It is known that 40 percent of the 88,000 streetlights are broken and the city,
whose finances are to be overseen by an appointed board, can't afford to fix
them. Mayor Dave Bing's plan would create an authority to borrow $160 million
to upgrade and reduce the number of streetlights to 46,000. Maintenance would
be contracted out, saving the city $10 million a year. Detroit want be the only city to go dark, other U.S. cities have gone partially dark to save money, among them Colorado Springs; Santa Rosa, California; and Rockford, Illinois. Detroit's plan goes further: It would leave sparsely populated swaths unlit in a community of 713,000 that covers more area than Boston, Buffalo and San Francisco combined.
Detroit's dwindling income and property-tax revenue have required residents to endure unreliable buses and strained police services throughout the city.
Almost 22 percent of the city's electric bills were unpaid, the McKinsey report said.
That's just one reason Detroit is digging out of a $265 million deficit and saddled with more than $12 billion in long- term debt. To avoid a state takeover, Detroit agreed in April to have its finances overseen by a nine-member board appointed by the city and the state.
As Detroit's streets go dark, some of those neighborhoods may soon be no more.
