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Joined 10 months ago
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Cake day: February 24th, 2024

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  • Standard oil was pouring gasoline into rivers as waste before Henry Ford and his Model T came along.

    The auto industry gutted public transit across the country. GM diesel buses replaced electric urban rail systems.

    GM made the EV1 and it was a huge hit, then they destroyed them all after collecting them from their users (they leased them all, no one got a chance to buy any)

    And now, Ford just got a bunch of credit for putting a Billion $$ into the Detroit central train station, … so they can “design” EVs.

    They are mocking us, that train station has no trains because the auto industry killed them. The building was unused because of cars. And now they are going to design something that was figured out 125 years ago that they destroyed. It is a monument to their domination of our economy.

    Imagine, what kind of public transit we could have if we stopped building infrastructure for car companies and built actual mobility systems?


  • I moved to Detroit from a HCOL city I was established in. I was renting and the options I had to buy were not hopeful. The taxes alone would have kept me working for more money year over year for the foreseeable future.

    I took what would have been a down payment and bought a place outright. I bought a project and it was cheap, only half my down payment fund.

    Now I am all set up. I have no mortgage to pay. My house costs me taxes ($1700/yr) and insurance ($1500/yr) plus utilities ($50 internet, $150 gas&electric, $60 water) That is about $550/month.

    In michigan, taxable value increases are capped at 5%.

    I figure I can work any job and stay ahead of the bills. Yesterday I did a brake job for a friend of a friend for $200 and didn’t even need to leave the house. I can do things like this here and there and get by without even having a job.

    I have never known this amount of stability in housing as an adult before. It is wild. I own this whole damn house and everything in it. I also made a bunch of equity right out the gate by fixing up an abandoned trap house.

    Not trying to lay out a plan for others, just wanted to share how my plan has been a success and that Detroit is a place where home ownership is attainable.

    Oh, couple other things. I have no kids and the schools were not a problem for me. Although the neighborhood kids are all wonderful.

    I am not interested in living in “the country”. I am a city person, I want my resources close. I can walk to a hardware, grocery, and auto parts store from my place. No thanks on 30min drives to dollar general and TSC on the fancy days.