The collapse of Detroit. De-industrialization, racism, stagnation — is the Motor City our future?

Los Angeles Times ^ | 03/28/2011 | Scott Martelle

[SeekAndFind]

Imagine for a moment that every single person living in the city of San Jose, plus another 150,000 or so, just up and left. Vanished. Poof. Gone. Leaving their homes, business buildings and factories behind.

That is, in effect, what has happened to the city of Detroit, according to 2010 U.S. Census data released this week. The city that boasted 1.8 million residents in 1950, and was the nation's economic engine for most of the 20th century, now is home to 714,000 people, a population loss of some 1.1 million — with a 25% drop in the last decade alone.

It's an unprecedented collapse of a major American city. It's not as if the population was dropping nationwide; it's going up. Just not in Detroit. It's closest "outmigration" rival is Chicago, a five-hour drive to the west, which has lost about 964,000 people since 1950 but still holds about 2.7 million people, down 25% from its peak of 3.62 million in 1950.

In Detroit, the loss amounts to a staggering 60% of the city's peak population. It is now smaller than Charlotte, N.C., and Fort Worth. More people have left Detroit than live in San Francisco; more people have left in the last decade than live in St. Petersburg, Fla.

There are all sorts of implications here, both for Detroit and for the nation. The 2010 census counts for Detroit (and Chicago) were much lower than local officials, and earlier census estimates, had predicted. That raises the question of whether there were problems with the count last year or in 2000, setting false benchmarks. Detroit officials say they plan to challenge the numbers, and Mayor David Bing announced he wants to find 40,000 Detroiters who were missed to try to push the count above the 750,000 mark,

[GeronL]

does this article say anything about the cause of it? Probably not, because the LA Times probably wouldn’t print it if it did

[raybbr]

The city that boasted 1.8 million residents in 1950, and was the nation's economic engine for most of the 20th century, now is home to 714,000 people...

Any way to find out how many of the 714,000 people are paying taxes as opposed to being on the dole?

My guess would be about 20% taxpayers and 80% on the dole, which includes govt. employees.

[Sacajaweau]

The world changed. Cities changed. People changed. Life has changed.

It's called suburbia and/or relocation.

[gr8eman]

It’s called “Suburbia or Die”!

[Hacklehead]

Anyone else annoyed at the “Motor city” commercials touting the greatness of Detroit?

[Sacajaweau]

Cities got old. Most of the houses in my hometown were built circa 1900. The children and grandchildren of the owners all live in the suburbs or another state. That’s the way it is. The city houses are turning to cr**...unkept and depreciated. Who would want to live there??

[GeronL]

Apparently this writer feels that competition is bad for communities. lol. I guess companies should be banned from moving.

lol.

[yldstrk]

Knock down the old and build new.

[circlecity]

"Racism plays a significant role too. Detroit's white flight exploded in the 1950s and '60s, after courts struck down local and federal policies that had allowed segregated housing. That was followed by middle-class flight on the part of blacks and whites as crime endemic to high-poverty, high-unemployment neighborhoods began spreading."

So, wanting a safe neighborhood and good schools for your family is racist?

[jagusafr]

Sounds a lot like Somalia - except a failed city rather than a failed state.

Thanks, unions and welfare!

Colonel, USAFR

[Darteaus94025]

Exactly. The freeloaders are left voting for more govMint goodies, so the only politicians who get elected are those that deliver more govMint goodies. This increases the pressure (i.e. taxes) on the remaining businesses and taxpayers to “do their fair share”. Profitable businesses and taxpayers leave to avoid the increased rate, and the revenue base shrinks, school system deteriorates, budgets get squeezed, etc.

A new election cycle looms, the politicians begin to demagogue again about the rich, and the cycle starts again.

[GeronL]

I left a comment at the site:

A whole column about the collapse of Detroit that never mentioned that its collapse began when it became a one-party city. They made it into a socialist utopia and this is the inevitable result. This is the result of all experiments in socialisms, possibly someone will learn something from this?

Scott Martelle partly blames “racism” and then talks about how families (black and white) fled high crime (fleeing crime is racism? racism of the blacks who moved too?) Since all the racists left, I am sure the city is better, right?

He also tries to imply that competition with other parts of the country is to blame for the economic collapse instead of pointing the blame at the utopian politicians who raised the cost of doing business so high that it made no sense to do business in Detroit. How are they left blameless? Competition is good, it increases quality and lower prices for consumers, businesses who do not innovate and fill the needs or wants of the people are left to die.

Same with cities. Detroit has been stuck in the high-tax, leftist utopian rut for decades because anyone with a half a brain is leaving. Detroit is the inevitable result. Building a razor-wire topped wall around the city with guard/sniper towers is not the answer Scott.

California looks like it wants to follow the Motorless City into that deep dark abyss.

[joe fonebone]

the cause of detriots decline can be summed up as the “coleman young effect”...reverse racism at it’s finest....it is like my mom used to say..be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.....coleman wanted the “hostile white suburbanites” out of his city....we left...now, the middle class black community has had enough, and they are leaving, effectively making them white ( in the eyes of the jessie jackson crowd, which owns detroit )...

[Carley]

Thank Granholm, her answer to all of Michigan’s problems was to RAISE taxes.

Well, people raised stakes and left the state.

The left hasn’t figured that out yet, but in the meantime, America is becoming a third or fourth world country.

[junta]

It’s ironic the crazy left in this country celebrates the displacement of whites (any other place this would be called genocide), but when whites leave a place they bemoan the loss of whites. Basically the anti-whites are crazy crackpots and they have always been crazy.

[y6162]

I knew Detroit was over when I read stories about Hell Night, the night before Halloween when neighborhoods would be set afire.

A generation of black politicians took everything and left nothing behind.

[Mr. Lucky]

Who would want to live there?

That's just the sort of backward thinking which is typical of conservatives. Downtown Detroit will be convenient to the high speed train to downtown Cleveland. What could be more popular than that?

[Juan Medén]

Detroit is the logical conclusion of liberal policies. It is Atlas Shrugged in motion.

[Psalm 144]

So, wanting a safe neighborhood and good schools for your family is racist?

************************

Pretty much any behavior or opinion can be racist, depending on the whim and the momentary agenda of the accusing Ministry of Truth commissar.