NEWS > BUSINESS > PONTIAC’S DEMISE SENDS U.S. CITIES FLEEING IN FEAR

PONTIAC’S DEMISE SENDS U.S. CITIES FLEEING IN FEAR

April 28 2009

Detroit, MI – Many things have been lost in this most recent depression. Some of those things will likely never come back. Defunct companies and newspapers have now passed into the annals of history never to be seen again. While the economy is beginning to show baby steps towards recovery the erosion in some area continues as companies continue to cut back brands and foreclosures continue to put people
out of house and home. In normal times the elimination of an entire city would come as a shock, but as people continue to struggle to end of Pontiac has been met with near apathy.

First settled in 1818 on the outskirts of modern day Detroit, the city of Pontiac has served as a partner to the big city in more ways than one. As a home to many of the workers in Detroit and for nearly thirty years the home of the Detroit Lions, Pontiac and Detroit have long been attached at the hip. With Detroit acting as the epicentre of the economic collapse of the country, that once beneficial relationship has now doomed Pontiac to the same fate as banks and newspapers across the country, to a memory.

“For many people the idea of a city being totally abandoned is an odd thing to consider but that’s where the term ghost town came from. The old west image of tumbleweed blowing through the streets is something of an anachronism in today’s world but that is what happened in those days and it continues to happen now,” said Scrape TV Real Estate analyst Ann Lewis. “Huge chunks of Detroit have been left bare for years so it only makes sense that we would begin seeing that in the outskirts. Cities are real estate and when that land loses its value sometime the only solution is to just ditch it.”

Other examples of modern ghost towns include Centralia, Pennsylvania which has had a nearly fifty year underground fire, and Prypiat, Ukraine which was poisoned by nuclear fallout after the meltdown at neighbouring Chernobyl. While ecological disasters are a common theme for abandoned cities, the economic apocalypse that has ravaged Michigan has left Pontiac as dead to the world as any of those cities.

“There are probably more than a few cities in The United States that could and should
be on the chopping block but Pontiac was just the closest to collapse and so was the logical one to go first. Unfortunately I can’t imagine what will be done with the property. The clean up alone will cost a fortune that will be difficult to recoup even for the most clever of investors,” continued Lewis. “The most surprising thing about this closure isn’t the happening of it but rather the fact that GM had the power to close the city by themselves. True they are in the best financial position of all of the big three but the fact that they owned so much of the city is a bit of a surprise. There aren’t a whole lot of privately owned cities in the country and this closure is evidence that maybe it isn’t such a good idea.”

GM also announced that they would be shutting down production of the Pontiac line of cars which drew its name from the city.  The dual closure is seen as a move toward fiscal liquidity rather than some kind of poetic gesture.

“The big three are under tremendous pressure to change their business model and that includes unfortunately cutting brands and assets. The people of the city aren’t going to be very happy about having to find a new place to live but those are the breaks
sometimes. People all across the world have had to deal with change and Pontiac is no different from the rest of the world, outside being closed that is,” continued Lewis. “Maybe if the economy in Detroit improves they will be able to reopen the city. Of course if it takes too long even those few people who would want to move make may be dissuaded by the rats and wild dogs that have overtaken the city. People moved out of Detroit for a reason.”

Rumours are that GM may look to sell the city but even regular buyers such as China are a little strapped for cash at the moment and are unwilling to purchase such luxuries.

William Ashford, Business Correspondent

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