Why Did Detroit's Economy Fall Apart?

In his essay Is Detroit Dead?, Peter Eisinger investigates the slow decay and degradation of the city of Detriot, and argue that it is no longer a living city. He uses the analogy of a patient who is diagnosed with a terminal disease to help prove his point. Eisinger looks at the lack of self-governance, inefficient and eroding public services, and the shallow indigenous labour pool in Detroit, to sustain his argument that Detroit is on the cusp of death. As well, he uses other literature that points out the mass migration of Detroiters that started in the 1950s, and the rapid decline of the auto industry. Eisinger also discusses limitations in finding numerical data for the exact amount of debt Detroit has and with the proportion of Detroiters

Detroit, Michigan grew up around the automobile industry. At its peak, Detroit was the fifth-largest city in the United States, becoming the home to over 1.8 million people by 1950 (Davey, Monica 2013). The prolific population was due greatly to the success of the auto industry in the city. At that time, Detroit was flying high, its name coined “The Motor City” (americaslibrary.gov), and automobiles greatly impacted commercialization. From transporting goods to hastening production, to selling parts, to manufacturing and selling new automobiles, the auto industry completely transformed Detroit. Things seemed

In 2009 the American auto industry was in a dire economic state. Chrysler was in Chapter 11, GM was on the brink of bankruptcy, and Ford’s future was at best uncertain. The demise of the U.S. auto industry would have a devastating impact on our national economy and specifically the economies of Michigan and Ohio.

Kevin Boyle explained that the racial tension between the minorites and the white community did harm to Detroit's economy. Most of the immigrants were blacks from the southern states. While they were migrating into Detroit in a fast pace, housing were also getting filled up fast. The demand for more housing created and impact of how Detroit neighborhoods were being set up in order to keep up with the pace. Most neighboorhoos were seperated by race. White neighboroods were being created as weel as blacks only neighborhoods. The anglo-saxon European immigrants also created their own neighborhoods. While some blacks gained finacial wealth, they tried to move into white neighborhood since it was more secured and nicer. This came into an obstacule for the blacks. The white community tried everything to keep the blacks away from their neighborhood. They used local real estate agents to keep the blacks away. One of their strategies was charging the black community a price above value

On March 1, 2013, the Governor of Michigan determined that the City of Detroit was in the midst of a major financial crisis (City of Detroit, 2017). On March 14, 2013, Kevyn D. Orr was named the Emergency Financial Manager for Detroit pursuant to Emergency Municipal Loan Act (City of Detroit, 2017). On July 18, 2013 Orr filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy on behalf of the City of Detroit (City of Detroit, 2017). The bankruptcy action was approved and became effective on December 10, 2014 (City of Detroit, 2017). When the order went into effect on December 10, Orr resigned his position and budget control was returned to the city of Detroit (City of Detroit, 2017).

Detroit’s bankruptcy filing sent a cold chill down my back as I read the article. Detroit is the largest city in the United States to file for bankruptcy ever. Although Detroit might be the largest city ever to file for bankruptcy, it is definitely not the only city to file for Chapter 9. Other cities that join Detroit on the Chapter 9 list would include Jefferson, AL; Stockton, CA; Harrisburg, PA; San Bernardino, CA; Mammoth Lakes, CA; Central Falls, RI and Boise County, ID. Between these eight broke cities Mammoth Lakes, Harrisburg and Boise County were amongst those that were dismissed. The “Chapter 9 list” of cities has racked up billions of dollars cumulatively in liabilities which has resulted in the citizens ' requests for relief

On July 18, 2013 The City of Detroit became the largest city in United States history to filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in the amount was 20 billion dollars (Bomey,Priddle,Snavely 2013). How does once an productive city fall so far it has resort to filing for bankruptcy? This story of Detroit's bankruptcy starts in the 1950's. The City of Detroit has its highest population to date which is 1.85 million,which includes 290,000 manufacturing jobs (Weber,2013). With the promise of jobs that the City of Detroit offers, this attracts many African Americans from the south to move to the City of Detroit to find work. However many strikes begin to happen because many of their whites counterparts did not want to work with African Americans at that time. Next there is the expansion of the Big 3 (Ford, Chrysler, General Motors) many of these factories were not built in the City of Detroit, they were built in the suburbs of the City of Detroit. This led to many middle class whites to move from the City of Detroit to the suburbs for jobs and to start a new life for their family. Third there is the development of technology, majority of the jobs located in factories are done

In 1910 Detroit was the ninth largest city in the United States, housing the auto industry and producing metal crafts, railcars, stove works, paints, iron, brass, and copper. After World War 2 the population increased to 1,849,568 forcing a city expansion of 77.9 square miles, the city’s economy account for nearly 1/6th of the nation’s income, with the industrial sector employing an estimated 310,000 workers alone.

Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Chrysler Corporation, Dodge Brothers and Packard Motor Car Company all had automobile manufacturing and assembly processes in the city. Detroit provided many manufacturing jobs, shopping, entertainment, transportation, and housing. The 143 square miles of Detroit wasn’t quite enough room so the suburbs also began to develop. (The rise and fall of Detroit: A timeline. (2013, July 19). Retrieved December 05, 2017, from http://theweek.com/articles/461968/rise-fall-detroit-timeline) Detroit would be defined as urban because it had a build-up of the central city and spread into the suburbs. The population wasn’t high enough for it to be a megacity and with the globalization of auto production, Detroit never really reached the world city

The racial undertones of Detroit have been extremely problematic to Detroit’s real estate market for well over 50 years. These social disruptions continue to have an effect on the current residents of Detroit. During the middle of the nineteenth century, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) introduced real estate tactics such as redlining, which is the practice of flagging minority dense neighborhoods for the purposes of denying approval of mortgages or inflating the price of the homes. Redlining had a profound social and economic effect on all residents of Detroit. The white majority began abandoning and selling their homes in fear that the value of the home would plummet, leading to a great financial loss when minorities moved in the area. This idea is known as white flight, and is the primary reason that Detroit has one of the highest African American populations in the country. However, through revitalization and gentrification of the Midtown/Downtown area, Detroit is slowly becoming more diverse. Throughout history, racial politics of the mid-to-late twentieth century affected Detroit 's real estate market by excluding minorities from the real estate market. Although adding stadiums, high end retail, small shops, and restaurants is economically valuable to the city of Detroit, this is conflicting and potentially problematic for the original residents of the area because the prices of these new establishments are often much higher than the residents can afford.

If one were to look at the current conditions of Detroit compared to the way it was a hundred years ago one may question how could a city be so full of decay and emptiness. Before one could answer that question they have to really look deep within the history of Detroit and the reasoning for so many buildings. When Henry Ford decided to make the horseless carriage it became an evolution which spun into the first automobile the model T. As ford was the originator and the first to offer five dollars per day. It wasn’t long afterwards that other manufacturers like General Motors came along. As mentioned on Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, one of the largest buildings built for the automotive era was the Packard Plant which closed its doors in 1956 at one time employed 33,000. It is now one of the 80,000 abandoned buildings in Detroit. The factory is over a mile long and has one of the best views of the city (Bourdain). Charles La ’Duff a guest on the television show a long time resident clearly points out that Detroit was built on wealth from the whites, as they moved to the suburbs so did their money. The middle class blacks moved in and made it their own until it became too rough for them to survive and

Historically speaking every empire collapses. Detroit, an empire in its own sense, now has to figure out how to reclaim its strength after the city faced its own collapse, and return to the powerhouse metropolis it once was. What caused this great city to collapse? And what are the issues that the city faced and still face to this day? This paper will cover several of the issues that as a combination led to the financial collapse of the 1960’s wealthiest city per capita in the United States (Mathews, 2013).

Levin, Carl, and Tom Coburn. United States. United States Senate. Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse. Washington: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 2010.

Jobs became few and far between as the plants moved out of the inner city. Being the backbone of Detroit’s economy this caused the middle class to almost disappear. The citizens thought of the police as a ‘white occupying army” as it only had 50 black police officers on the

The board game Monopoly is played amongst a group of 2-8 players. Each player roles his or her dice and move around the board landing on properties, railroads, or utilities. The properties typically raise in value the further along a player moves around the board. The thought of Boardwalk’s value depreciating to Mediterranean Avenue is unheard of in the board game of Monopoly. However, in the real life game of Monopoly, a major city in America (Detroit, Michigan) had experienced a catastrophic depreciation in value that ultimately led to the city filing for chapter 9 bankruptcy. This writing assignment will evaluate the components that led to the rise and fall of a major city in America. First, it is important to examine the components that led to the growth and prosperity of Detroit, Michigan.