Detroit and Chicago

The media is full of reports about the bankruptcy of the City of Detroit. Incompetent leadership, corruption and a decline in the automotive industry are chief culprits.  It is a sad and sorry state of affairs.

And yet the Detroit metro area as a whole is healthy. Median household income is $49,000, only two thousand short of the median household income of metro Chicago. Detroit is ranked as number 17, not far behind the ranking of Chicago at number 12.

In Europe and Canada national or provincial government routinely merges local governments into metro government. If that was done in the United States a competent metro government that included the middle class would better manage their fiscal affairs. The older central city would not go bankrupt.

We should be working towards this solution.


12Chicago–Gary–Kenosha, Illinois–Indiana–Wisconsin CMSA9,157,540$51,046
13Bloomington–Normal, Illinois MSA CMSA150,433$50,795
14Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, Washington CMSA3,554,760$50,733
15New London–Norwich, Connecticut–Rhode Island and Providence Plantations MSA293,566$49,283
16Madison, Wisconsin MSA726,526$49,223
17Detroit–Ann Arbor–Flint, Michigan CMSA5,456,428$49,160






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest-income_metropolitan_statistical_areas_in_the_United_States

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