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.

12	Chicago–Gary–Kenosha, Illinois–Indiana–Wisconsin CMSA	9,157,540	$51,046
13	Bloomington–Normal, Illinois MSA CMSA	150,433	$50,795
14	Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, Washington CMSA	3,554,760	$50,733
15	New London–Norwich, Connecticut–Rhode Island and Providence Plantations MSA	293,566	$49,283
16	Madison, Wisconsin MSA	726,526	$49,223
17	Detroit–Ann Arbor–Flint, Michigan CMSA	5,456,428	$49,160

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

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