How much is too much?

Detroit – Whether it’s a new battery factory or the reboot of District Detroit, how much do we drive for economic growth?

And when a Starbucks has to close its doors due to security concerns, is that just life in the big city, or is it a sign of something seriously wrong in Midtown?

• Watch Flashpoint on Sunday February 26 at 10pm on Local 4 News and Local 4+

We are only about three weeks away from the start of spring. It’s been a relatively mild winter so you might not feel the usual urgency to get there — but we paid for the warmer temperatures last week. Colder weather would have had more snow, but instead we ended up with a nasty snowstorm that brought down branches and power lines — and brought more conversations about infrastructure and grid vulnerability. Hopefully, we’ll be battling snow or rain, not the dangerous in-between.

This morning we will talk about trade and development. For some time I’ve been inviting the people behind District Detroit to talk about what is and isn’t yet — and they’re here today to lay out the vision for us that was first promised ten years ago.

We talk about what is fair and smart when it comes to public money and spending on development and promotion. It’s a competitive world — no doubt about that. But some fear that competition will shift to the bottom, and that many of the breaks given to big companies may not be meaningfully cut.

And what about retaining existing businesses? I don’t want to sound like a coffee snob because Starbucks is closing at Woodward’s and Mack. But when they say it’s because of security problems — it’s not good. We’ll see if my roundtable can talk me out of that worry — all today at Flashpoint.