The decline of Detroit...in pics

[Fritzo]

I'd also blame generations of corrupt government in Michigan. That douchebag mayor they had was a rare example of one that got caught.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

those were probably really beautiful buildings a couple decades ago. it looks like people left pretty abruptly, leaving pianos and full dental offices. it would be weird to have been a resident, say, in that house and then go back now and see it. those pics remind me of some of the closed military bases near where i live, tens of square miles of really big buildings that at one time probably had a lot of activity in them, and now they are boarded up with broken windows. youd think that the land would have been used for something else by now

 

[rcpratt]

Pretty scary how quickly a wealthy, thriving city can deteriorate to..that.. in such a relatively short period of time. Even many places in third-world countries look much better than that.

Detroit hasn't really been wealthy and thriving for several decades now.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

I'd also blame generations of corrupt government in Michigan. That douchebag mayor they had was a rare example of one that got caught.

thats how people in the bay area feel about oakland. if you dont like how blacks have screwed up the city, why elect black mayors??? how is that going to help?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

whats sad is the obvious vandalism that has contributed to the decline of these buildings. hard to have sympathy for a town in rough times when its own population is defacing their own environment

 

[OBLAMA2009]

those building would be a great place to have a rap-off as in eminems eight minute mile movie. or great places to start a house of ill repute or a drug lab...

 

[bfdd]

I honestly have no sympathy for the people of Detroit. The people of Michigan only have themselves to blame for the shithole that is Detroit.

 

[TraumaRN]

I honestly have no sympathy for the people of Detroit. The people of Michigan only have themselves to blame for the shithole that is Detroit.

I have no problem and agreed with you in regards to having no sympathy for the people of Detroit, however the people of Michigan aren't to blame for this mess. There is this self-righteous/entitlement attitude within the city of Detroit that they don't want help from outsiders. That whole 8 mile as a dividing line is very very true. The current mayor is trying really hard to get some regional cooperation going and the suburbs have tried, but the citizens of Detroit keep fouling shit up. Now I realize there are some good citizens in Detroit but they are few and far between. I'd love to see Detroit get better because some parts, especially downtown are slowly getting better, especially in regards to nightlife and food.

But Detroit spent 30-40 years becoming the urban wasteland it currently is and it'll take at least that long to get better. The whole whitey is trying to put me down attitude that seems so pervasive in many parts of Detroit needs to STOP. It's 2011 for Christ's sake...

And before anyone slams me for being racist I worked in the city of Detroit with the general population for almost 5 years, so trust me when I say I know what I'm talking about.

 

[bfdd]

Ah then I apologize for switching it to people of Michigan then. I just figured the state would have some say in what was going on.

 

[Arik5405]

More pictures and information from the photographers

and

Link to the book with almost 200 images

 

[MotionMan]

Detroit may suck, but you can find places like this in almost any large city in America.

MotionMan

 

[bfdd]

Detroit may suck, but you can find places like this in almost any large city in America.

MotionMan

it shocks me whenever i see an abandoned building anywhere near where i live and they generally don't stay abandoned or destroyed for long.

 

[MotionMan]

it shocks me whenever i see an abandoned building anywhere near where i live and they generally don't stay abandoned or destroyed for long.

Los Angeles and San Francisco are full of them.

MotionMan

 

[Fritzo]

thats how people in the bay area feel about oakland. if you dont like how blacks have screwed up the city, why elect black mayors??? how is that going to help?

Wow...

 

[Pulsar]

Ah then I apologize for switching it to people of Michigan then. I just figured the state would have some say in what was going on.

A Say? If we had our say, then a small nuclear weapon would be detonated in that area and take care of the mess. I'd be sorry to see the buildings go, because some of them are beautiful, but I'd trade it to get rid of the inbred inner-city welfare shitheads that now inhabit a big portion of that city.

They have continued, over 40 years, to elect the same policiticians. Primarily because of skin color, and because they have a "D" next to their name and promise handouts. Qwame Kilpatrick was only unique in that he got caught.

The city had one good mayor in the last 40 years - Dennis Archer. He walked away after seeing that the PEOPLE of the city had made it impossible to fix the problems. He had to deal with a city council that is more corrupt than any of the mayors they've had. Councilors elected over and over again despite them being immature gang-banger bred trash - again primarily because of their skin color.

At the same time, the total lack of personal responsibility on the part of the so-called families in that city is unbelievable. They had some of the most beautiful schools in the state there - multiple level affairs with glass walls over-looking double-olympic swimming pools and multi-level inside basketball courts with stadium seating. Yet the kids have been brought up in a culture of not caring and have managed to completely destroy the buildings to the point where razor wire is everywhere now and it looks like a war zone.

Blow the whole damn thing up and start over. I've lived around Detroit for 30 years - there's no saving this city as long as the same people are in control there (the inhabitants).

Another perfect example is when the state had to step in and appoint an emergency manager for the school system. It was beyond bankrupt and the administrators refused to shut down the schools that needed to be shut down. They just kept accruing debt. The city fought TOOTH AND NAIL against that financial manager, even though they continued to prove they couldn't handle it themselves. They repeatedly tried to get him out, even when he proved he knew how to manage the budgets. They had rallies because he was closing schools, and the school councils were constantly fighting to try to stop him at every turn.

They don't want to be saved. Build a wall around the city and let them kill each other off.

 

[grohl]

What a shithole.

 

[spacelord]

The hard working people of the suburbs have little to no say as to what goes on in the city. Between Coleman Young and Kwame.. they did little to help the city. The superbowl and all star games were there.. big deal. They both helped to fuel the differences between city and suburbs.

 

[Vic Vega]

All those buildings should be imploded, why keep them standing if there is such bad shape.

Most are private property.

 

[Patranus]

Amazing what will happen when your entire economy is based on a bunch of thug union members.

 

[TraumaRN]

Amazing what will happen when your entire economy is based on a bunch of thug gangbangers.

FTFY.

Very little in the way of unionized workers in Detroit. Sure the city has AFSCME but beyond that...it's mostly not unionized. Hell when I was working down there the Michigan Nurses union tried to unionize the hospital I was working at, and they hugely voted down. Like 65% voted against it.

Mostly it's the local economy outside of downtown/industrial area is small shops, generally mom/pop type stuff but alot of them are fronts for gangs and whatnot. Very very few brand name stores that aren't named McDonalds or Wendy's in the city of Detroit proper.

 

[JimmiG]

Detroit hasn't really been wealthy and thriving for several decades now.

Exactly. Decades is no time at all. My town got its city rights over 500 years ago, but is significantly older than that. I can't even imagine this town looking like that only 20-30 years from now unless there was a massive natural disaster or a war suddenly broke out. I'd imagine Detroit is several hundred years old too. When you're dealing with those time scales, and populations in the millions, a couple of decades is nothing.

 

[lxskllr]

Exactly. Decades is no time at all. My town got its city rights over 500 years ago, but is significantly older than that. I can't even imagine this town looking like that only 20-30 years from now unless there was a massive natural disaster or a war suddenly broke out. I'd imagine Detroit is several hundred years old too. When you're dealing with those time scales, a couple of decades is nothing.

Most of (Euro)America isn't several hundred years old :^D

Detroit isn't that old as far as big cities go. It's fortune rose, and fell with the American automobile industry. It's a 20th century city for all intents and purposes. I appreciate the shock of a city imploding within a few decades though. That's one of things that makes it very interesting for me.

 

[mcmilljb]

Most are private property.

Some states have the power to demolish abandoned buildings. My city has an ordinanced passed so that they can demolish horrible ones, and then send the bill to the owner. Probably lose the land if they do not pay the bill. I am sure the land that abandoned buildings occupy are worth some money in major cities.

 

[Sust]

I think there was a movie about this back in my younger years.

 

[Engineer]

NAFTA killed Detroit just like "free trade" will eventually kill most manufacturing centers in the US.

25 to 30 years ago, General Motors was the largest employer in the US with over 500,000 employees. Now, it's Walmart with 1 million +. From making stuff to selling foreign made stuff.