Today the city of Detroit in the US is often referred to as an abandoned, dead city . For many reasons, this once flourishing metropolis, the center of the American automobile industry, in recent years went bankrupt and emptied. So, let's find out why Detroit, a civilized city in the center of America, became a ghost!
Detroit - the history of an abandoned city
As you know, at the very beginning of the 20th century, Detroit was flourishing. The extremely favorable geographical position at the intersection of the water routes of the Great Lakes has made it a major hub of transport and shipbuilding. After the creation of Henry Ford's first model of the car and subsequently the whole plant - Ford Motor Company - the production of luxury representative cars of that time developed here. During the economic boom during the Second World War, more and more people from the southern states, especially African Americans, who were attracted to jobs at Ford's factories, began to come to this richest city of the country. Detroit was experiencing a demographic boom.
But years later, when the Japanese became the kings of the automotive industry in the global global economy, the products of the three giants Ford, General Motors and Chrysler could no longer compete with them. Presentable and expensive American models were completely uneconomical. In addition, in 1973, the world gasoline crisis broke out, which further pushed Detroit to the brink of the abyss.
Due to de-industrialization, massive labor cuts began, and people began to leave the city. Many moved to more successful cities, where they could find work, others - mostly low-paid workers or unemployed people living on a single allowance - remained in the poor city. And as the number of taxpayers decreased, this could not but affect the economic situation for the municipality.
Mass riots and riots began, connected mainly with interracial relations. This was facilitated by the abolition of racial segregation in the United States. Outbreaks of violence, unemployment and poverty have led to the fact that the center of a gradually deteriorating city turned out to be inhabited by blacks, while "whites" live mainly in the suburbs. This was filmed the movie "8th mile", where the main role is played by the famous rapper Eminem, a native of Detroit.
Today in Detroit the highest crime rate in the country, especially the large number of murders and other violent crimes. This is four times more than in New York. This situation did not arise overnight, but matured from the time of the Detroit rebellion in 1967, when unemployment pushed many blacks into mass outrages. It is noteworthy that the tradition to set fire to buildings for the Halloween holiday, which arose in the 30s of the last century, has now acquired frightening proportions. Now Detroit is considered the most dangerous city in America; drug trade and banditry flourish here.
The empty buildings of the ghost town of Detroit are gradually being destroyed. In front of you are a photo of an abandoned train station in Detroit, ruined skyscrapers, banks and theaters. Dwelling houses in the city are sold very cheaply, the real estate market has simply depreciated, which is not surprising, given the current demographic situation in Detroit.
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And finally, in mid-2013, Detroit officially declared itself bankrupt, unable to pay a huge amount of debt of $ 20 billion. This was the largest example of municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States.