Preview

Why Did Detroit City Collapse

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1947 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Did Detroit City Collapse
Detroit had been in decline since it was rocked by race riots in 1967. Since then, there has been a real drop-off in investment and economic development in the city. Like a lot of other cities in the American northeast and Midwest, it was badly affected when factories moved south or out of the country, but was harder hit because it was a one-industry city. Most big cities have more than one industry, but Detroit's economy was completely centered on the automobile. When the Recession hit, Detroit dealt a major blow along on top of the corruption and mismanagement. Many areas of Detroit became abandoned by residents after business and companies left. Detroit’s abandoned buildings have become dangerous and a real eye sore.
Detroit and many parts
…show more content…
Detroit at one time was the four largest city in 1950 with 1.8 million people. In the 2010 census, the city had fewer than 700,000 residents. Detroit has the highest unemployment rate of any major city in the nation. This is both a cause and effect of the population situation. With few jobs, so people go elsewhere. The high cost of the city’s government drivers, employers away and make other people less willing to relocate there. Other big reason us that Detroit has 18 billion in general obligation debt. A lot of the debt is due to the result of public pensions. Detroit has about 3 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. The city was buried in pension cost because it had too many public workers. Even though Detroit’s populations had cut down its public sector just kept growing. In 2011, the city had more than 12,000 employees more than other comparably sized city in the country according to The Detroit News. There was also a lot of corruption going on Former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a Democrat, was convicted in March of 24 federal felony offenses, including mail fraud, wire fraud, tax evasion, racketeering and extortion. Prosecutors said he gave out jobs to friends and family, wasted city tax dollars on fraudulent contracts and pocketed more than $1 million in illegal kickbacks. Also the crime was going up and the police had no way to respond. Much of the city’s financial …show more content…
Lenders are also responsible for the problems in Detroit. Banks gave loans to business that had a high risk of failing. Detroit should help pay for its comeback. Banks are discriminating against Detroit due to their past mistakes. A settlement with local banks could help hundreds of millions of dollars go around. Detroit business can prove that billions in lost property values and millions in property tax due to the actions of banks. Then they can use the cash for comeback programs. Detroit is so far in debt, it needs a way to restart the city’s economy, which could be done if large corporations come to Detroit and start opening factories, which can produce jobs and help the city. The best way to do this would be to take advantage of the fact that Detroit has a large number of abandoned buildings. Detroit could use this to its advantage. Detroit can drop some of the expenses that normally occur when trying to build a factory and make it less expensive than building overseas

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1.Nicknamed the "City within a City," this development in downtown Detroit ws the brainchild of Henry Ford II. It was designed to revitalize downtown and bring new economic growth to Detroit. It became one of the largest privately funded real estate projects in history.…

    • 2092 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Geo Group Case

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages

    However, there's no way to understand Gary's current predicament without taking a brief stroll down memory lane. Gary, a city that's 85% African American and once an industrial goliath, is now a shell of its former self. When the steel mills closed their doors and shipped their services abroad, as corporations did in so many Midwestern cities and towns, tax revenue…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cnbc House of Cards

    • 2971 Words
    • 12 Pages

    People started to buy houses that they couldn’t afford and then they were left behind leaving. The economy is falling and so are the communities. Insects, graffiti, dirty pools are left behind since people are evicted and people don’t have were to go.…

    • 2971 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frontier Cities Summary

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The book focuses on cities like New Orleans, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Montreal to bolster this thesis. However, this book also clarifies that this development…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before World War I, Detroit’s population was only about 1 percent African American. This was because most still lived in the South. The increase of the black population in Detroit began around 1910. This was because many men were sent to war, and industrial jobs needed to be filled in order to support the war. The opportunity was appealing to the African American population, and many migrated…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Today most people rise to recognize Detroit as a vacant metropolitan city with countless empty houses and buildings that have given the surge to the suburbs of America. Detroit is heart of the U.S. auto industry and home to the Detroit Tigers, the Red Wings, Eminem, The White Stripes, and even Motown. The Motor City once boasted one of the nation’s highest median family incomes, thanks to well-paying jobs connected to the assembly lines of the city. Today however, the 313 has experienced major population and industry rise and decline. A majority of outside journalism, people generally not from Detroit, have recently portrayed the city in a negative light.…

    • 1864 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Berry Gordy Biography

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Detroit, located near the Great Lakes, was the biggest city of heavy industry in the 1950s and 1960s. The Big Three automobile companies such as Ford, GM and Chrysler, had their manufacturing plants in Detroit at that time. People called this city as Motown, a compound word of Motor Town.…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tap Water Became Toxic

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages

    To begin with, Two years ago Michigan decided to save money due to the state was facing a financial crisis. However, it was only…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People from countryside began to move to the city because if the number of factories so they could get better paid work. People who moved from the countryside moved to the city because farm workers pay was very low. Also, due to the inventions and use of new machines there were fewer jobs on farm. (www.nettlesworth.durham) Due…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Detroit Potholes Problems

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Since 2005, more than 1 in 3 Detroit properties have been foreclosed because of mortgage defaults or unpaid taxes” (Kurth and MacDonald). On almost every street in Detroit you can find at least one…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Genuine Progress Indicator

    • 2143 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The city of Detroit, Michigan was once the most prosperous, ‘booming’ cities in the world, especially in the second half of the twentieth century. This was thanks to their automotive industry, ‘the Big 3’. ‘The Big 3’ included Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, who all have their world…

    • 2143 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1967 Detroit Race Riots were called “one of the most violent urban revolts of the 20th century” (Wang, n.d.). The riots were one of the main causes for Detroit’s harsh economic decline and deterioration. The once booming city with a population of over two million people produced products that changed people’s way of living. Today, Detroit sits in poverty and is the center of despair. Through the examination of civil unrest, deindustrialization, and trends of high crime rates, it will become apparent that these events were caused by the 1967 Detroit Race Riots and led to the economic decline of the once booming motor city.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I am a resident of Florida, I strongly believe that the housing crush back in 2006-2008 started our decline to the jobless rates, along with many of the shady schemes that were being done by investors and realtors in the market, many people were purchasing homes, and a lot of mistakes were made to homeowners who have since then suffered from foreclosures, bankruptcy and job losses. Much of Florida also had to do with tourism, when the economic bust happened, a lot of people in the entertainment and service industry also got hit badly, because they found themselves out of a job.…

    • 3880 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Detroit Riots

    • 2346 Words
    • 10 Pages

    “The 1967 Detroit riot marked a point in U.S. history at which racial tensions between African Americans and whites reached deadly proportions” (Greene & Gabbidon 195-196). Riots in Detroit have occurred before over issues such as race, economics, and justice. The first major riot in Detroit was in March 1863, caused by a trial of an African American man for rape, and was powered by the local press. After that, Detroit tried to avoid major civil violence for a long time. This occurred even when riots broke out in other major cities after World War I. Detroit was able to avoid large social disturbances until June 1943. During this time, there were poor housing conditions and racial tensions that caused a violent riot. Nine white people and twenty-five black people were killed along with destruction of millions of dollars of property. The city responded to this riot by creating a committee on racial relations, but violence only got worse (Kutler 21). Detroit has had some famous riots, but it is the not only city that has endured them.…

    • 2346 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mecca of the automobile industry a ghost city. In the late nineteenth century, Henry Ford opened the factory that made the heart of the global automotive industry in this city. Work and wealth, led to the growth of the city, but today its neighbors do not reach 700,000. What happened? The crisis in the sector and many other factors have led the city into bankruptcy and an indication of arrest (unofficially) 50% which has prompted a mass exodus. Now if a miracle does not happen, in 2100, Detroit, could become a ghost town.…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays