Budget cuts: Detroit and Baltimore brace for impact of severe deficits

Across the country, dozens of cities are facing serious budget deficits that are requiring officials to cut everything from swimming pools to firehouses. We’re taking a closer look at two of those cities: Detroit and Baltimore. In Detroit, residents are worried that a shortfall of around $450 million may actually force the city to file for bankruptcy. Jerome Vaughn, news director at WDET joins us.

But residents of the troubled city don’t appear to be giving up. James Melton of Detroit told us:

I don’t even want to know what the value of my home has become over the last few years. I was unemployed for eleven months. But I look at the future, and I don’t feel a lot of dread. There are just so many points of light. You just can’t give up on this town.

Meanwhile, in Baltimore, hundreds of residents rallied this week to protest budget cuts that may affect everything from the City Hall vegetable garden to the police force. Marc Steiner, who hosts the Marc Steiner show on WEAA has been soliciting advice from his listeners on Facebook, on how to fix the budget problem. He shares what people are saying.