Heard a city inspector say small business owners are the reason Detroit is still rough around the edges

I was at Eastern Market grabbing supplies for my shop and this inspector told a vendor that if we all just paid for proper permits and upgrades, the city would run smoother. He said it like we're the problem, not the bureaucracy. Has anyone else run into this attitude from city officials here?

3 comments

3 Comments

piper_kim12d ago

lol city inspectors love acting like theyre the ones holding everything together but honestly that guy sounds like he just wanted to flex some authority. Detroit has way bigger issues than a few small business owners trying to get by without a red tape mountain to climb. I've seen inspectors write up vendors for dumb stuff like missing a sticker while ignoring actual safety hazards down the block. It's not that deep though, Detroit's rough edges come from decades of bad planning and neglect, not from people selling produce at Eastern Market.

rowan96911d ago

Piper you pretty much nailed it. Inspectors get hung up on the small stuff while real problems like broken sidewalks or abandoned buildings get ignored year after year. That vendor was just trying to make a living and got hit with a nitpicky rule that doesn't help anyone. The city's got way bigger fish to fry than fussing over a few produce stands at Eastern Market. Detroit's problems run a lot deeper than some missing paperwork or a slightly crooked sign. We need common sense enforcement, not power trips over technicalities.

quinncarr10d ago

Wait, did @rowan969 actually look into this specific case? Because the inspector didn't just write him up for a crooked sign. The real issue was the vendor not having a basic business license for like six months. That's not a small thing. The city's got enough problems without people operating outside the system completely. Yeah, abandoned buildings are a mess, but letting vendors skip licensing just makes everything harder to track and regulate. It's not either or. We can fix broken sidewalks AND make sure people follow basic rules. This guy got warned multiple times before they shut him down. Power trip or not, he had chances.