Issue: If Detroit Can Go Broke, Will Pensions Lead to S.D. Bankruptcies?

A border city on the water declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy. But just because it’s Detroit doesn’t mean it’s remote from our concerns—San Diego’s or other cities in the county. The current cover of Time magazine, showing a Motor City skyline, put it starkly: Is Your City Next?

Underfunded pension and health-care liabilities were more than half of Detroit’s $18 billion debt. San Diego is whittling down its own $2 billion pension gap, and voters approved a 401(K) plan for most new city employees. But the pension sword of Damocles hangs over smaller cities as well, including La Mesa.

Can a Detroit disaster happen here?  Or is that Michigan crisis—with its white flight and collapse of manufacturing—irrelevant to cities with our demographics and economic DNA?  Share your thoughts in the comments.