Vanishing City: The Story Behind Detroit’s Shocking Population Decline The news this week that Detroit’s population plunged more than 25% to just 714,000 in the last decade shouldn’t be surprising. The city’s collapse is as well-documented as it is astonishing – the population peaked at nearly 2 million in the 1950s, driven in part by a post-World War II auto industry boom now long gone. (More on TIME.com: See tilt-shift photography of Detroit) Predictably, Detroit officials have vowed to challenge the Census Bureau’s report. “I don’t believe the number is accurate,” the mayor, Dave Bing, said in a hastily scheduled news conference Tuesday. Bing’s response is understandable. But there is another story behind these numbers. (More on TIME.com: See Detroit school kids’ dreams for the future) Simply put, Detroit is at a crossroads. But for all the talk of Detroit’s revival aspirations, this week’s numbers are sobering. (More on TIME.com: See pictures of a Detroit food bank)
Detroit population drops again but loss is slowing | Detroit Sun Times American households are making more money today than they did three decades ago—in some places, a lot more. In order to find out which places have seen the greatest increase in household income, we turned to the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS), which uses historical reports from the decennial Census and the American Community Survey to track median income over time. Research site MooseRoots then adjusted all the data to 2015 dollars to filter out the effects of inflation. On the whole, households in northeastern states have seen the largest income increase since 1980, with New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont ranking among the top five. South Dakota and the District of Columbia round out the top list. In each case, household income has risen over 30% in just 30 years. Only a handful of states have seen median household incomes actually decrease since 1980—and several of them are in the Midwest. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 5. 4. 3.
Root Causes of Detroit’s Decline Should Not Go Ignored Recently Detroit, under orders from a state-appointed emergency manager, became the largest U.S. city to go bankrupt. This stirred predictable media speculation about why the city, which at 1.8 million was once America’s 5th-largest, declined in the first place. Much of the coverage simply listed Detroit’s longtime problems rather than explaining their causes. For example a Huffington Post article asserted that it was because of “racial strife,” the loss of “good-paying [sic] assembly line jobs,” and a population who fled “to pursue new dreams in the suburbs.” But a closer look suggests that Detroit’s problems, which include 16% unemployment, 36% poverty, and 60% population decline, were self-inflicted by a half-century of government excess. The foremost measure would be addressing taxes. Detroit could also help its cause with a business climate that better encouraged entrepreneurship. These regulations have emanated from Detroit’s vast, union-controlled public bureaucracy.
Nine Reasons Why Detroit Failed My hometown of Detroit has been studied obsessively for years by writers and researchers of all types to gain insight into the Motor City’s decline. Indeed, it seems to have become a favorite pastime for urbanists of all stripes. How could such an economic powerhouse, a uniquely American city, so utterly collapse? Most analysis tends to focus on the economic, social and political reasons for the downfall. One of my favorite treatises on Detroit is The Origins of the Urban Crisis by Thomas Sugrue, who argues that housing and racial discrimination practices put in place after World War II played a primary role in the decline of Motown. I’d argue that it’s closest to the truth of an explanation for Detroit today, but not quite there. Everyone seems to know the shorthand narrative for Detroit’s fall. But here’s the thing. So why has Detroit suffered unlike any other major city? If ever a city stood as a symbol of the dynamic U.S. economy, it was Detroit. Emphasis added. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Anatomy of Detroit’s Decline - Interactive Feature Mayor Coleman A. Young of Detroit at an event in 1980. Richard Sheinwald/Associated Press The financial crisis facing Detroit was decades in the making, caused in part by a trail of missteps, suspected corruption and inaction. Charles E. Edward Jeffries, who served as mayor from 1940 to 1948, developed the Detroit Plan, which involved razing 100 blighted acres and preparing the land for redevelopment. Albert Cobo was considered a candidate of the wealthy and of the white during his tenure from 1950 to 1957. Coleman A. Kwame M. Dave Bing, a former professional basketball star, took office in 2009 pledging to solve Detroit’s fiscal problems, which by then were already overwhelming. Related The Downfall of Detroit: White Flight and the 1967 Race Riots | husseinbazzi The 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street riot, was a civil disturbance in Detroit, Michigan that began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, on the corner of 12th (today Rosa Parks Boulevard) and Clairmount streets on the city’s Near West Side. Police confrontations with patrons and observers on the street evolved into one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in United States history, lasting five days and surpassing the violence and property destruction of Detroit’s 1943 race riot, which occurred 24 years earlier. The events of 1967 were not spontaneous; they had substance for both blacks and whites. The result of “white flight” around America was the unequal social conditions and relative disparities between races, particularly in communities of color such as Detroit. Works Cited Blakeslee, Jan. “”White Flight” to the Suburbs: Demographic Approach.”
The rise and fall of Detroit: A timeline Sign Up for Our free email newsletters On Thursday, Detroit made history — and not in a good way. July 24, 1701Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac establishes a French settlement, Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit (the strait), along with 100 French soldiers and an equal number of Algonquins. 1760Britain wins the city from the French. 1796U.S. forces capture Detroit from the British. Feb. 1, 1802Detroit becomes a chartered city, covering about 20 acres. 1827Detroit adopts its forward-looking city motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We hope for better days; it shall rise from the ashes). 1850Bernhard Stroh opens Stroh Brewery Company. The Stroh Brewery Company, circa 1864. June 4, 1896Henry Ford test drives his first automobile on the streets of Detroit. 1898Ford establishes the Detroit Automobile Co., producing all of two cars before the company fails three years later. 1899Ransom E. Nov. 3, 1901Ford opens his second car company, Henry Ford Co. The crumbling Packard plant, in October 2009.
Detroit Race Riot (1967) The Intersection of 12th Street and Clairmount, Saturday, July 23, 1967 Image Courtesy of the Detroit Free Press Image Ownership: Public Domain The Detroit Race Riot in Detroit, Michigan in the summer of 1967 was one of the most violent urban revolts in the 20th century. It came as an immediate response to police brutality but underlying conditions including segregated housing and schools and rising black unemployment helped drive the anger of the rioters. On Sunday evening, July 23, the Detroit Police Vice Squad officers raided an after hours “blind pig,” an unlicensed bar on the corner of 12th Street and Clairmount Avenue in the center of the city’s oldest and poorest black neighborhood. At 5:20 a.m. additional police officers were sent to 12th Street to stop the growing violence. Around 1:00 p.m. police officers began to report injuries from stones, bottles, and other objects that were thrown at them. At 2:00 a.m. Sources:Allen D.
Detroit Has Worst High-School Graduation Rate Detroit pays high price for arson onslaught Detroit — Arson is a raging epidemic in Detroit, destroying neighborhoods and lives as the city tries to emerge from bankruptcy. Even amid a historic demolition blitz, buildings burn faster than Detroit can raze them. Last year, the city had 3,839 suspicious fires and demolished 3,500 buildings, according to city records analyzed by The Detroit News. Burned homes scar neighborhoods for years: Two-thirds of those that caught fire from 2010-13 are still standing, records show. "Nothing burns like Detroit," said Lt. The Detroit News researched arson for more than three months and found that it remains a huge obstacle to renewal efforts following bankruptcy. Few neighborhoods were untouched by arson and the entire city bears its costs. "People don't realize arson is a felony. Aides to Mayor Mike Duggan, who has made fighting blight the cornerstone of his administration, declined comment on The News' findings or his strategy for reducing arson. 'Arson is like a cancer' The News found: