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Comment by abbottry | Hacker News Reader

This assumes that each home has not already been stripped of copper, which is not the case. Most of these homes are bricks and wood.

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I grew up in Michigan, and I can say with a good amount of certainty: any house in Detroit that is unoccupied does not have a single thing of value left in it, especially copper. Even some places that are occupied have had their copper stripped from them, sometimes live wires that results in the death of the thief.

EDIT: Some links. Copper theft is a big deal in Detroit.

City of Detroit borrowing a page from scrappers and thieves by selling old copper wire to boost Detroit's finances.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/201...

Thieves stole copper from functioning pumping stations, leading to massive flooding in Detroit recently

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/08/13/copper-theft-a-possib...

Copper thieves caught in a sting on camera

http://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/investigations/copper-th...

Crazy. Nevermind me then. I got no idea what anon 3mil guy is doin. edit thanks for the links! nutty stuff.

Which you can also resell. You could even scrap the ovens for money and water heaters. There is far more motivation to wreck it than upkeep it. All those houses are goin doooown.

I don't think you understand. There is NOTHING in these houses. Its old, rotten wood, and crumbling brick.

The purchase of homes in Detroit is NOT to sell or repurpose ANYTHING.

I work downtown, and drive through these neighborhoods every single day to avoid traffic (thanks Google!).

Brick can be recycled but I see what you are saying. And hearing that people are getting killed pulling live wires... That would definitely imply that copper is epic loot in Detroit right now.

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