These people arent hanging out in Downtown Detroit because they like the weather. They came for the work. And for the same reason people are leaving Detroit and Michigan, they left to find work.
It's crazy that this happens on such a large scale, looks like scene from a zombie movie or something. great photos
I'm originally from So-Cal. But I lived around Detroit when I worked for Chrysler from 1997-2007. There are many little towns all over Michigan that are drying up and dieing. Detroit is doing the same thing...there's no going back. Industry has left the USA. A new Baseball stadium and some cool night clubs won't bring a city back. We've got to quit being so noble with countries like China, Mexico and Canada. It's not fair trade, when all we do is buy crap. This is what happens when big business runs government.
Thank you thunderkiss65 for posting pics and your view of Detroit! I'd rather get an unbiased opinion from an actual resident than "I lived there x years ago/I visited for a day/I was told by a friend of a friend..." It's still a place I'd like to visit, not to see "how bad it is", but to experience the history of it all.
My opinion,times are a changing..change with them or perish.Newer European cities are often built on the ruins of older cities.Maybe it's time to bulldoze urban centers built up around old industries that will never return as they were.
Very true Trucked up, we just don't have the space in England, especially London, very few abandoned buildings compared to parts of the US as the land is too valuable, they have to demolish and build again on the same land or restore the building.
Its sad, lots of blame to go around, but the main cause is stock holders running company's and outsourcing. Its all but over!
Its a great place to visit, and live believe it or not. There is more automotive history here than any other place in the world. And most of it still stands. And there is so much more than the city. Remember one of the wealthiest counties in America is due north of Detroit. Dont get me wrong, Detroit is a dead city for residents. It needs to be bulldozed and shrunk down to a usable space. The housing stock is unlivable in many neighborhoods. And many neighborhoods do not have any houses at all. The school system is an abortion. No city can survive without residents. And for 50 years Detroit has not found a way to keep their tax base.
Thunderkiss65 hit it right on w/post #92. I was born & raised in Detroit, went to high school on 12th street (Wilbur Wright)& worked 18yrs at a Ford dealer on 14th & W. Grand Blvd. until it closed and I moved out here to the country. I know a bit about Detroit. I always defend Detroit & probably always will. But even I have finally realized "It aint coming back".
I hate that most people's only impression of Detroit is from the blight-porn. Unless you're from here, you can never really understand what the real cause is of what you see here. It's not the decline of the auto industry that caused this. When property values were reaching the bubble, just past the late 90's, property values in the Detroit suburbs was skyrocketing out of control. Detroit, within it's city limits, never gained any real value. As a lifetime resident of the area I can honstly tell you that Detroit, the city itself, failed for one reason. Politics and racial divide. Not Whites against black, but the other way around. I lived it. I know it. After the riots of 67, people got scared and decent families started moving out in droves to the suburbs. When Coleman Young became mayor and started spewing his racist banter for nearly 25 years, things got worse and people left at a much faster pace. They literally abandoned their homes without trying to sell them. They were scared. Crime was going up and nobody was safe. The 70s were the worst era for crime and blight in the city of Detroit. By the time Detroit got another non-racist mayor was in the 90s. Mayor Archer was a light at the end fo the tunnel. He talked of unity with the suburbs and the rebuilding of Detroit. Unfortunately, 25 years of corruption, blight, and ignorance took its toll. The "white flight" of the 70s turned into a "class flight" with many middle class black families also leaving for the suburbs throughout the previous 25 years. Mayor Archer, unfortunately, coul no longer deal with trying to figt the rampant political corruption and self-entitled city unions to make any real changes. He did bring some nice things down town and he was a great mayor. Possibly even one of our best. It just didn't take long for a corrupt mayor to take the city hostage again for almost eight years after Mayor Archer decided to no longer run after his second term. Add everything else you've ever heard about Detroit to this core issue and you have the whole truth of whay Detroit is where it is today. Sad but true... It's decline has nothing to do with the auto industry, but the flight of manufactuing from Detroit's city limits, to its suburbs, and even other countries. I'm a cheerleader for Detroit's comeback, but I know where the truth lies. Our current mayor Dave Bing, along with a finally competent city council, is able to make sweeping changes with help from the federal government. Not in the form of tax dollars, but with federal indictments of corrupt politicians that have single-handedly ruined my city. It won't be in my lifetime, or my kid's lifetime, but maybe by the time my grandkids are grown up with their own kids that Detriot will finally be livable again. Sidenote: My ancestors were some of the first of the settlers from New France (Canada) to settle the cities of Samdwich (Windsor) and Fort Detroit (Detroit). My blood runs thick here and the area means a lot to me. I don't take criticism of my city very lightly, but I like people to understand what really happened here. Thanks for those that read this whole post. I tried to keep it to a minimum (hehe).
i live in a city north of detroit. I LOVE the city and always will. Yes it has alot of bad places but theres also a lot of great places there. the buildings downtown are amazing.
Really? During the fifties, domestic and foreign competition caused a number of companies to close up, to merge, or to move out of the City. Nash and Hudson became American Motors, and then American Motors absorbed Willys. Packard bought Studebaker, to become Studebaker-Packard, and in 1958 that company dropped the Packard nameplate. In the companies that remained, automation began to replace workers. Employment at Chrysler dropped from 130,000 to 50,000 over a seven-year period Residents in the 1960s were leaving Detroit for its suburbs by the thousands. In 1966 alone, some 22,000 residents, mostly white, moved to the suburbs, following new auto plants and new housing, or using the newly constructed Interstate system to commute into Detroit. So white people just welcomed every new black person that showed up on their block? And White flight wasnt caused by more blacks moving into the city, they just wanted to leave for no reason. Detroit was a white city and very racist. Ever hear of Ossian Sweet? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossian_Sweet Decent families had been leaving long before the 67 riot. Tell me where the blacks against whites racism occurs in this link. http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/d_index.htm quoted from the link During the 1940s and 1950s white Detroiters sought to block the entry of blacks into their neighborhoods by legal and extra-legal means, in one instance building a six-foot high, one-foot wide concrete wall along Eight Mile Road, to separate themselves from potential black neighbors this wall still exists.
Without straying too far off the OP intent, the fall of this city is not the fault of the blue collar/labor force nor the poor. It is TPTB (The Powers That Be) who slowly gutted the indusrty. None of you should take slight nor blame for its down fall. The suits ALWAYS call the shots. They left and took the money w/ them. These haunting pix are not porn, but a reality of the country. Let go of pride, focus on the tomorrow. We have been used.
Naw, Blight Porn is exactly what it is. I've got buddies that go down there to shoot all the time, and people eat it up. That's fine, because the city is disproportionately shit, but outsiders literally think that it's ALL Detroit is right now. As a few on here have pointed out, it's not. My wife and I often go downtown to eat, catch a game or a play, or walk the river. The architecture in the city, both that which has been saved and the stuff in ruins, is breathtaking. Bad stuff does happen. I use to work down there, I always carried. Happens in the 'burbs too. I'm not sure if it's been brought up, but the actually city is HUGE. Way bigger, acreage wise, than most major cities. Whoever said it needs shrunk is dead on.
Yeh, our local Holden plant (Woodville) is now a Bunnings hardware megaplex and an 'Industrial Park'. My car was built there in 1956, by it's first owner. I'm the second owner.
Here, here...bulldoze most of the city and start fresh. Got to move on, start new with a tribute to the past in how and what you build. People, talk about good old Tiger Stadium...really it wasn't the best place to watch a game. Poor viewing everywhere...Comerica Park, excellent park that FEELS like it's 50 years old. New with the old FEELING...is what Detroit needs.
Ah yes, more 'Ruin Porn' from Detroit...Yes, that's Detroit...so is this. The newly remodeled Book Cadillac Hotel...it sat abandoned for 30+ years. http://www.bookcadillacwestin.com/ The new downtown YMCA. http://www.smithgroup.com/?id=441 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGp4A5res6o The newly remodeled Fort Shelby Hotel. It too sat abandoned for decades, but has been acquired by the Doubletree Group. http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/...higan/index.do http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/...igan/dining.do The Illitch family (Little Caesar's Pizza) built an all-new Motor City Casino that is now a 4-Diamond Hotel with a little design help from one Chip Foose. The old remodeled Wonder Bread Bakery that was the temporary Motor City Casino may soon become a police station. http://www.motorcitycasino.com/Press...?Page=Overview http://www.gadling.com/2008/04/30/de...r-city-casino/ The new Detroit Riverwalk along the waterfront...it now stretches for miles along the river in pieces, soon to be joined into one long elegant strolling park. http://www.detroityes.com/news/070802/601pics/101.htm http://www.detroitriverfront.org/about/ The new Rosa Parks Transportation Center. Just beautiful. http://www.archdaily.com/30880/rosa-...eering-studio/ http://www.pbworld.com/ (play the video) The relatively new Ford Field, site of the 2006 Super Bowl. The brick structures at the edge of the property are remodeled versions of the Hudsons' department store complex, mostly demolished in 1998. http://www.detroitlions.com/ford-field/leasing.html http://www.picsearch.com/pictures/te...d%20field.html The remodeled and re-purposed Campus Martius Park. http://www.campusmartiuspark.org/park_gardens.htm While it's been here a decade or so, here's the home of the Detroit Tigers, Comerica Park. http://mlb.mlb.com/det/ballpark/index.jsp http://www.baseball-fever.com/showth...Pictures/page3 The new MGM Grand Casino...It brings in more cash per day on average than the MGM in Las Vegas... http://www.mgmgranddetroit.com/ http://www.hospitalitydesign.com/hos...dc77d810ad99cd The Russell Industrial Center. A formerly abandoned factory that is now home to artists, filmakers and inventors. http://ricdetroit.org/2010/?id=home Ford's newly remodeled Rouge Center with something for everyone from the gearhead to the greenhorns. http://www.hfmgv.org/rouge/index.aspx The GM, formerly Ford's Renaissance Center, recently remodeled too. http://www.gmrencen.com/About/tabid/54/Default.aspx http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...ssance-center/ GM Heritage Center http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/ Greenfield Village, The Henry Ford http://www.thehenryford.org/ Something very traditional...Detroit's Eastern Market. http://www.detroiteasternmarket.com/ Something else traditional here in Detroit. The beautiful, opulent Fox Theater. http://www.olympiaentertainment.com/default.asp?olympia=30&objId=1 Downtown Detroit in General...slowly improving. http://www.outsidepartnership.com/ (click on the 'Project Images and Inspiration' tab...many great pix of the slowly revitalizing downtown Detroit area) Try this little trailer that is from 'Lemonade Detroit' that features a handful of everyday people that are trying to make a difference in Detroit. The well-dressed gentlemen in the blue dress shirt and tie is Scott Monty, the head of social media marketing for Ford Motor Company. I love the mural artist's quote at the 30-33 second mark " It's hard to create a great civilization during a time of war"...well said, Sir. http://vimeo.com/14930143 I'm one of Detroit's harshest critics from day-to-day but I will give the city and the people trying to make a difference credit where credit is due and point it out where applicable. The mainstream media loves to paint Detroit as if the entire city is war-torn ruins and while there are a lot of problems that will not be easily solved, and yes,there are a lot of empty buildings extant, there are some good things happening here-I've shown a few in my post above and more are coming, good things are happening. Please try and look past just the seemingly ubiquitous 'ruin-porn' to see the changes that are coming. Come to our Autorama, the Woodward Dream Cruise, Billetproof Detroit, the Sins of Steel...come back home to Automotive Mecca-Detroit.
I guess I must just be a hoodrat lol I took my girlfriend (now my wife) to the Old Shillelagh on our first date. We go there often to this day. Downtown is actually very nice. I wouldnt go on any dates in my old neighborhood (Joy/Evergreen) after dark though. We moved out and within a week the aluminum siding was gone, the ac unit was gone, the gutters, aluminum trim around windows was gone along with all copper plumbing..... gone. They were nice enough to leave the water off after they did it. The point of this is...I would suggest as a local to a spend some time downtown Detroit and you will see its not like Gotham with creeps in dark alleys waiting to shank you and run.
Yes it was a great place to watch a game. Upper deck right over the field, a steep incline of seats making you feel even closer than you were, and SHADE. I was a season ticket holder at Comerica Park. The lower deck is very flat, the upper deck is a mile from the field and there is not a lick of shade over the seating area. Cheapest seats in the place are the Skyline seats. Sun in your face and youll need binoculars to see anything. You are the first Ive ever heard say Comerica has better sightlines than Tiger Stadium.
um, not even close. in 1977 i could park my PERFECT, pontiac formula 350 on the street, in the black neighborhoods, to go to tiger stadium. the homes were old but not shacks. the people were friendly and the kids mobbed us, but in a good way. came out, my car was still there and unmolested. today, i'd be stolen before you can open the door to get out.
Nice post Mark. Can't ignore the bad, but most people go the other extreme and ignore the good. Way too many obstructed view seats in Tiger Stadium. Can't beat the ambiance of the old place, but I'm a huge fan of Comerica.
Lots of poles but the seats were so close it made up for it. I remember sitting in the left field corner and heckling Al Martin. We were practically sitting right next to him. We also did the same thing to Jacob Brumfield on the last weekend Tiger Stadium was open. The whole upper deck bleachers was on his ass.
Sitting lower deck reserve at Tigers Stadium, every fly ball you had to watch the outfielder cause you could'nt see the flight due to the 2nd deck...and don't get me started on the pole obstructions. Comerica Park has old flavor with modern convienence. I have been to about 15 major league parks and it is one of the best. Bring sun screen and drink more beer...
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