Mourning Detroit

By EmmaZahn on Sun, 07/21/2013 - 9:38pm |

From a population of 1,422 in 1820, Detroit grows to 285,704 by 1900 and then powered by the automobile industry Detroit peaks in 1950 at 1,849,568. It then goes into decline and now sits at about 700,000 people – about where it was during the First World War. Michigan as a whole has continued to grow in population but its major urban center is now a shadow of its former self. [...] Detroit is bankrupt.

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http://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2013/07/mourning-detroit.html

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When I see photos of Detroit's abandoned buildings both great and small, I am at complete loss to understand how that level of dereliction and decay was allowed to happen. It is just devastating.

by EmmaZahn on Sun, 07/21/2013 - 9:47pm

What stands out is the lack of trees in those pictures. There is no trees growing in the wild on those empty abandoned lots. Most of the property has been abandoned for years in those pictures.

by trkingmomoe on Mon, 07/22/2013 - 9:00am

The lack of interest in urban renewal on the federal level. All the racism in the GOP and their politics. So we just let a great city die because the rich and wars need the money more. Also letting our industries leave the country for cheap labor to break strong unions.

by trkingmomoe on Mon, 07/22/2013 - 8:53am

I don't know. A couple of decades ago, the city of Atlanta experienced a decline while the metro area itself was thriving just like what has happened to the city of Detroit. Then local and state civic leaders came together and managed to stop then reverse the trend. Sure the Feds can provide funds but without a genuine will to renew the city at the local level, they are more liable to just corrupt.

I did check to see if Richard Florida was on the case. Detroit's situation affords him a great opportunity to prove his thesis. And here he is:

Don't Let Bankruptcy Fool You: Detroit's Not Dead - Richard Florida - The Atlantic Cities

by EmmaZahn on Mon, 07/22/2013 - 10:37am

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