may not have been a police crackdown, but what she witnessed was definitely a crackdown of a sort. Since last year, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has been turning off water at the homes of customers behind on their bills.

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With a Population in Free Fall, Detroit Turns to Planned Shrinkage

submitted by Samuel Bendett

      

Credit: ThunderKiss Photography on Flickr

americancity.org - Michaela Krauser - June 28, 2012

Detroit Mayor David Bing has promised to demolish 1,500 abandoned and unsafe houses within the next 90 days, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The decision is one facet of Bing’s greater plan to “rightsize” Detroit, encouraging residents of low-density, failing neighborhoods to move to healthier areas with larger populations. Bing plans to focus the city’s attention and funds on those areas identified as healthy, while slowly decreasing city services to other areas as a means to lower costs.

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