Detroit's Crackdown on Abandoned Structures

If the city of Detroit has its way, the weekly feature A.S.S., which appears in the Metro Times, won't be around in the future. That's because the city has just released a gigantic plan to rid or overhaul 220 abandoned structures in Detroit before the arrival of Super Bowl 2005. For those of you that are avid readers of the Metro Times, metro Detroit's weekly-published newspaper, you are well-aware of the cringing feeling that engulfs your insides each week when you see A.S.S.'s photo. For those of you not familiar with Metro Times or A.S.S., what rock have you been hiding under? Just kidding. A.S.S. stands for Abandoned Structure Squad, and is a group of writers/photographers from MetroTimes that snaps shots of forgotten, decrepit residential and commercial areas in Detroit and investigates their owners. This is just an observation, but it seems that most of the owners of the featured deathbombs do not respond to A.S.S. (although I'd be interested in finding out what the actual response statistic is). Perhaps, though, the city of Detroit will have better luck in gaining their attention...fines usually motivate people more than bad press.