8.大興土木，再造底特律

不光是底特律三巨頭會故伎重演，底特律這座城市也在一再上演同樣的故事。這座目前已經宣告破產的城市正在對主城區進行改頭換面的大改造：那兒的辦公樓被翻修一新，建了一座耗資6億美元的曲棍球場，還在伍德沃德大道上建了一條長達三英里的輕軌線。這么多大手筆的房地產投資都是旨在讓這座深陷困境的城市重新煥發活力，它秉持的理念是：“只要造好房子，人們自然會來”。不過，在底特律的歷史上，類似的做法卻一再證明只是一廂情愿、自欺欺人：早在20世紀70年代，亨利?福特二世就建起了復興中心（現在成了通用汽車的總部），80年代濱水區也曾經大興土木，90年代大馬戲公園和新中心區同樣經歷過了大規模的改造，21世紀初底特律老虎隊和獅子隊搬進了全新的市中心體育館，還建了三座賭場。底特律的這種高樓大廈比比皆是，但就是沒法吸引人們來安居樂業。只有這座城市首先能持續提供市政服務，合理收稅，同時設法解決貽害不淺的種族政策，之后，它才有可能聚集人氣。而想做到這一點，可能還需要吸取更深刻的教訓。（財富中文網）

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8. Rebuilding Detroit with bricks and mortar

There's more going round and round in Detroit than at just the auto companies. The bankrupt city is getting a downtown makeover with renovated office buildings, a $600 million hockey arena, and construction of a three-mile light rail train line on Woodward Ave. All that real estate investment is expected to spark the revitalization of a troubled city; it's the "If you build it, they will come" theory. But that's not what happened in the 1970s when Henry Ford II erected the Renaissance Center (now GM's corporate headquarters), the 1980s when large developments were built on the waterfront, the 1990s that saw Grand Circus Park and the New Center area get a lift, or the 00's, when the Tigers and Lions moved into new downtown stadiums and three casinos went up. Detroit has plenty of real estate; what is hasn't been able to do is attract the people needed to fill it up. That won't happen until the city begins to deliver municipal services on a consistent basis, rationalizes its tax base, and finds an antidote to its poisonous racial politics. And that may be a tough lesson to learn.