So I was checking out that real life wastelands thread and I watched the tour of Detroit video, and I'm just speechless. What happened to the city? I grew up in Chi-Town so I wouldn't know much of what it used to be like, but I know of how vital Detroit was to our economy 50 years ago and how it was the engine of the American economy...so how did all that happen?

If it involves politics, don't go in depth here, just a brief overview. Don't wanna get locked.

I have no idea, but just to reinforce the "wasteland" vibe I recall a co-worker going to Detroit for some conference and on his return describing it as "officially the worst place on Earth". Which I thought was a little strong, especially for someone from Merseyside, but I was left with the general impression that it was for some reason in less than pristine condition when he visited.

Long story short, Detroit had a nice industrial boom, then moved everything outward (burbs, Flint, and so on), didn't bother replenishing what left the city, consumers largely realized that Japanese cars are better and more efficient (hence why so many Honda Accords and Civics from the 80s and early 90s are still so popularly driven), offshoring became quite popular for the other industries that were prevalent, and thus Detroit is an empty wasteland that is far from finding it's niche in modern United States.

At least they have the Red Wings! Go Wings!

Pretty much they had this huge development boom in the 50s then after awhile it just crashed and not enough of it was done to save it.

I live in the D, so I have seen the downward spiral here all my life. It does go into politics, but the decline of manufacturing in the American economy was an even greater factor, along with too many years of just plain bad management. The bad times started in the late sixties, with the riots. That made a lot of people leave the inner city and migrate to the suburbs (which is where all the businesses are now). That was a gut blow to the city's tax base of course. Worse, the entire area's economy is based on one thing: The auto industry. There is a saying here. When the Big Three get a cold, everybody sneezes. The energy crisis of the early 70's, and then the serious competition of the Japanese automakers in the late 70's and early 80's slashed into the American auto companies. Chrysler nearly did go bankrupt then, and the other two were not in great shape either. When things got good economically for the rest of the country in the 90's they stayed the same here in Detroit. Then they got bad again in the 2000's, and things of course got worse. Toyota got really aggressive at the same time, and took on GM as contender for #1 carmaker. The American automakers again bled from the jugular, ending with Chrysler indeed going bankrupt, and only surviving because of Fiat. GM and Ford barely scraqed by with government loans. They are all on the rebound now, but only after hacking away at their US staff, especially the Detroit area workers. So more people unemployed.

The bad management came from decades of corrupt mayors of Detroit, starting with Coleman Young. Dennis Archer was a good man who tried to turn things around, but by the time he took over the city had become entrenched with a paralyzing bureaucracy that literally makes it nearly impossible to run a small or medium-sized business there. Not to mention a general sense of malaise throughout city services. Perhaps Archer's greatest accomplishment was getting snow plows for the city. That is right, plowing the roads of snow was a big deal, and that is only the main streets. Sidestreets don't get plows. There are not enough of them. Then after Archer City Hall went right back in the toilet with Kwame Kilpratrick, who is deservedly sitting in a jail cell right now.

It goes on and on, but that is the bare bones of it. The only things the D does have going for it are Kid Rock and the Red Wings.

Sounds like you guys need OCP to step in.

It would probably help!

As an example, I am an IT consultant and have worked at (but not directly for) two of the Big Three American automakers for the last 12 years or so. Four years ago I was part of a team of 8 people. Three years ago that was slashed to 4 people. Two years ago it was slashed to one: me. Doing the same work all 8 of us were doing previously. That is how it is all over Detroit.

:wavey: Hi neighbor! (...ypsi...)

Retired autoworker here....nobody wants to hear my opinion....I have an insiders perspective....too political....I guarantee...


[edit] GO RED WINGS!!!

*throws octopus on the ice*

From my understanding (reading Wall Street Journal), a lot of Detroit's problems has to do with politics, which cannot be discussed here.

Politics and other auto-manufacturers building plants in cheaper areas outside of Detroit in order to be more aggressive in the auto industry.

As a fellow Michigander (hi neighbors!) I always grew up with the cultural stigma that Detroit was a place you never wanted to be walking around at night. And, unfortunately, that cultural stigma hasn't changed all that much in the past 25 odd years. The "fall" of Detroit is, in my view, a perfect storm - cultural issues (the riots), political issues (horrible mayors) and economic issues (the huge majority of the Detroit / Michigan economy is tied to one industry). Will Detroit be great once more? Possibly. But it's going to take a lot of work to pull that off.

I'm actually convinced it's now safe to walk the streets of Detroit at night, by dint of the fact that NOBODY is there, there are probably a negative number of people outside at night, and anyone skulking the streets at night must be some psychotic man monster so nobody's going to bother you.

Hey! It's improved a lot these past few years!

Detroit is known as Motor City.

The car business has been bad for workers these years.

Might have played a small role in this desertion and abandonment.

Detroit didn't diversify when the handwriting was on the wall with the domestic auto industry. Pittsburgh was in a similar situation with the steel industry, but has managed to reinvent itself as a center of regional commerce, health care, education and robotics. It wasn't easy - took several decades - but it got done. Pittsburgh is now one of the biggest areas of job growth in the country. Detroit never found the political and private will to do anything about its dependence on the auto industry. When new plants are built in the US they're usually by foreign companies and located in the South. Its really a terrible situation for what was once a premier American city filled with incredible architecture and wealth.

http://www.forgottendetroit.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_Park_Historic_District

It's sad what can happen to a great city like Detroit...I went there a few times as a kid but it was kind of nice cause' we just drove around but never actually stayed there.

I believe the term is outsourcing and thats basically what happened.

Basically all of the industry has been dumped onto independent factories in third world countries, who compete for cheapest prices making the price go down making ti more efficient than putting up with unions and fair wages here in N.America.

Can't wait till we go farther and farther into peak oil and all of a sudden its no longer efficient.

Detroit is falling apart for the same reason a GM factory closed in Oklahoma. It was churning out SUVs that get horrible fuel efficiency. When gas prices rose the first time a few years back, GM ended up closing the factory down and the doors haven't reopened. Given how much Ford and Chrysler have been focusing on big trucks I doubt they have much of a reputation for fuel efficiency. This is something foreign car makers have been working on for well over a decade, and now that people are panicked about fuel efficiency these foreign car makers have a very strong lead.

Domestic brand loyalty only goes so far when it costs $50.00+ to fill up your gas tank.

Edit: Admittedly, their advance on efficiency owes mostly to the political landscape where they're based.

the ultimate blame goes to the people of detroit. i live near milwaukee which while not being as bad as detroit is making progress in that regards. horrible education system, tax everything in site and in general make it difficult for businesses to operate, crooked politicians that are kept in office by the people of milwaukee. they deserve what they got. it wasnt long ago that Ament was recalled because they found out that the city and/or county employees were getting huge retirement bonuses at the expense of the taxpayers. we are talking $100,000 bonuses for people who hadnt even worked there for 20 years.

unfortunately politics is THE key issue in both cases and its the direct responsiblity of one particular side. all i have to say is look at the differences between how california and texas are run. who spends more and who has better services.

as for the trucks and SUVs thing.............that is the biggest seller for Ford and probably why they were able to weather the storm a bit better than GM which had way to many models of the same vehicle that were all identical but had a different logo on them. How many freaking version of the Chevy lumina do you need. aside from chevy, pontiac and oldsmobile also had them with only minor differences. Ford also managed gut another 2000 jobs recently and the new hires will be paid at roughly the equivalent rate of Toyota workers. if they keep it up i figure Ford will end up being the only major US automaker in 5 or 10 years. i dont see any future for GM they hobbled by their union and pension contracts.

This. In a nutshell.

Minus the Wings. Go Rangers!