It’s not easy being a taxpayer in Detroit. Property taxes are disproportionately high, yet city services are abysmal. The income tax rate is the highest in the state, but an obscenely high portion of the money is spent paying back debts from years past. And today, as the city and its suburban communities decide at the ballot […]
Part one of a continuing series on abandoned buildings. More than 60,000 vacant buildings are scattered across Detroit and Highland Park, driving down property values and attracting crime, rodents and fires. This is the story of one of those buildings. Neighbors tried their best. They circled the historic, sprawling school in Highland Park to keep out […]
By Steve Neavling It’s safe to say Detroit has never seen a council president quite like Charles Pugh. The former TV reporter with no political experience swept into city hall in 2009, collecting more votes than any of his eight colleagues. Detroit’s first openly gay councilman pledged to restore faith in a council battered by […]