Where were you during the 1967 Detroit Riot?

[LeannaM]

I don't know a lot about the Detroit riots, but they seem worse than any other cities' riots [[Watts was pretty bad, though).

Detroit also relied heavily on car manufacturing. Once that left, so did a lot of the jobs [[you guys know more about it than I do).

I'd say most major cities experienced White Flight in the 1950s and since. Some of it was due to racism I'm sure. Some of it was due to increased crime. It's really a vicious cycle. A bunch of citizens left, tax base eroded, schools and crime got worse. Then more people left and it's a downward spiral. Plus some employers moved to the suburbs. I think that Baby Boomer generation also wanted home ownership and their own space and security. They wanted suburbs for the most part.

Why has Detroit fared worse than most other cities? Well the bigger they are the harder the fall. Other cities have blight, but Detroit is just so large that it has a lot more blight to deal with [[and not much money to work with). Detroit had the riots, the White flight, and then losing manufacturing. I think a lot of factors just culminated in Detroit being in the bad shape it is now. Some would argue [[I don't know enough about it to say either way) that bad leadership exacerbated the problem.

As far as Chicago, I'm not sure why it fared better. It has apparently always been a pretty segregated city. Maybe Whites in the northern half didn't see reason to flee to the suburbs. Their economy might also be more diversified. Chicago is not really comparable to any of the smaller cities around it. Chicago is dealing with a big gang problem that seems to be worse than ever before [[if the news is correct).

St. Louis [[for example) didn't have race riots [[East St. Louis had race riots in 1917). It did have a lot of White flight, but still is about 42% White [[in the city, the metro is about 75% White). The city is segregated, not legally, but that's just the way it is. The North Side is mostly Black and has a lot of bad neighborhoods. The South Side is mostly White and has few bad neighborhoods. Its Downtown was a disaster area for many years [[escape from New York was filmed there in 1981), but starting around 1999 the Downtown area improved a lot. The city's biggest industries are finance, utilities/energy, medicine, beer, technology. It has a variety of industries.

Looking at it from an outsider's perspective, I think Detroit has suffered worse because of reliance on the auto industry and the riots [[and bad publicity). Those seem to be the major factors.