Well the corruption of the city started a long time ago. My ex-wife's family back in the late 1800s owned all the riverfront property on the American, and Canadian sides, along with Belle Isle. But from what we were able to piece together, was that a fever came through and took it's toll on the family, and left 2 teenage sisters that were swindled out of the land by landsharks. Of course back then, there wasn't the law enforcement on such things like we have today, and that is how they lost all that land to developers.

It was interesting that we met in Colorado, with me originating from Detroit, and her family's history going back that far in the same city. Her dad grew up about 10 miles from where my family lived. Talk about a small world.

But you are right, it is a shame to see it going down like that. Mostly a city of government handouts, and crime. The biggest now is narcotics. And I don't mean the ones that are bought at the local pharmacy. Well maybe the corner pharmacy, or streetlight doctor.

I know too well about Belle Isle. Same thing happenned to Bablo Island which was a big amusement park. In the late 60s and through the 70s, the hoods and the drugs moved in, and people quit going there.

That is one of the reasons the islands out in the St. Claire River where i go fishing always fight with the government on the mainland, because the people don't want bridges connecting them to each other or the mainland, which means the only way you can get to 2 of them is by ferry boat, or your own boat, and 1 of them is only accessable by personal boat. I can't say that I don't blame the people there. At least they are relatively safe from the riffraff that a bridge or series of bridges would allow to come in. ANd there are a lot of beautiful homes on the islands that people keep up. Some date back to 1880 or so. Heck, if ever things change for me, I would like to live there. It's quiet and almost like stepping back through time to the the 50s or early 60s.