what a stupid way of thinking. this country was built on the strength of the Unions. Unions have lost thier power, and as a result the middle class is shrinking and the rich are getting more rich. this country is on a downward spiral. there will be a time when the whole country is like Detroit.
Yep the metal will be melted down shipped to China or Japan. Man really makes you want to buy a Toyota or a Scion doesn't it!!
This isnt the results of the "Unions" its a result of the mind set of a certain group..and our policies and lack of leadership and greed..remember who backed the unions, and what their adgenda was/is and I am not for or against any Union this city has been demolished from within.., no one organization did this..Anyone from around these parts knows who's responsible, and who allowed it to go on
Its not just Cleveland its most of Ohios Industrialized cities. Dayton is speeding down the same hill. NCR gone, G.M. gone too many to list or gripe on. Our home values are upside down. My brother inlaw has his old house he cant sell for the stone wall repairs he had to do because of the city on him. His mother has two houses that arent worth putting up for sale. My brothers house is upside down. Our house has dropped its value by half. No jobs other than wal-mart as a greeter ah Im getting off my soap box.
Lived there for 7 years in the late 90s. Had a lot of character. I knew it was time to get out when an old building was burning and instead of putting it out, they let it burn out. In the middle of Detroit. I forget what street it was but they just coned off the bricks when the wall fell over. I lived in apartments on McNichols and Woodward, well away from the legendary cruise. They resemble the set of 4 in the photos, but bigger. Used to shop at the brand new Kroger? further down Woodward, across the street from the old Ford plant, I think.
I have no idea what it is about urban decay, the abandonment of what was once an effective, costly enterprise like what is shown in these pictures that facinates me? It is something we don't see much of here in Australia, most things are sold or demolished before there is a chance for anything like this to exist. In these pictures the particularly fascinating image's show not only the abandonment of the buildings but the apparent and simple fact that in some case's the doors were simply closed and locked with the contents still intact. What is left is almost like a modern archeology dig site. The only place I have seen much of this abandonment is areas that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have closed. We (The ADF), though took EVERYTHING not bolted down when we moved! I got to dig around the old 2 Training Group and 1St Field Hospital area after it all moved from Ingleburn to Holsworthy. This left quite a large area, covering probably several square miles with WWII quick built and pre-fab wooden buildings to rot. Sadly within a year most of it was all gone. Even know I served at 1Fd Hosp and knew the whole place intimately it was still intriguing to dig around in there. This is one of the buildings in 2 TRG GP, just next to the old 1Fd Hosp. It is typical of all the buildings in the area. I remember when I was training in one unit, we were practicing building entry drills. We had the 'Kill House', a roofless structure that was built to take the damage of live Thunder-flashes, HE grenades and firearm munitions. The problem was everyone knew the house from countless 'raids'. Somewhere some of the hierarchy decided we needed to do this into unknown buildings, the result was a VERY long Herc ride to what must be Oz's only ghost town. Where that is I still don't know, however it resulted in 'entering' a number of unknown buildings, one assault was into an old theater. It turned out to be quite grandiose, not as impressive as the ones pictured in Detroit, but once again for Oz quite overtly decorated. All this resulted in me stopping dead on entering the main auditorium, mouth agape, weapon down stearing at the roof. While my No1 and rest of my team stormed in to their deaths as the teams security was oddly 'broken'. Im glad that was training. You know, maybe I should shut up now. Doc.
My wife is flying to Detroit next week for on business. I told her what ever you do, don't get lost, or you'll NEVER be found! I told her to be sure she gets a GPS with her rental car, and VERY DETAILED directions to the hotel. I showed her the pictures on here of the Downtown, and told her, If these CURRENT pictures of the cities DOWNTOWN look bad, you don't want to see the REALLY bad side of town!
I was sent to downtown Detroit on business about 8 yrs ago. It was so depressing. I think it looked like the abandoned streets of Gotham. Dark buildings w/ very few people walking the streets. It was strangley underpopulated.
The elite are done 'using' the working class. Everywhere, de-industrialization is by design, we are in the 11th hour. Buckle up.
I was born there. My dad was a welder at Fischer body, most of my mother's family worked at one GM plant or another. We lived on Lafayette street, moved out in '67.
Wow.... I've heard stories about how bad Detroit is, but had no idea it was THIS bad. This is QUITE the eye opener. What an interesting state of affairs so many of America's former automotive mecchas are now in. Great post!! THanks a ton for sharing
Downtown isnt bad. There are cops around and patrol well. Street "vendors" galore/musicians on the corners performing. Its actually really nice to walk through or dine out weekend nights considering what Greektown and other areas of Downtown have to offer. Some of the best Irish bars in the country are in Detroit...and I've been to a few across the country. Its the garbage on the outskirts that makes Downtown Detroit a taboo place to enjoy yourself.
The unions priced their labor right out of the market because they got greedy and made demands of companies that in the long run were not sustainable. This combined with heavy taxation is what drove carmakers out of town, out of the country, and in some cases just plain out of business. What party has basically run Detroit the last 50 years? That should tell you all you need to know. If anything unions are more powerful than ever, those that are left, and are an unnecessary relic of the past. Many years ago they were needed to protect the worker, but now we have laws that prevent the harsh abuses of the past from being able to come back.
I used to go to Detroit for tooling tryouts, the owner of the last place I went was giving me directions to the Race Rock Cafe. He told me, "If you make a wrong turn and find yourself in downtown Detroit, run redlights, go the wrong way on the One Ways, run people down but get the FUCK out of there!!!" He was dead serious. My last visit was to Farmington Hills about 10 years ago for training on some equipment. I had two guys with me and the first night we went to the next town to the East and stopped at a shopping mall which was looking pretty sad. One of the guys looked over at a new Denalio, laughed, pointed at the tailgate and said "WTF ,who puts fake bullet holes on a Denali?" I walked over, took a closer look and replied, "Those aren't fake!" You could see right through everyone of them.
The pros and cons of unions aside, the city of Detroit was pretty much toast long before the U.S. auto industry got into trouble.
INCREDIBLE photography, but really sad about what's happened to Detroit. I absolutely LOVE old architecture. Even though it was amazing to look at those, in a sense it's like watching someone cut that little web between their fingers with a razor blade... Really sad and somehow inspirational in more ways than one...
Yep, I used to make quarterly trips to Detroit and after work would get in the rent car and just drive. I have found myself in many neighborhoods that I sure would not want to be there after dark. I agree with the statements about the Unions pricing them selves out of work. Companies would send the same jobs to cheaper, and less taxed markets in lieu of payiong the high prices demanded to remain in Detroit. Another blight on the Detroit area is the blocks of buildings with squiggley writing and people running around with sheets over their heads. Why is there such a Muslim population there? What has attracted them? As I said, I was prepared to drive on flats to get out if I had to but it was interesting even though very depressing.
Brilliant buildings, those four apartment blocks, especially the top right. There's a sort of whimsical Gothic that rather recalls Antoni Gaudi's early stuff (not to mention Jeanneret's, before he went off his nut and became famous...) I wish I could get hold of the plans.
about 20 some years ago i hauled a load of X-mas trees from Nova Scotia up to Milwaukee, i crossed the border into Detroit, wow it was bad, seemed like every other building was burnt or falling down, the smell was unreal, like going to a huge dump, Milwaukee smells like beer..
I grew up across the river from Detroit. It was THE place to be once the bars in Windsor closed at 1am. Mexican Village, Greektown, the Ren Cen and the Athletic Club. There was nothing like it. It's sad to see what it's become. Henry is spinning in his grave......... The Walmart/China comment is dead on. Try to find a small appliance made somewhere other than China.......impossible. Wait until their cars start landing on our shores.
Because historically the rich and powerful have never taken advantage of the working class? Familiar with the teacher unions in Wisconsin that are having their benefit/pay stripped and reduced? you need to open a newspaper/book and educate yourself, son.
Agreed. The area containing the Cobo Hall and Ren Cen is actually very nice. (The area Chrysler uses in their newest "Imported from Detroit" commmercials.) About 4 -5 years ago while I was living in Flint, they had the Superbowl in Detroit, so they cleaned up the well populated areas pretty nice for that.
Can this be any more racist. The Muslim population is in Dearborn and are taking areas that were blighted and renewing buildings and opening businesses.
The population drop started in the 1950s, when a Republican mayor was in office. Detroit is not the result of Democrats or Repubilcans, blacks or whites. Detroit was a boom town, a mecca for good paying jobs in auto factories. Most of not all of these factories were in the city proper. Mostif not all workers worked within walking distance of the plants. Homes were built close together to allow the workers to be close to work. Schools did not teach skills other than being on time and working hard. The black population was kept in their own neighborhoods and the whites stayed in theirs. Once the jobs starting going away, Hudson/Hupp/Packard etc the workers, many that moved in from the south, left the city. A riot in the 40s caused people to leave. Recessions, 1958 for example, also led to job reductions at the Big 3. These people also left the city looking for work. The result is a city that can swallow Boston and San Fran in its city limits, littered with homes no one needs anymore, neighborhoods with empty store fronts, and schools that no one attends. And since the housing crash, no police to patrol the streets. The riot in 1967 further caused whites to leave, but it wasnt the beginning of it. It had been going on for 10 years. Detroit is the result of a city losing millions of jobs over the last 50 years, a piss poor school system that doesnt educate, and a population shift caused by white AND black flight. Chicago is Democratic and corrupt, but functions and thrives. Detroit does not. I am a UAW member and we have been neutered. We have lost over a million members since 1979, tell me again why you think we are more powerful than ever. If you want I can get you a job, we are hiring. But youll only make 14 bucks an hour. About what we made back in 1986. Powerful......
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