Detroit still in ruins, why?

[robbert]

I found these disturbing videos on YouTube, they're recent [[February 2012).

Brewster Housing Projects, Febr. 2012

insulationking has made lots more vids on the demise of Detroit on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=935djO02MtM

So very sad to see these kinda ruins. Most of the two layered low houses still don't seem too bad, why on earth was such a vast part of the city abandoned? Is it known if the Detroiters who lived here, have been able to collect their belongings before they [[had to?) abandoned their homes? Some of the houses seem full of very private property. I do not understand.

[kenneth]

I'm sure the answers are more complex than a forum like this would have room for, and beyond my understanding, but being a native Detroiter, I'll venture an opinion.

The biggest problem facing Detroit since the riots of the late 60s is the removal of the tax base, which started with the "white flight" to the suburbs after the city burned and lost 50 or so people in the riot of '67. Combined with the shrinking auto industry since then, Detroit has never had a financial foundation to build from. The city of 2 million people in 1970 is now about 800K, from what I've read, such that the city cannot provide basic services to all those within its city limits and has embarked on an effort to "downsize" the city, razing whole [[largely abandoned) neighborhoods to try and consolidate into a smaller geographical area.

Some of the photos of the city showing previous city streets which have gone "back to nature" are peaceful and disturbing at the same time. There's a famous photo of what looks like a field in the country, with a Stop sign in the middle sticking up through the weeds, harkening back to what was once a city street.

Surprisingly, the downtown area is amazingly vibrant. Because of the low value of much of the downtown real estate after the 1970s, much of the original theatres and other historic buildings remained in place [[though many were falling apart), inspiring many to rebuild and restore some beautiful buildings such as the Fox Theatre, the Detroit Opera House, unlike other cities where much of the city's landmark buildings were torn down. People throughout metro Detroit go downtown now to special events, but then pile in their cars and head back to the suburbs, unfortunately.

So that's my brief take on the subject. I'm sure Marv2 and other native Detroiters will have more to add.

[marv2]

Detroit ain't that bad. There are places I've seen where urban blight is as bad or worse. Give a Detroit a break. It did not get into this condition overnight and it will not reverse it overnight. Mayor Bing and the people of Detroit are doing amazing things at this moment.

Kenneth, I think you did a great job of summarizing how Detroit got to where it is today. Today in 2012, believe it or not, the city is in better shape than it was just 5 years ago.

[kenneth]

Kenneth, I think you did a great job of summarizing how Detroit got to where it is today. Today in 2012, believe it or not, the city is in better shape than it was just 5 years ago.

I'm glad to hear it...I haven't been there in at least 10 years...! I should go there again. I do miss the city.

[marv2]

I'm glad to hear it...I haven't been there in at least 10 years...! I should go there again. I do miss the city.

I am there a minimum of 4 times a year and average about 6 visits a year. People are going to be surprised at how well Detroit is going to rebound!

[arrr&bee]

Well i'm glad to hear it's not total ruins,i'm seeing images of acient greece,rome or my living room after a hooch party[detroit will recover before my living room does]!

[marv2]

Well i'm glad to hear it's not total ruins,i'm seeing images of acient greece,rome or my living room after a hooch party[detroit will recover before my living room does]!

JAI! LOL!!!! Thank you for giving me a real good laugh this afternoon buddy!

Marv

[paladin]

I visit Detroit about twice a year, usually for Bears games and found the city to be vibrant and the people friendly. There are certainly areas that look devastated including homes and once vital factories, but the city is as busy and entertaining as any other. Access to most venues are relativity easy, the food is good and I have never not been impressed. Jai pass the juice......... The images of the Brewster projects are no different than the ones I lived in in Chicago [[Robert Taylor) which at one time was the largest public housing area in the nation. They have all been razed....hopefully they will never build any more.

[Roberta75]

I was in Detroit last year and downtown Detroit is looking well. I had to visit a friend in nearby Highland Park which looked like a war zone, but there are areas like Highland Park in all major cities.

I have a soft spot for Detroit, plus the people are some of the warmest in our nation.

Roberta

[marv2]

I visit Detroit about twice a year, usually for Bears games and found the city to be vibrant and the people friendly. There are certainly areas that look devastated including homes and once vital factories, but the city is as busy and entertaining as any other. Access to most venues are relativity easy, the food is good and I have never not been impressed. Jai pass the juice......... The images of the Brewster projects are no different than the ones I lived in in Chicago [[Robert Taylor) which at one time was the largest public housing area in the nation. They have all been razed....hopefully they will never build any more.

Hey I remember the Robert Taylor Homes. I also remember Cabrini Green. I had a cousin that lived there in the sixties. By they way, they will be demolishing the old Packard Plant in Detroit. It was one of the sites that folks always pointed to as an example of the urban decay in Detroit. It's coming down and will cost the city $ 6million to demo it. That is another thing people need to take into consideration when talking about Detroit's vacant and damaged structures and that is the cost to tear down these buildings is substantial.

[jobeterob]

How come Detroit is always singled out for being in trouble?

[marv2]

How come Detroit is always singled out for being in trouble?

Because they don't have Hockey riots there?

[Constantin]

How come Detroit is always singled out for being in trouble?

It is not exactly trouble but those ruins are kind of fascinating for many people who don't live here.
Two photographers released a book which is a collection of all the buildings in ruins:*Yves Marchand &*Romain Meffre "THE RUINS OF DETROIT".*
A powerpoint "Hiroshima vs Detroit, who won the war?" using pictures of this book was also widely available by e-mail.
Finally many journalists did stories about it like this one from Al-Jazeera:*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02x8EHXPfB0

Personnally I visited Detroit and I liked the city founding it quite fascinating but what I found astonishing is that very few people were in the streets [[around the Motown museum or the New Bethel Baptist Church for instance).

[robbert]

Thank you all for your comments. I do have more insight now.
I saw many pictures out of the book on Detroit last year, probably on or via SDF.
I think I could compare it with the situation in the south-eastern suburbs of Amsterdam that were built in the sixties and seventies and in the past ten years have been abandoned and/or renovated and/or demolished, because most people ddidn't want to live like that anymore, the whole area was tenement housing.
So, if I understand it correctly, most suburbs of Detroit - or should I say the outer parts of the centre - are now sort of wasteland with empty buildings here and there? In general, I love to see ruins, but this is a complete other story, of course. And Woodward Avenue, in which part is that?
To go from 2 million to 800K is something Amsterdam would not have survived either, at least not undamished.

[kenneth]

Thank you all for your comments. I do have more insight now.
I saw many pictures out of the book on Detroit last year, probably on or via SDF.
I think I could compare it with the situation in the south-eastern suburbs of Amsterdam that were built in the sixties and seventies and in the past ten years have been abandoned and/or renovated and/or demolished, because most people ddidn't want to live like that anymore, the whole area was tenement housing.
So, if I understand it correctly, most suburbs of Detroit - or should I say the outer parts of the centre - are now sort of wasteland with empty buildings here and there? In general, I love to see ruins, but this is a complete other story, of course. And Woodward Avenue, in which part is that?
To go from 2 million to 800K is something Amsterdam would not have survived either, at least not undamished.

Robbert,

Actually, it's the opposite. The suburbs are where all the population is. It's the city which has many abandoned neighborhoods and areas.

Highland Park [[and also Hamtramck) are somewhat unusual cities in that they are contained completely within, and are completely surrounded by Detroit. [[I forget the term for this.) Someone mentioned Highland Park above. It used to be the Chrysler headquarters, and was largely left with nothing when Chrysler moved to the 'burbs. So Highland Park as well is generally considered part of Detroit, though it really is its own city. Sadly, it has yet to bounce back in any meaningful way though as others have pointed out much is going on to try and revitalize these inner sections of the city.

Woodward Avenue is the main thoroughfare. It more or less splits the city into its "east side" and "west side", running North and South all the way from downtown to the far reaching suburbs. [[There's another whole Detroit culture which separates "east siders" from "west siders," or at least there used to be.

[robbert]

Thank you, kenneth. I'm gonna do now what I should have done on forehand: look up Detroit on Google Maps!

........

Which I did now.

Woodward Avenue is a LONG avenue indeed, from Jefferson Fway near the Canadian border [[the water way) up until Pontiac in the "far" north. In The Netherlands we don't have avenues like that, we're too small a country for that! Which, of course also had its advantages.
I must remember that in infrastructural terms almost everyhing in the US is on a h-u-g-e scale compared to what I'm used to.

[glencro]

It would be nice if this cameraman would take that same camera to places like Rosedale Park, Indian Villiage, Palmer Woods, East & West Outer Drive. These are areas in the city of Detroit that are well kept with manicured lawns and some even have mansions and mini mansions. I've seen the same kind of blight in Philly, Chicago and a few other cities.
Right now the crime is out of control especially amongst our youth [[but I blame that on the parents or lack of parents). I was born and raised in Detroit and lived here 90% of my life on earth. There are great people here and it is a great city that definitely has its problems and could definitely use some cleaning up.
Corruption in local government is definitely one of the reasons why so many things are not up to par as they should be. We have a great downtown. Awesome summer festivals and if ou are open minded enough, there's so much going on in the social circuit that the word boredom should not be a part of your vocabulary. I applaud Chrysler for sheading light on the positive side of Detroit and believe that this city will make a full turn around.

[marv2]

It would be nice if this cameraman would take that same camera to places like Rosedale Park, Indian Villiage, Palmer Woods, East & West Outer Drive. These are areas in the city of Detroit that are well kept with manicured lawns and some even have mansions and mini mansions. I've seen the same kind of blight in Philly, Chicago and a few other cities.
Right now the crime is out of control especially amongst our youth [[but I blame that on the parents or lack of parents). I was born and raised in Detroit and lived here 90% of my life on earth. There are great people here and it is a great city that definitely has its problems and could definitely use some cleaning up.
Corruption in local government is definitely one of the reasons why so many things are not up to par as they should be. We have a great downtown. Awesome summer festivals and if ou are open minded enough, there's so much going on in the social circuit that the word boredom should not be a part of your vocabulary. I applaud Chrysler for sheading light on the positive side of Detroit and believe that this city will make a full turn around.

Oh Glencro, it is going to make a turn around. It has already started. I initially hated leaving Detroit when I was relocated first to Philadelphia. When I landed in Philly in the 80's I could not believe it. Back then it was almost completely covered in graffitti ......whole neighborhoods. Even the stop signs were covered with it. I took my first drive over to Camden, NJ and didn't want to get out of the car at first it was so bad. I felt sorry for the kids living over there.

Detroit has always been a tough city. It is going to rebound and you'll see people moving back. Remember when anything that was not nailed down moved to Atlanta and Houston starting in the 80's?

[motown_marc]

For the first time after 18 years I will be in Detroit again in May to visit the Motown museum. My last visit was the re-opening of the museum, combined with the exhibition in the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. I also plan to visit the locations I have read so much about in all the books, like the Brewster Housing Projects. After having watched the video on YouTube, it seems that I might be just in time. Other items on my list are the Supremes'homes on Bella Vista, the Motown Mansion [[have to look up the address on that one). I am also fascinated by the abandoned railway station. Are any of these locations dangerous to go to? I don't want to enter, just pass by and make video and pictures.

Other locations I have thought about visiting are Florence Ballard's grave and some former houses of other Motown artists. In 1994 we visited on our honeymoon and went to a Motown fundraiser at the Roostertail. That's another place I would like to visit now. Any suggestions from you Motown experts?