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The '''decline of Detroit''' refers to the continuing major economic and demographic decline the city of ] has gone through in recent decades. The ] has fallen from a high of 1,850,000 in 1950 to 710,000 in 2010. Some of the ] in the United States are now occurring in Detroit, and huge areas of the city are in a state of severe ].


{{R from merge}}
==Contributors to decline==
{{See also|Rust Belt}} {{R to section}}

The ] of Detroit has been a major factor in the population decline of the city.<ref>{{cite web |first=Nicole |last=Hardesty |url =http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/23/detroit-decline_n_813696.html#218521 |title =Haunting Images Of Detroit's Decline (Photos) |publisher =The Huffington Post |date =March 23, 2011 |accessdate=February 10, 2013 }}</ref> It is thought by some, such as economist ], that the decline was sparked by race-based city policies which caused more affluent whites to leave the city (sometimes known as "]"), reducing the tax base, and leading to fewer employment opportunities and customers in the city.<ref>{{cite web |first=Walter |last=Williams |url =http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/121812-637538-detroit-collapse-was-due-to-race-based-politics.htm?p=full |title =Detroit's Tragic Decline Is Largely Due To Its Own Race-Based Policies |publisher =Investor's Business Daily |date =December 18, 2012 |accessdate=February 10, 2013 }}</ref>

=== 1950s job losses ===

], closed since 1958.]]
In the postwar period, the city had lost nearly 150,000 jobs to the suburbs. Factors were a combination of changes in technology, increased automation, consolidation of the auto industry, taxation policies, the need for different kinds of manufacturing space, and the construction of the highway system that eased transportation. Major companies like ], ], and ], as well as hundreds of smaller companies, declined significantly or went out of business entirely. In the 1950s, the unemployment rate hovered near 10 percent.

=== 1967 Detroit riot ===

{{Further|1967 Detroit riot}}

The summer of 1967 saw five days of African American riots in Detroit.<ref name="Voting With Their Feet">] (2011-03-29) , '']''</ref><ref name="Young, Coleman p.179">Young, Coleman. ''Hard Stuff: The Autobiography of Mayor Coleman Young'': p.179.</ref> Over the period of five days, forty-three people died, of whom 33 were black and ten white. There were 467 injured: 182 civilians, 167 Detroit police officers, 83 Detroit firefighters, 17 National Guard troops, 16 State Police officers, 3 U.S. Army soldiers.

2,509 stores looted or burned, 388 families rendered homeless or displaced and 412 buildings burned or damaged enough to be demolished. Dollar losses from arson and looting ranged from $40 million to $80 million.<ref name="ref1">{{cite web|url=http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6553/ |title=Michigan State Insurance Commission estimate of December, 1967, quoted in the ''National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders'' AKA ''Kerner Report'' |date=1968-02-09 |accessdate=2011-04-24| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20110605064836/http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6553/| archivedate= June 5, 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

==== Economic and social fallout of the 1967 riots ====

]

After the riots, thousands of small businesses closed permanently or relocated to safer neighborhoods, and the affected district lay in ruins for decades.<ref>Sidney Fine, ''Violence in the Model City: The Cavanaugh Administration, Race Relations, and the Detroit Riot of 1967'' (1989)</ref>

Of the 1967 riots, politician ], Detroit's first black mayor, wrote in 1994:

{{quote|The heaviest casualty, however, was the city. Detroit's losses went a hell of a lot deeper than the immediate toll of lives and buildings. The riot put Detroit on the fast track to economic desolation, mugging the city and making off with incalculable value in jobs, earnings taxes, corporate taxes, retail dollars, sales taxes, mortgages, interest, property taxes, development dollars, investment dollars, tourism dollars, and plain damn money. The money was carried out in the pockets of the businesses and the white people who fled as fast as they could. The white exodus from Detroit had been prodigiously steady prior to the riot, totally twenty-two thousand in 1966, but afterwards it was frantic. In 1967, with less than half the year remaining after the summer explosion&mdash;the outward population migration reached sixty-seven thousand. In 1968 the figure hit eighty-thousand, followed by forty-six thousand in 1969.<ref name="Young, Coleman p.179"/>}}

According to the conservative ] ] (an African American, like Young):
<blockquote>
Before the ghetto riot of 1967, Detroit's black population had the highest rate of home-ownership of any black urban population in the country, and their unemployment rate was just 3.4 percent. It was not despair that fueled the riot. It was the riot which marked the beginning of the decline of Detroit to its current state of despair. Detroit's population today is only half of what it once was, and its most productive people have been the ones who fled.<ref name="Voting With Their Feet"/>
</blockquote>

===1970s and 1980s===
The 1970 census showed that whites still made up a majority of Detroit's population. However, by the 1980 census, whites had fled at such a large rate that the city had gone from 55 percent white to only 34 percent white in a decade.

The departure of middle class whites left blacks in control of a city suffering from an inadequate tax base, too few jobs, and swollen welfare rolls.<ref>Heather Ann Thompson, "Rethinking the politics of white flight in the postwar city," ''Journal of Urban History'' (1999) 25#2 pp 163-98 </ref> According to Chafets, "Among the nation’s major cities, Detroit was at or near the top of unemployment, poverty per capita, and infant mortality throughout the 1980s."<ref>Z’ev Chafets, "The Tragedy of Detroit," '' New York Times Magazine'' July 29, 1990, p 23, reprinted in Chafets, ''Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit'' (1991).</ref>

Detroit became notorious for violent crime in the 1970s and 1980s. Dozens of violent black street gangs gained control of the city's large drug trade, which began with the heroin epidemic of the 1970s and grew into the larger ]. There were numerous major criminal gangs that were founded in Detroit and dominated the drug trade at various times; most were short-lived. They included The ] (east side), Nasty Flynns (later the NF Bangers) and Black Killers and the drug consortiums of the 1980s such as ], Pony Down, Best Friends, ] and the ].<ref>{{cite book|author=Carl S. Taylor|title=Girls, gangs, women, and drugs|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NlpHAAAAMAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Michigan State University Press|page=44}}</ref> The Young Boys were innovative, opening franchises in other cities, using youth too young to be prosecuted, promoting brand names, and unleashing extreme brutality to frighten away rivals.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ron Chepesiuk|title=The War on Drugs: An International Encyclopedia|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=V1rjd3cBI84C&pg=PA269|year=1999|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=269}}</ref>

Several times during the 1970s and 1980s Detroit was named the arson capital of America, and repeatedly the murder capital of America. Often Detroit was listed by FBI crime statistics as the "most dangerous city in America" during this time. Crime rates in Detroit peaked in 1991 at more than 2,700 violent crimes per 100,000 people.<ref name="cus.wayne.edu"></ref> Population decline left abandoned buildings that have become magnets for drugs, arson, and other crime.

Around ], a traditional day for pranks in late October, Detroit youth went on a rampage called "]" in the 1980s. A tradition of light-hearted minor vandalism, such as soaping windows, had emerged in the 1930s, but by the 1980s it had become, said Mayor Young, "a vision from hell."<ref>Coleman Young and Lonnie Wheeler, ''Hard Stuff: The Autobiography of Mayor Coleman Young'' (1994) p 282</ref>

The arson primarily took place in the inner city, but surrounding suburbs were often affected as well. The crimes became increasingly more destructive. Over 800 fires were set in the peak year 1984, overwhelming the city's fire department. Hundreds of vacant homes across the city were set ablaze by arsonists. The fires continued to happen but the number was sharply reduced by razing thousands of abandoned houses that often were used to sell drugs as well—5000 in 1989-90 alone. Every year the city mobilizes "Angel's Night," with tens of thousands of volunteers patrolling areas at high risk.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicholas Rogers|title=Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=stWZ_UDteMIC&pg=PA100|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=98–102}}</ref><ref>Zev Chafets, ''Devil's Night and Other True Tales of Detroit'' (1990) ch 1</ref>

==Problems==

===Population decline===

{{Further|Demographic history of Detroit}}

].]]
Long a major population center, Detroit has been going through a major reduction in population; the city has lost about 60% of its population since the 1950s;<ref>{{cite web |first=Kamelia |last=Angelova |url =http://www.businessinsider.com/the-incredible-decline-of-detroit-photos-2012-10?op=1 |title =Bleak Photos Capture The Fall Of Detroit |publisher =Business Insider |date =October 2, 2012 |accessdate=February 10, 2013 }}</ref> only ] and ] have seen declines of 60% or more within the same time frame, with Youngstown often being compared to Detroit on a much smaller scale due to its ].<ref>. MLive.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-23.</ref>

Detroit reached its population peak in the 1950 census at over 1.8 million people, and decreased in population with each subsequent census; as of the 2010 census, the city has just over 700,000 residents, adding up to a total loss of 60% of the population.<ref name="NYT Census">{{cite news|last=Seelye|first=Katherine Q.|title= Detroit Census Confirms a Desertion Like No Other |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/us/23detroit.html?_r=1|work=The New York Times|date=March 22, 2011|accessdate=March 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211498/Detroits-amazing-transformation-captured-camera-loses-ONE-MILLION-residents-60-years.html#axzz2KX2qavQ5 |title =Derelict Detroit: Gloomy pictures chart the 25-year decline of America's Motor City |publisher =Daily Mail |date =October 1, 2012 |accessdate=February 10, 2013 }}</ref>

A major change in the racial composition of the city also occurred over that same period; from 1950 to 2010 the black/white percentage of population went from 16.2%/83.6% to 82.7%/10.6%.<ref name="news.nationalpost">{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Richard|title=Graphic: Detroit Then and Now|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/01/graphic-detroit-then-and-now/|newspaper=National Post|date=February 1, 2013|accessdate=April 1, 2013}}</ref> Approximately 1,400,000 of the 1,600,000 white people in Detroit after ] have left the city, with many going to the suburbs.<ref name="harpers" />

===Crime===

{{Further|Crime in Detroit}}

] in 2010.]]
Detroit has serious problems with crime; the crime rate is one of the highest in the United States, with a rate of 62.18 per 1,000 residents for property crimes, and 16.73 per 1,000 for violent crimes (compared to national figures of 32 per 1,000 for property crimes and 5 per 1,000 for violent crime in 2008).<ref name="Detroit crime rates and statistics">{{cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/detroit/crime/ |title=Detroit crime rates and statistics |publisher=Neighborhood Scout |accessdate=July 1, 2010}}</ref> Nearly two-thirds of all murders in Michigan in 2008 occurred in Detroit.<ref name=UCR>{{cite web|url=http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/data/table_08.html |title=Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City, 2008 |publisher=Fbi.gov |year=2009 |accessdate=2013-02-06}}</ref> In 2012 Detroit was the most dangerous city in the United States for the fourth year in a row.<ref>{{cite web |first=Daniel |last=Fisher |url =http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2012/10/18/detroit-tops-the-2012-list-of-americas-most-dangerous-cities/ |title =Detroit Tops The 2012 List Of America's Most Dangerous Cities |publisher =Forbes |date =October 18, 2012 |accessdate=April 1, 2013 }}</ref>

According to a 2007 analysis, Detroit officials noted that about 65 to 70 percent of homicides in the city were drug related.<ref>{{cite web |first=Steve Malik |last= Shelton |url =http://www.michronicleonline.com/articlelive/articles/2322/1/Top-cop-urges-vigilance-against-crime/Page1.html |archiveurl =http://web.archive.org/web/20080802131457/http://www.michronicleonline.com/articlelive/articles/2322/1/Top-cop-urges-vigilance-against-crime/Page1.html |archivedate =2008-08-02 |title =Top cop urges vigilance against crime |publisher = Michigan Chronicle |date =January 30, 2008 |accessdate=March 31, 2013 }}</ref> The rate of unsolved murders in the city is at roughly 70%.<ref name= time>{{cite news|first=John |last= Huey |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1925681,00.html |title=Assignment Detroit: Why Time Inc. Is in Motown |publisher=Time.com |date=Sept. 24, 2009 |accessdate=2012-12-09}}</ref> A Forbes report said that Detroit was the most dangerous city in the United States for the 4th year in a row, citing data from a 2010 survey by the ]; their findings concluded that the city's metropolitan area had a significant rate of violent crimes: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.<ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57537441-504083/detroit-is-most-dangerous-city-in-america-for-fourth-year-in-a-row-forbes-report-says/ |title =Detroit is "Most Dangerous City in America" for fourth year in a row, Forbes report says |publisher =CBS News |date =October 22, 2012 |accessdate=April 1, 2013 }}</ref>

===Urban decay===

] in 2012.]]

A significant percentage of housing parcels in the city are vacant, with abandoned lots making up more than half of total residential lots in many large portions of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.detroitparcelsurvey.org/pdf/Detroit_Residential_Parcel_Survey_Presentation.pdf |title =Detroit Residential Parcel Survey |publisher =Detroit Residential Parcel Survey |date =February 2010 |accessdate=April 1, 2013 |page=26}}</ref> With at least 70,000 abandoned buildings, 31,000 empty houses, and 90,000 vacant lots, Detroit has become notorious for its ].<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|last=Binelli|first=Mark|title=How Detroit Became the World Capital of Staring at Abandoned Old Buildings|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/magazine/how-detroit-became-the-world-capital-of-staring-at-abandoned-old-buildings.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2012-11-09}}</ref><ref name="wired" />

Detroit has been described by some as a ].<ref name="wired">{{cite news|last=Brook|first=Pete|title=Captivating Photos of Detroit Delve Deep to Reveal a Beautiful, Struggling City|url=http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2013/01/detroit-dave-jordano/|newspaper=Wired|date=2012-01-29}}</ref><ref name="couriermail" /> Parts of the city are so thoroughly abandoned they have been described as looking like farmland or even completely wild.<ref name="harpers">{{cite web|last=Eagleton |first=Terry |url=http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/detroit-arcadia |title= Detroit Arcadia |publisher=Harpers.org |date=July 2007 |accessdate=April 1, 2013}}</ref>

To attempt to improve stability, there are hopes to concentrate Detroit's remaining population into certain areas to improve the delivery of essential city services which the city has had significant difficulty providing (policing, fire protection, schooling, trash removal, snow removal, lighting, etc).<ref name="wired" />

The average price of homes sold in Detroit in 2012 was $7,500; 47 houses in Detroit were listed for $500 or less, with five properties listed for $1.<ref name="couriermail">{{cite news|last=Koremans|first=Sonja|title=Homes still selling for $1 in Detroit|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/realestate/homes-for-1/story-fnczc1bg-1226559204461|newspaper=The Courier-Mail|date=January 22, 2013|accessdate=April 1, 2013}}</ref> Despite the extremely low price of Detroit properties, most of the properties have been on the market for more than a year as buyers balk at the boarded up, abandoned houses of Detroit.<ref name="couriermail" /> Detroit’s unpaid property taxes totaled $17.6 million in 2012.<ref name="couriermail" />

=== Poor literacy levels ===

A 2011 report by the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund stated that 47 percent of Detroiters are "]."<ref name="detroitcbslocal">{{cite web |url =http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/05/04/report-nearly-half-of-detroiters-cant-read/ |title =Report: Nearly Half Of Detroiters Can’t Read |publisher =CBS Detroit |date =May 4, 2011 |accessdate=April 1, 2013 }}</ref> The Fund’s Director, Karen Tyler-Ruiz, explained how this manifested itself: "Not able to fill out basic forms, for getting a job - those types of basic everyday things. Reading a prescription; what’s on the bottle, how many you should take. Just your basic everyday tasks."<ref name="detroitcbslocal" />

On May 6, 2011, Forbes reported that the Detroit Regional Workforce fund report "contains no research" and that it was unclear where the organization got the 47 percent statistic. The article also stated that the claim that 47% of Detroiters are functionally illiterate "has been a staple of white supremacist Web sites for at least a decade." The magazine went on to say that they believe the source of the 47% claim is based on a single estimate in one 1998 computerized extrapolation that is based on data from a 1993 national survey which "did not include statistics at the municipal level."<ref></ref>

On April 25, 2012, in the Metro Times, Danny Devries, a data analyst at Data Driven Detroit (D3), said: "Dissecting the origin of this statistic is more about the poor data literacy of some of our news agencies than it is about Detroit's literacy rates,"<ref></ref>

According to a recent detailed report by the Hudson-Webber Foundation, Detroit’s greater downtown—which includes the central business district, Corktown, Mies van der Rohe’s Lafayette Park, Wayne State University, and the Cass Corridor, with its cluster of arts and cultural institutions—is more affluent, more diverse, and more educated than the city as a whole. Within the district’s 7.2 square miles (18.6 sq km) live 36,550 people, resulting in a density exceeding 5,000 per square mile (1,955 per sq m). College-educated residents age 25 to 34 make up 8 percent of the population of greater downtown compared with just 1 percent for the city as a whole, 3 percent for the state of Michigan, and 4 percent for the nation. More than 42 percent of young adults in greater downtown are college educated, compared with 11 percent for the city, 29 percent for the state, and 31 percent for the nation.<ref>http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2013/Apr/FloridaDividedCity</ref>

=== City finances ===

On March 1, 2013, ] ] announced the state was taking over the financial control of the city from the local government.<ref name="ctvnews">{{cite web |url =http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-takes-over-detroit-s-finances-amid-financial-emergency-1.1163889 |title =Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder takes over Detroit's finances amid financial emergency |publisher =CTV News |date =February 20, 2013 |accessdate=April 1, 2013 }}</ref> The state is requesting a review team to look over the financial state of the city and determine if an emergency manager is needed to take over control of city spending from city council.<ref name="ctvnews" />

On March 14, 2013, Michigan's Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board (ELB) appointed an emergency financial manager, ], effective on March 25, 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57577-297131--,00.html |title =Snyder confirms financial emergency in Detroit, turnaround expert Kevyn Orr appointed EFM |publisher =michigan.gov |date =March 14, 2013 |accessdate=April 3, 2013 }}</ref> In mid-May 2013, Orr released his first report on Detroit’s finances since he took the job.<ref name=foxnewsemergencymanager>{{cite web |url =http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/13/report-by-emergency-manager-says-detroit-finances-are-crumbling-and-future-is/ |title =Report by emergency manager says Detroit's finances are crumbling, future is bleak |publisher =Fox News |date =May 13, 2013 |accessdate=May 15, 2013 }}</ref><ref name=usatodayfinancialmanager>{{cite web |first=Matt |last=Helms |first2=Joe |last2=Guillen |url =http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/13/detroit-emergency-financial-manager-report/2155081/ |title =Financial manager: Detroit 'dysfunctional, wasteful' |publisher =USA Today |date =May 13, 2013 |accessdate=May 15, 2013 }}</ref> The results were generally negative regarding Detroit’s financial health.<ref name=foxnewsemergencymanager /><ref name=usatodayfinancialmanager /> The report said that Detroit is "clearly ] on a cash flow basis."<ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22514588 |title =Detroit 'clearly insolvent', says emergency manager |publisher =BBC |date =May 13, 2013 |accessdate=May 15, 2013 }}</ref> The report said that Detroit will finish its current budget year with a $162 million cash-flow shortfall<ref name=foxnewsemergencymanager /><ref name=usatodayfinancialmanager /> and that the projected budget deficit is expected to reach $386 million in less than two months.<ref name=foxnewsemergencymanager /> The report said that costs for retiree benefits are eating up a third of Detroit’s budget and that public services are suffering as Detroit's revenues and population shrink each year.<ref name=usatodayfinancialmanager /> The report wasn't intended to offer a complete blueprint for Orr's plans for fixing the crisis; more details about those plans are expected to emerge within a few months.<ref name=usatodayfinancialmanager />

On July 18, 2013, Detroit filed for bankruptcy, the largest U.S. city ever to do so.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/18/detroit-prepares-bankruptcy-filing-friday/2552819/ |title=Detroit files for bankruptcy protection |work=] |authors=Nancy Kaffer, Stephen Henderson and Matt Helms |date=July 18, 2013 |accessdate=July 18, 2013}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal|Detroit|Michigan}}
* ]
* ]
* '']''
* ]

'''Unions:'''
* ]
* ]
* '']''

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

]
]
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