Unable to pay bill, Mich. city turns off lights

[Seedersandleechers]

Source: Kansas City Star via AP

As the sun dips below the rooftops each evening, parts of this Detroit enclave turn to pitch black, the only illumination coming from a few streetlights at the end of the block or from glowing yellow yard globes.

It wasn't always this way. But when the debt-ridden community could no longer afford its monthly electric bill, elected officials not only turned off 1,000 streetlights. They had them ripped out - bulbs, poles and all. Now nightfall cloaks most neighborhoods in inky darkness.

"How can you darken any city?" asked Victoria Dowdell, standing in the halo of a light in her front yard. "I think that was a disgrace. She said the decision endangers everyone, especially people who have to walk around at night or catch the bus.

Highland Park's decision is one of the nation's most extreme austerity measures, even among the scores of communities that can no longer afford to provide basic services.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/03/3246076/unable-to-pay-bill-mich-city-turns.html

---

This just makes me sick to my stomach.

[barbtries]

1. ripped out the poles?

why?
that was a rhetorical question, i'll read the article. but my GAWD.

[BobbyBoring]

4. To sell for scrap?

Lots of copper too!

[Laluchacontinua]

2. It really is sickening. And the fact that they had them ripped out (rather than leaving them in

place so that they could be turned on again when things got better -- or could be turned on at intervals) is very suspicious, imo.

How much did it cost them to rip out the lights?

[truthisfreedom]

3. I'm sure somebody's palm was greased so a recycler could cash in on the materials.

[Laluchacontinua]

5. So wasteful & counterproductive. To me it sounds like they're trying to drive people out.

[area51]

7. +1

It sounds to me also that they're trying to drive everyone there out. I can't even imagine that a city would do something so insane as remove the poles.

[Arctic Dave]

6. Ripped them all out? Why?

I am not a big fan of lighting up the outdoors 24/7 but you would think that taking out every other one would have helped or leaving the ones at the corners.

This is suspicious.

[TheMadMonk]

32. Actually no. Minimal lighting is better than merely inadequate.

Just enough to help people find their way, but without offering up too many alternating pools of light and darkness to hide danger.

There are many possible whys. Simplest based on other stories here is that these communities are already almost abandoned. It might be harsh, but if a community is sufficiently moribund, upkeep becomes completely unsustainable and relocation and consolidation of populations becomes necessary.

With insufficient flow rates, sewer lines can back up, spilling out into abandoned/trashed properties. Water leaks go un-noticed for too long creating weak points to either side of the original break and hastening future failures. Uncleared stormwater blockages create floods when it rains. Fires spread to neighbouring properties before they're noticed. Criminals take over abandoned properties.

[sandyj999]

8. I don't know the condition of the lights in Highland Park but

the lighting in the city of Detroit has not been properly maintained and many are rusted out at the base. I guess they don't believe in preventative maintenance, as they have gone to hell.

[Laluchacontinua]

11. Funny no preventative maintenance but willing to bear the cost to rip them out.

[caraher]

9. My guess is that they ripped them out to beat others to it

In some places metal scavengers are pretty bold... better to have the proceeds go to the cash-strapped city than into the pockets of some random person who decides to steal them.

See these pieces on http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/11478/detroit_scrap_city/">Detroiters making a living of scrap metal in general and http://detnews.com/article/20101110/SCHOOLS/11100376/Scrappers-take-anything-of-value-from-DPS-sites">stripping old school buildings.

Very sad.

[Laluchacontinua]

10. The city didn't rip them out, DTE did (Detroit Edison)

[caraher]

13. DTE did it at the request of Highland Park officials

But thanks for pointing this out; it doesn't appear that Highland Park will get a penny from scrapping them, since they already owe DTE so much money. So I guess DTE got paid rather than scrappers.

[Laluchacontinua]

18. Wow, even weirder.

[tcaudilllg]

12. It's begun.

[Laluchacontinua]

20. what?

[tcaudilllg]

22. The collapse.

[Laluchacontinua]

26. collapse of what?

[Occulus]

29. Everything.

Several communities around the country have done this in the past year. This is not a isolated case.

When a city cannot afford to light its streets, it is a very, very bad sign. canary-in-a-coal-mine, bad sign.

[No Elephants]

35. Agree, but that bridge collapse in Mineesota a couple of years back was more than a canary sign

for every city in the US, IMO

And. I'm guessing there were many canaries before that all over the US.

We were in denial, IMO.

[Thegonagle]

42. The bridge collapse in MN was actually caused by a design flaw that went unnoticed for 40 years.

That bridge was not in the greatest of shape, but it was one of the most closely monitored bridges in the state. The collapse would not have happened if not for an engineering miscalculation back in 1965 that left four sets of gusset plates (the plates which connect the members of a truss) with half the thickness they should have had.

The tragedy was that no smart person ever looked at the plans and thought "something's wrong here."

It was built as a 50 year bridge and opened to traffic in 1967, so it was nearing the end of its design life. IIRC, The state was looking for ways to make it to about 60 years at the time. They had hired a consulting firm to study the loads on the trusses, and recommend whether any reinforcement was necessary anywhere. They, too, failed to notice the undersized gusset plates, which resulted in a settlement from the consulting firm.

While it's true that infrastructure is crumbling, and we absolutely need to take care of it better, I feel that using the Minneapolis bridge collapse as an example of what can happen due to poor maintenance is misinformed. Maintenance can't prevent a faulty design from failing.

[sarcasmo]

14. Testing ground.

[hack89]

17. For what? Bad governance? nt

[tcaudilllg]

23. Not bad governance -- the abolition of freedom.

[hack89]

25. A town has gone broke - not the first in US history. nt

[FarCenter]

15. There are powerful LED flashlights that are rechargeable

Much more economical than lighting up everything all night, whether there is anyone around or not.

[Laluchacontinua]

19. You're saying everyone should carry flashlights?

Because it's cheaper than streetlights?

[FarCenter]

28. Yes, use a flashlight when you go out in the dark

And you have headlights on a car.

I have lived where there were no streetlights or other lighting at night. It is not a problem.

The city has a 200 watt streetlight just down the block from my house now that burns over 12 hours a day. It is extremely wasteful.

Consider all the CO2 that we are putting into the atmosphere to illuminate unused spaces at night, since much of night time generation is coal fired plants. Shutting off outdoor lighting at night would be a big help for climate change as well as save money.

[golfguru]

33. Why are you trying to make sense?

n/m

[Occulus]

31. Notice how DU's righties are all ho-hum about this?

I certainly did.

[Laluchacontinua]

39. mmm, yes. I don't get the mindset that says "stupid people, just carry flashlights! it's

much more cost-effective."

i don't get it at all. but it sure does let the PTB off the hook.

[wickerwoman]

34. Far more likely to result in people being robbed, raped or killed as well.

But why worry about womens' safety when there's a buck to be saved.

[Demstud]

37. LED solar powered streetlights would be better

Also, wind/solar hybrid street lights are being made to. Solutions exist, and work well. They're even American made unlike most city lighting purchased. Might be too late for this community, but it's definitely something more cities should be considering.

[FarCenter]

38. LEDs are very efficient, and they turn on and off, so they work well with motion detectors

The best solution would be for people to put these on exteriors to provide light where needed.

Lighting the middle of the street is not really necessary.

[DeSwiss]

44. Or, they could try this.....

http://www.solarlighting.com/product-categories/parking-lot-lighting

[AsahinaKimi]

16. What are they gonna do when it snows?

TURN off their Furnaces? Who the hell are these people anyway? Sounds like a bunch of thug Republicans who are going to one day, take it one step too far...

[Bandit]

21. At least they aren't asking for tax increase...

:crazy:

[Imajika]

24. Who's left to tax in some of these places?

The money just leaves and goes to other states and cities. So long as cities and states compete, the rich folks just take their ball and go somewhere else. At some point when you raise taxes further, you get less money because the people with wealth take it elsewhere.

That is the fundamental problem we really have. So long as cities and states continue competing as ferociously as they do against one another, it is very hard to really make those who can afford it pay their fair share. The only solution I really have is to dramatically raise taxes on the rich at the federal level and then distribute that additional money to cities and states in the form of block grants. This way the 1% can't just escape contributing fairly on a local and state level.

[hack89]

27. This is a tiny poor enclave of Detroit with a long history of financial problems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Park,_Michigan

[hack89]

30. Their population fell from 27,000 to 12,000 in 30 years

it looks like the rest are simply too poor to leave.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/unable-to-pay-4-million-electric-bill-michigan-city-turns-off-and-removes-many-streetlights/2011/11/03/gIQARqeCjM_story_1.html

[No Elephants]

36. Detroit has $150 million deficit and is thinking of going city manager. Unions say

it could be a bluff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/us/mayor-dave-bing-says-detroit-may-need-emergency-manager.html

[Auntie Bush]

40. But we can't tax millionaires

Pretty soon they will be ripping little old ladies out of their nursing home beds and dumping them off on the street with the homeless to save some money...rather than tax the rich.

[iris27]

41. Here in Round Rock, TX, there are many places where they just never put any lights in to begin with.

This is a commuter town for Austin with a population of 61,000. Yet the major street leading to my subdivision is as dark as the winding roads around the tiny rural town where my husband grew up (~1800 people). NO streetlights.

Once you turn into our subdivision, there are a few lights, but they are very sporadic, and nonsensically placed. The unit of mailboxes that holds the mail for the nearest 100 houses? Shrouded in total darkness. No point in having a streetlight there, right? :eyes:

But, what can you expect from a state that is 47th in tax expenditures per capita?

[DeSwiss]

43. Kick

http://www.solarlighting.com/product-categories/parking-lot-lighting">