Who killed Detroit?

[313WX]

This is the prevailing suburban mythology. It's funny how folks go on believing this and never investigating it. Myths survive because they are soothing, help us see the world as we'd rather see it.

Young told criminals to hit Eight Mile. The phrase "hit Eight Mile" doesn't mean "go to the suburbs" -- it means "hit the bricks" or "get out of here."

The city income tax was passed with the support of Mayor Jerome Cavanagh, not big, bad, black Coleman Young.

But, whatever, go on believing the myths if that works for you ...

To add to what D'nerd said, Chicago has a 10% sales tax on all goods purchased within the city limits. Yet, businesses didn't up and leave Chicago.

Let's be blunt here. Systematically, the people of Illinois valued the importance of a strong, healthy, vibrant Chicago. Systematically, the people of Michigan did not value the importance of a strong, healthy, vibrant Detroit. For example, it is like pulling teeth when trying to get someone from Michigan to tell you where they're from in the state, as the people in Michigan make it an objective to not associate themselves with the place in Michigan people outside the state recognize [[Detroit). As a result, now the chickens have come home to roost for the people of Michigan as they have nothing to stop their young, educated children from leaving for Chicago and their state's largest city they have systematically ignored is headed into bankruptcy court.

[JAYCR]

Despite my negative comments, I feel like perhaps there has been a small change and there is a renewed interest in urban living here. Now the challenge is how to get the 10-40,000 [[in my estimation) people that live in the city to actually live here, not at a family residence elsewhere in state. Suddenly the population is well over 700k again, and they can put their money where their mouths are.

[DetroitPlanner]

I am sure drugs and their runners had a lot to do with killing it. No one wants to live in neighborhoods full of lawless drug addicts and suppliers.

[TKshreve]

For example, it is like pulling teeth when trying to get someone from Michigan to tell you where they're from in the state, as the people in Michigan make it an objective to not associate themselves with the place in Michigan people outside the state recognize [[Detroit).

Sounds like your opinion passed off as fact.

I used to travel quite a bit for work, and although I do not reside within the city limits my answer to such a question was always Detroit. And proud of it for so many reasons. We may be a little rough around the edges, and gritty to boot.... but those are real world values that stand out when the going gets tough.

When someone has critical remarks of the city, I can stand up to the best of them with myriad reasons why Detroit is still a viable city. Not to mention when the $hit hits the fan, our manufacturing skeleton is rebound ready.

[TKshreve]

I am sure drugs and their runners had a lot to do with killing it. No one wants to live in neighborhoods full of lawless drug addicts and suppliers.

The ability for this industry to run unabated [[even through unlimited turnover) is quite a deterrent for anybody. It consumes territory and uses fear and intimidation to its advantage. See: no snitch

[mwilbert]

I remember hearing a Detroit Mayor Young telling the people he was the boss now, if they didn't like it, get the other side of 8 mile. When they did, he imposed a tax on the ones remaining. Detroit killed Detroit and has done it's best to hamper any revival. As one who went to Chicago for urban fun during those Mayor Young years, I was welcome everyplace I went there, but not in Detroit.

I don't know about your being welcome or not, but on the other points your memory is incorrect. Detroitnerd is correct, and I say that as someone who thinks CAY was a terrible mayor.

[Zacha341]

Yep. I'd have to agree. In regards to the bold-faced corruption, just toss in a bit of 'They do it too' justification to top it all off along with a dying employment infrastructure.

No honesty, no integrity, no self-control, no morals, no compassion for your fellow citizens; and a line my pocket with easy money mentality.

The so-called politicians and leaders of Detroit murdered it.

[Paintnprint]

I can only speak for myself. I'm White. Born in the D in 1953. My parents raised me well and I didn't have an issue with anybody. From 1962-66 the north-west side went Black. Jews left and Blacks filled their spots. Whatever. Still, there came this point when the bikes of me and my brothers were stolen, twelve in total. My old man said, "Walk, I'm not buying another." We'd go to school at our peril. For some reason Black kids wanted to kick our asses. At Post Jr. High I had a word with the principal and he said I could have a 15 minute head-start so some Black kid wouldn't kick my ass. Naked Prey indeed. I was very small and the only White face in the crowd. Still, I had a lot of Black friends. WARNING if words offend you, please stop reading.
My first day at Post, I entered the lunchroom and met with the friends I hadn't seen all summer. Edgar said, "What up Nigga? Where you been?" I checked the backs of my hands. Nope. After about a week I announced, "What up Nigga?" All of my friends did a fist-pump. And so I was a Nigga for three years. Probably been called that more than most White people.
At the Puritan Market and somebody runs out with stuff without paying. The owner/manager said, "Their robbing me blind!" I'd never seen that before. So, if you need a reason for business leaving or closing, there you have it. Don't kill the messenger, I'm just a reporter. I arrived home one day bleeding. My mom demanded, "What happened?!" I answered, "A bunch of kids beat me up." Mom said, "I think it's time we move out of Detroit." In the 'burbs, I didn't have to fear for my life, and I was glad to be out of Detroit. That may seem harsh, but it's my story. Industy? Another can of worms.

[softailrider]

I am sure drugs and their runners had a lot to do with killing it. No one wants to live in neighborhoods full of lawless drug addicts and suppliers.

How about open air drug markets operating day and night in the most brazen fashion you can imagine. Why should decent people live on a street like that.

[Danny]

Who killed Detroit? WE DID because of the racist, rich-poor mentality fused in our human nature. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac is mad is us right now!

[marshamusic]

Detroit is not dead.

[rex]

wasn't me....

[Detroitnerd]

At the Puritan Market and somebody runs out with stuff without paying. The owner/manager said, "Their robbing me blind!" I'd never seen that before. So, if you need a reason for business leaving or closing, there you have it. Don't kill the messenger, I'm just a reporter. I arrived home one day bleeding. My mom demanded, "What happened?!" I answered, "A bunch of kids beat me up." Mom said, "I think it's time we move out of Detroit." In the 'burbs, I didn't have to fear for my life, and I was glad to be out of Detroit. That may seem harsh, but it's my story. Industy? Another can of worms.

Tales of young kids fighting each other are legion in urban America. The kids fight kids from other neighborhoods, then graduate on to the West Side Story type of teen gangs that fight, then they become adults and enforce vagrancy laws, restrictive covenants, work for the chamber of commerce, etc. I even got a bit of a taste of that as a kid in the 1970s, when we kids "defended" our neighborhood from black kids across Warren who wanted to "steal our bikes." I'm not sure it was a racial thing for us, so much as it was the have-somes versus the have-nots. But children are small-minded and lack empathy, and there seems to be some sort of congenital programming to mistrust or loathe those different from you, or from a different neighborhood, at least. I think that as we learn critical thinking and reason, we learn to slough off these childish prejudices. I'd love to be a fly on the wall, Paintnprint, if you were to meet some of your old tormentors today.

If we agree that childish behaviors like the ones you described seem to be almost universal at that time, why was Detroit different? Metro Detroit had a number of factors in that window between 1945 and when it "died" [[to keep with the OP's terminology). One of the main differences was that Detroit was surrounded by a lot of open land that was being quickly developed, and it enabled people of means to leave. Unless they had some important connection to their neighborhood [[as Jews and Poles often did: community centers, temples and churches, etc.), people just took off to the suburbs. This left a diminishing pool of people to offer their resources to help educate the next generation. And it has been a vicious cycle ever since.

What killed Detroit? No one thing. But the idea that we could move and leave social problems behind robbed the city of a lot of resources, money and good energy that might have saved it.

[LeannaM]

From an outsider's perspective, Detroit was killed by:

White flight
Loss of industry
Bad leadership
Crime [[Arson, theft, and drugs especially).

I watched the trailer for that Burn documentary. One thing that struck me was when the firefighter said that 30 houses a night times 30 years is how you burn a city down. Detroit is probably worse off than some cities because so many of the houses are wooden, which burns easier than brick or stone.

Other cities have decay. In St. Louis brick thieves tear down the city one brick at a time. Cleveland's bad neighborhoods are disastrous. Detroit's problems are so much worse partially because the city is just so large that when the city "died" it's a much bigger body to dispose of.

[AUSSIE]

Racial division, suburban exodus and a barren tax base have left one solution: Make the suburbs merge with the city

By Edward McClelland

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/12/whit...illed_detroit/

[[FWIW, I don't think the URL Salon.com created captures the author's point of view.)

This bit here is rather alarming:Detroit News poll found that 40 percent of Detroiters expect to leave in the next five years.

What will you be left with, 400,000? the once ICON city is going to become a country town, even worse..

This is like the snow ball racing down the hill, as more leave even more will want to leave, could it even become a ghostown?

U guys live in intertesting times, bail now, beat the rush and carnage

Best of luck to you all

A

[dookie joe]

Corruption was allowed to run rampant for so long in every level of city government. You allow for a certain amount of corruption in any big city, but in Detroit it reached ridiculous proportions. The problems started when the tax base could no longer cover up the skimming. The greedy bastards couldn't stop skimming, even though there was no money left.