With over half the population gone what do you expect?

[TexasT]

When people talk about Detroit they compare the city now with how it used to be and that ain't fair. Detroit has lost over half of its population. In it's heyday we had over 1.5 million people now we struggle to count 700,000.
The Big 3 were the only game in town and they plus their local suppliers employed thousands, that has changed from a result of technology, foreign car companies, and expanding into international manufacturing. Detroit isn't what it used to be.

So no way could the city have the same number of schools, rec centers, libraries, police stations, fire departments, occupied houses, commercial districts,etc.

What we used to have is just that. I think what we do have is the perspective that we should take with a lot of how to make it better.

Tangential, but I was just thinking about this the other day. To put in perspective for my friends back home, I noted that, even with all of the population loss, Detroit proper still has the population of Austin and 2.5 times the density of Houston, which we consider to be thriving, successful cities in Tejas. Just reminds you of how prosperous and full it once was, given these stats at one of its lowest points.