Clarion Call from the Oakland Press

NEW!
Summary Editorial / Oakalnd Press / November 1, 2005
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/110105/opi_2005110105.shtml

Pontiac has 3 things going for it: Location, location, location
Web-posted Nov 1, 2005

EDITORIAL

There is a natural tendency to contemplate Oakland County's innumerable communities and to conclude there must be something wrong in Pontiac.

Stores, restaurants and related amenities abound everywhere, it seems, but in Pontiac. There, most homes are older and smaller, and the people are less prosperous as a whole. Also, the schools are older and chronically described as struggling.

The obvious questions arise: What is Pontiac doing wrong? Why doesn't it share in the county's overall prosperity?

Our thorough series of articles on the subject have been as accurate a description of the city and its residents as we could make them.

Among other things, we've all learned that city officials and many residents through the years have recognized the problems and have worked with mixed success to overcome them.
Any fair assessment of Pontiac is that it is light-years ahead of the condition it was in just 30 years ago.

The downtown is not thriving, but it is no longer virtually abandoned. The residential neighborhoods are seeing an unprecedented amount of refurbishing and new development.

And while the traditional public schools continue to fall short academically, the data say they've improved. In addition, there are new options for youngsters that no longer tie them to the school district. Independent charter schools within the district thrive, and neighboring districts welcome enrollees from Pontiac.

It is no longer possible, if it ever really was, to assess Pontiac without considering its geographic context. It is in the middle of one of the wealthiest counties in the nation in terms of personal income.

As a result, the finest names in upscale retailing, along with the biggest discounters, are within minutes of Pontiac. A big league basketball team is just across the city limits, and professional football, baseball and hockey franchises are less than 25 miles away. The biggest names in popular music perform routinely within minutes of the city's center.

Like Flint and Saginaw, Pontiac is accurately described as an "old factory town," but it has something they don't and can't have - location, location, location.

So why, then, aren't more middleand high-income families attracted to Pontiac?

It's an aging city with most homes more than 50 years old. They're also smaller than the homes factory workers, much less executives and professionals, now want and can afford.

Pontiac is not the only city in the county with neighborhoods that were middle-class but now are home to people with lower incomes.

To make Pontiac a city of higher than average incomes and education levels, it would be necessary to replace most of its homes with larger, more expensive ones. That would automatically improve the school districts' scores because the income and educational levels of the parents are refl ected in grades earned by their children.

Meanwhile, Pontiac's downtown could do a better job of taking advantage of its location in the midst of wealth, not that it hasn't had considerable success already. If middle-income residences were built there to bolster it and the city as a whole, we might have to do a quick update of our stories.

Who Cares About Pontiac? WE DO!
Oakland Press / October 23, 2005
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/102305/loc_2005102301.shtml

Housing BOOM! City at a Crossroads / Part-2
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/102405/loc_2005102403.shtml

Changing Demographics / City at a Crossroads / Part-3
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/102505/loc_2005102501.shtml

Schools in Decline / City at a Crossroads / Part-4
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/102605/loc_2005102602.shtml

Downtown DILEMMA / City at a Crossroads / Part-5
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/102705/loc_2005102702.shtml

We Deserve to Feel Safe / City at a Crossroads / Part-6
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/102805/loc_2005102802.shtml

City at a Crossroads / Part-7

City at a Crossroads / Part-8