How Detroit Went From Good to Bad to Good Again

did you know that when Detroit filed for bankruptcy in 2013 it was the largest city bankruptcy filing by debt ever estimated at a massive $8 to20 billion or that in the 1950s Detroit was the richest city in the US and maybe even the world according to some people based on this it probably won't surprise you to learn that Detroit has faced a lot of challenges over the years from the collapse of its automotive industry during the 2008 financial crisis to the city own bankruptcy filings in 2013 however despite these negative events Detroit wasn't always a place of hardships and in fact during its early years Detroit was one of America's most promising cities what might be even more surprising is that recent offense even suggests that things might be looking up for the city today but what's the cause of all the ups and downs Detroit has faced over the years well today on across the globe we're going to be looking at how Detroit went from good to bad to good again part one Detroit's early years and initial rise while Detroit was technically founded all the way back in 1701 due largely to its strategic location near the Great Lakes it wasn't until the late 1800s that the city really started to take off while due to multiple factors this success was largely driven by an industrial boom with for instance the Eureka Iron Works Factory being developed in 1864 4 which laid the groundwork for Detroit's future in manufacturing during this time the City's population Grew From 4,619 in 1860 to 285,000 4 by 1900 reflecting its status as a prominent industrial Hub at the time Detroit was viewed as an important city both nationally and globally even earning the nickname the little Paris of the Midwest due to its French Roots PR minent architecture and thriving cultural scene but it was during the early 20th century that Detroit's success really took off and marked the beginning of Detroit's Golden Era due largely to explosive growth in its automotive industry as you probably know Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company in Detroit whose Rouge River industrial complex quickly became the largest integrated Factory in the world by 1932 with over 100,000 workers and 12 Mi of conveyor belts in its massive factory this was largely due to Ford's implementation of the assembly line which significantly lowered the cost of production and in turn made automobiles accessible to the American middle class in addition to Ford Detroit was also home to two other major car manufacturers Chrysler and General Motors or GM together these companies were known as The Big Three and were huge players in the US and Global car markets the success brought about by Detroit's automotive industry resulted in significant social and economic impacts for the city Detroit became a symbol of the American dream as it offered solid employment opportunities and a high standard of living meanwhile its population quickly growing Detroit started to make key advancements in public infrastructure and services for instance public schools libraries and healthc Care Facilities were constructed along with numerous cultural attractions like the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Public Library by the year 1930 Detroit's population had soared to over 1.5 million making it the fourth largest city in the United States this population boom was driven not only by European immigrants looking for work opportunities in Detroit's factories but also by black migrants from the south seeking better economic opportunities during the Great Migration which describes the movement of black Americans from the south to the north west and Midwest between 1910 and 1970 by the time 1950 rolled around Detroit had reached what many would consider its peak as it was the wealthiest city in the country having the highest GDP per capita despite Detroit's early success however its industrialization and demographic changes also brought challenges the city's Reliance on the automotive industry made it espe especially vulnerable to economic downturns like the Great Depression Additionally the influx of migrants and immigrants led to social tensions particularly racial conflicts that would become more pronounced in the latter part of the 20th century part two Detroit's downfall suburbanization and white flight following World War II Detroit saw a significant shift in its demographics take place specifically during this time many of Detroit's white residents began moving to the suburbs a phenomenon known as white flight this Exodus was fueled by several factors including the availability of affordable automobiles as we saw earlier Suburban development and a trend towards suburbanization and the construction of interstate highways that better allowed for commuting from the suburbs to the city however also during this time discriminatory practices like redlining which denied mortgages to minority buyers in white neighbor neighborhoods led to issues within the city of Detroit itself in that it saw increasing segregation as white families continued to leave the city Detroit's tax base began to erode leading to a decline in public services and further accelerating this outward Migration by the 1960s the City's population had begun to decline and the racial composition of Detroit was shifting rapidly tensions exploded in July 1967 when Detroit Detroit experienced one of the largest urban riots of that time further accelerating the city's decline sparked by a police raid on an unlicensed bar the riot quickly turned into a full-blown Uprising against systemic racism and police brutality over the course of 5 days Detroit witnessed huge amounts of violence and destruction with 43 people killed almost 1,200 injured and over 7,200 arrested the rioting also result resulted in large amounts of property damage including nearly 1,400 buildings burned or destroyed combined with the white flight that was already happening at the time and Detroit's history of discrimination against minorities the race riots further led to Detroit's image of a city in Decline de-industrialization and economic decline in addition to Detroit's social issues the city soon started facing economic issues as well while as we saw earlier the city's rap rapid growth was founded upon industrialization things took a turn for the worse when the process of de-industrialization began in the 1960s this period marked the beginning of a long gradual decline for Detroit as it completely changed the city's economy and eventually contributed to its bankruptcy de-industrialization started happening as the world became increasingly globalized as a result the big three car manufacturers started facing significant competition from abroad especially from Japan and Europe who were able to produce cars more cheaply due to lower labor costs and more efficient production methods in response American automakers including the big three began shifting their production facilities abroad and to other regions within the United States where it was more affordable to manufacture the impact of these shifts on Detroit was huge the city's manufacturing which had been the foundation of its economy for decades began to crumble as factories closed or moved away unemployment rates soared and crime began to rise as the manufacturing jobs that had once provided a stable middle class for many of Detroit's residents disappeared the city's tax base eroded even further this financial strain made it increasingly difficult for the city to maintain its public services and infrastructure and despite efforts to diversify its economy by the end of the 20th century Detroit was grappling with some pretty serious problem problems 2008 financial crisis while Detroit was in a troubled spot by the end of the 20th century things didn't get better for it when the early 2000s rolled around in fact things got much worse particularly for the automotive industry there were several key factors that led to trouble for the big three first the automotive industry was hit hard by the 2003 to 2008 oil crisis which led to a significant increase in fuel prices this in turn made the relatively fuel inefficient car models produced by the big three less attractive to Consumers who were increasingly turning to more fuele efficient vehicles offered by Foreign producers the situation was made even worse by the 2008 financial crisis as this led to a big decline in consumer spending and tightened credit markets making it difficult for consumers to finance new cars as a result The Big Three soon found themselves with an even greater decline in sales by the time late 2008 rolled around the big 3's Financial situations were in pretty bad shape Chrysler and General Motors were facing bankruptcy which would eventually lead to massive job losses in response to these manufacturers impending bankruptcies the US government intervened with a bailout plan ultimately though Chrysler and General Motors could not avoid bankruptcy all together Chrysler filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May of 2009 followed by General Motors a month later as you can imagine the bankruptcy of Chrysler and General Motors had a hugely negative impact on Detroit making things much worse for a city that was already struggling with Decades of industrial Decline and population loss the automotive industry had long been the backbone of Detroit's economy and the bankruptcies led to significant job losses not only directly within Ford Chrysler and General Motors but also across the automotive industry's network of suppliers and associat ated businesses the unemployment rate in Detroit surged during this time and Detroit's tax base eroded even further as people lost their jobs and homes over the course of the next few years Detroit's population dropped dramatically seeing a 25% decline between 2000 and 2011 which totaled a loss of over 73,000 residents as we'll see shortly this ended up causing even more problems for the city as in order to be financially stable the city of Detroit relied on a tax base of about 750,000 people at a minimum Detroit's bankruptcy in 2013 if you think the bankruptcy of Detroit's largest car manufacturer sounds bad things unfortunately still got worse for the city confronted with years of a declining population in tax revenues alongside the auto industry's collapse Detroit found itself unable to cope any longer in 2013 the city of Detroit filed for chapter 9 bankruptcy which was the largest city bankruptcy filing in US history by the amount of debt ultimately this filing showed that the city was unable to meet its financial obligations and marked a new low point in Detroit's history as you can imagine the residents of Detroit were significantly affected by both the auto industry's collapse and Detroit's bankruptcy filings communities were disrupted by job losses and house foreclosures with even schools facing budget cuts and closures to make matters worse Detroit's status as a city in Decline made it harder than ever to attract new Investments businesses and residents crime as Detroit saw its financial troubles continue to mount its levels of crime started to rise as well and Detroit would soon be known as one of the most dangerous and crime-filled cities in the US in the 1980s Detroit frequently had some of the highest homicide rates in the ation this was made worse by huge amounts of corruption in its Police Department further contributing to issues with crime while crime decreased after its peak in the 1980s it still remained a major issue for the city for example in 2006 the violent crime rate in Detroit was at a whopping 2,419 incidents per 100,000 people compared to 564 per 100,000 elsewhere in Michigan and 479 per 100,000 in the rest of the US while that rate dropped slightly in subsequent years it still has remained over 4 and a half times the national average crime rate and as you can imagine this has further led to Detroit's decline as a city part three Detroit's comeback so where does Detroit stand today well after Decades of economic decline Detroit is surprisingly showing signs of experiencing a Revival as seen in the city's decreasing crime and violence new developments amenities and young professionals seeking opportunities there one of the most visible signs of Detroit's comeback is the transformation of its downtown area once a ghost town after business hours present day downtown Detroit is seeing far more signs of life for instance the opening of Little Caesar's arena in 2017 home to the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Pistons kickstarted development in the area additionally the district Detroit a massive 50 block development has brought new residential retail and entertainment options to the Heart of the City in addition to its downtown area neighborhoods like Midtown and Corktown have also seen revitalization Midtown where large institutions like Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center are located has become a new Hots spot for young professionals and entrepreneurs meanwhile Corktown which is one of Detroit's oldest surviving neighborhoods has transformed into a hub of activity following the opening of new restaurants breweries and residential developments the city's comeback has also been fueled by a growing startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem organizations like Tech toown and the Detroit entrepreneurship Network have provided resources and support for entrepreneurs helping to foster a thriving startup community so much so that Detroit was recently named a top emerging startup ecosystem system Detroit's Resurgence has also caught the attention of major corporations and organizations in 2022 for instance Forbes chose to host its prestigious 30 under3 Summit in Detroit recognizing the city's potential and attractiveness to young entrepreneurs another positive for Detroit is that its levels of crime have decreased in recent years in 2023 for instance Detroit saw the lowest homicide levels in 57 years along with significant declines in shootings and carjackings specifically the number of homicides dropped 18.4% between 2022 and 2023 the number of non-fatal shootings 15.8% and the number of carjackings 33.5% this decline in crime has been attributed to a number of factors including a huge collaboration effort among federal state and local government and Community agencies while challenges remain including the need to address the city's High poverty rates improve education and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities Detroit does show promising signs of making a comeback as more people and businesses are drawn to Detroit's Community the city's future looks brighter than it has in decades what about what happened to Oakland California

Channel: Across The Globe

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Keywords: how detroit went from good to bad to good again, how detroit recovered, how detroit bounced back, how detroit got better, detroit from bad to good, detroit better, detroit now vs then, detroit, michigan, america, across the globe

Id: uJLxz2Jtsz8

Length: 16min 24sec (984 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 31 2024