Detroit

The city of Detroit, in the USA, was once compared to Paris. It had a broad river, grand boulevards and historically significant architecture. Then, in the 20th century, it became ‘Motor City’. For a time, most of the world’s cars were made here. There was steady work and a good salary in the motor industry. An autoworker could own a home, plus a boat, maybe even a holiday cottage. But in the early years of the 21st century, Detroit became America’s poorest big city. In less than five decades, it lost more than half its population. It gained a reputation as a failed city, full of abandoned buildings, widespread poverty and crime. Newspapers and magazines told stories of derelict homes and deserted streets. Photographers even went especially to Detroit to record the strange beauty of buildings. The city is now 69th in population density among US cities. Detroit’s population fell for several reasons. Partly it was because people moved to the suburbs in the 1950s. Then there were devastating race riots in 1967. Then there was the dramatic decline in car manufacture. And finally, in 2008, the global financial crisis came. Many of Detroit’s people are poor: half of the city’s households live on less than 25,000 dollars a year. They are spread across different neighbourhoods of this huge city. In 2013, it declared itself bankrupt. It was the largest city bankruptcy in US history, estimated at 18-20 billion dollars. Now that the city is free of debt, it has money to do some of what needs to be done.. And roughly a hundred empty houses are demolished each week to make space for new buildings. Detroit is also attracting investors, innovators. New businesses have been encouraged with the New Economy Initiative. This gave grants of 10,000 dollars to each of 30 winners with ideas for small businesses. It seems that every week a new business opens in Detroit – grocery stores, juice bars, coffee shops, even bicycle makers. Finally, the city is working again.