Greetings From: Detroit, MI

Robocop's coming back to Detroit. Check the story here

via CNN Money:

In an effort to close a yawning budget deficit, Michigan has approved a proposal to drastically shrink Detroit's troubled school system over the next few years.

The plan calls for the closure of 70 schools, which would cut the number of schools in the district in half by 2014, leaving only 72 public schools in Detroit. The closures would be on top of the 59 that were shuttered last year. As a result, high school class sizes would jump to 60 students each over the next few years.

The goal is to eliminate the school system's current $327 million budget deficit, according to the plan's author, Robert Bobb, who was named emergency financial manager of the 87,000-student Detroit Public Schools in 2009.

Hey friends!!! It's another edition of 'Greetings From'. This time we're hailing from Detroit, Michigan where it's apparent that people are wayyyyyyyyy too obsessed with the city's regal past than what's shaping up to be an extremely bleak future. In the wake of a massive budget deficit with the auto industry still struggling to get back on its feet after numerous government bailouts, Detroit is set to close half of its public high schools. That is in stark contrast to a $50,000 bid to erect a statue of none other than Robocop in downtown Detroit. Now, I love Robocop just as much as the next sci-fi fan, but where does this fit into the budget that funding for schools doesn't?

My beef with the typical American city's mindset, is that rather than use funds to educate young people so we can have a future generation of thinkers, governments are quick to halt spending. Governments would rather cut spending under the guise of 'saving' and turn a blind eye to frivolities than use money on things that improve cities like infrastructure, education and innovation. The sad part is, that Detroit is an exact microcosm of the economic reality of the United States as a whole. If one wants to figure out the US's budget problem, they need look no further than Detroit and how it staked its financial well-being on outmoded technologies, irresponsible borrowing and sports teams. You couldn't pay me to live in Detroit, and now that Robocop is going to be one of their main attractions, I'm sensing a future even more depressing than the one in the movie. No worries, though. [sarcasm]I'm sure those Eminem commercials will boost the economy...[/sarcasm]

The Chinese Straddling Bus

I found this courtesy of my homie Ant at Backyard Banter

Having lived in cities for all of my life, I've noticed two distinct problems that plague every city: traffic congestion and public transportation. Some cities have so many cars on the road that public transportation suffers, while other cities have so many cars that everyone suffers. The amount of vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles, bikes) on the roads today make finding sustainable ways to keep our cities' roadways moving a high priority. That said, few people have found good methods to lessen the congestion while keeping costs down. Until now. Shenzhen Huashi of China has developed an ingenious, yet remarkably simple concept to ease congestion in cities: the Straddling Bus. The bus uses the space in between different lanes on a street, and literally straddles the road, going over cars, other (smaller buses), trucks, small motor vehicles and pedestrians. It would use electric and solar energy to run, as well as be easier to construct than, say a subway. People would enter and exit the straddling bus through ladders on the side or through overpasses. Plus, the straddling bus (in the demonstration) has a capacity of 1200 people per bus, which dumps all over any other modern transport system in the world. All in all, this is an brilliant idea because it's so simple. It almost makes you wonder 'Why didn't I think of this?'. The straddling bus already has over 186 km of track ready to start construction next year, so this concept is about to make it to practice really soon. Check out the video and some flicks...