Behind Detroit's Notorious Ruins
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- Опубліковано 1 гру 2009
- Detroit has rich a architectural history. Joel Stone of the Detroit Historical Society takes a look at some of the iconic buildings, architects, and neighborhoods that have contributed to this remarkable legacy.
I am 65 years old. I was born and raised on the east side of Detroit.
I moved to Georgia in my 40’s for work. The Detroit that I grew up in, was the best place in the world to me. Neighbors talked to each other and watched out for each other’s kids. There were plenty of jobs. Then, Detroit was known as the “Motor City “. Also was the birth place of “Motown”. Everything went to hell in a hand basket when they started sending the jobs to Mexico and other countries. I’m not alone when I say that watching our city decline into what it is today is so
Heartbreaking. I live in NC now, but Detroit will forever be my home, and I will always be proud of the city that I grew up in. I pray for them to turn it around again. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Wow!!! DETROIT!! The way it was!! Once an undeniable "GREAT" city back in the day!! I would love to see this city that had so much beautiful architecture, rise again and make a giant comeback!! Think about it, this was a "model city," the city that put the nation on wheels and provided so many, many, many jobs for everybody. If needed or wanted a job, go to Detroit and you got it! Detroit was once the fourth (4th) largest city in the nation with a city limit population of 2,000,000, surpassed only by New York, Chicago and Philadelphia!!
Henry Ford would weep if he saw this.
And the decline of the American automotive industry.
Being born and raised in Detroit i have great memories. I would love to see it rebuild into the great industrial city it once was! I didn't realize that Cass Tech was no longer open.
Thank you, I appreciate the news!
I've been to Detroit just to see the ruins. I visited places like Cass High, Lee Plaza, Broderick Towers, and Michigan Central. It was amazing.
Decay is headed your way! I want to do that to
Wow isn’t that something every building you mentioned either IS BEING REDEVELOPED OR HAS ALREADY BEEN accept for Cass Tech . It has been demolished and a NEW building was built from the ground up continuing on its Legacy
The old buildings in Detroit, commercial, residential, industrial are or were works of art and craftsmanship. The style, ornamentation and decoration gave many of those old buildings character that is missing in so many today.
That last image was a cryptic and EXCELLENT way to convey to the viewer why 'families' and businesses left the city - and why they won't be returning.
Detroit is a premonition of what this whole country is heading for !
I just don't understand why the city could not even MAINTAIN their own buildings??? They say its because of there finances. HOGWASH!!!! They can at least maintain their own buildings even though they are empty. Its wonderful to know that there are many people in the City of Detroit that are still proud and willing to try anything to help restore their home. Detroit has an abundance of good, hard working people trying to make it the great again. I honestly wish them the best and hope that one day I can help them as well. Detroit has so much history and it needs to be PRESERVED as much as possible.
There was money to build two sports stadiums when the city says it is bust. Money for circuses, but not bread. Right wingers say unions are to blame, a liveable salary is needed. WallyWorld with the cheapest garbage from overseas helped destroy this city. Hey car companies, build cars we ant to buy, at a price we can afford.
Geoffrey Lee So many different things and they are all very sad! It makes me sick to see much of Detroit going down the toilet and looking like a war zone.
***** Your right.....that is one of the biggest problems! I just don't understand that mentality of just destroying your very own city and neighborhood and for what?? Its so stupid!
+AMCNorthstar 93
I heard a statement in another video that said just that.
Detroit looks like many of the cities that were bombed in ww2 with equipment that was made in Detroit. Like it came home to roost.
MrTheHillfolk IT may have been me that wrote that statement. Unfortunately this is a problem in these northern cities especially around manufacturing areas. And yes it does look like some of the great cities that were bombed during WWII in Europe. Even those cities were destroyed by personal greed, power and carelessness.
this extract is not mine but i like it -
For almost 150 years the United States has been conducting an interesting experiment.
The subjects of the experiment: black people and working-class whites.
The hypothesis to be tested: Can a people taken from the jungles of Africa and
forced into slavery be fully integrated as citizens in a majority white population?
The whites were descendants of Europeans who had created a majestic civilization.
The former slaves had been tribal peoples with no written language and virtually no intellectual achievements.
Acting on a policy that was not fair to either group,
the government released newly freed black people into a white society that saw them as inferiors.
America has struggled with racial discord ever since.
Decade after decade the problems persisted but the experimenters never gave up.
They insisted that if they could find the right formula the experiment would work,
and concocted program after program to get the result they wanted.
They created the Freedman’s Bureau, passed civil rights laws, tried to build the Great Society,
declared War on Poverty, ordered race preferences, built housing projects, and tried midnight basketball.
Their new laws intruded into people’s lives in ways that would have been otherwise unthinkable.
They called in National Guard troops to enforce school integration.
They outlawed freedom of association. Over the protests of parents,
they put white children on buses and sent them to black schools and vice versa.
They tried with money, special programs, relaxed standards,
and endless handwringing to close the “achievement gap.”
To keep white backlash in check they began punishing public and even private statements on race.
They hung up Orwellian public banners that commanded whites to “Celebrate Diversity!” and “Say No To Racism.”
Nothing was off limits if it might salvage the experiment.
Some thought that what W.E.B. Du Bois called the Talented Tenth would lead the way for black people.
A group of elite, educated blacks would knock down doors of opportunity and show the world what blacks were capable of.
There is a Talented Tenth. They are the black Americans who have become entrepreneurs,
lawyers, doctors and scientists. But ten percent is not enough. For the experiment to work,
the ten percent has to be followed by a critical mass of people
who can hold middle-class jobs and promote social stability. That is what is missing.
\Through the years, too many black people continue to show an inability to function and prosper
in a culture unsuited to them.Detroit is bankrupt, the south side of Chicago is a war zone,
and majority-black cities all over America are beset by degeneracy and violence.
And blacks never take responsibility for their failures. Instead, they lash out in anger and resentment.
Across the generations and across the country, as we have seen in Detroit, Watts, Newark, Los Angeles,
Cincinnati, and now Ferguson, rioting and looting are just one racial incident away.
The white elite would tell us that this doesn’t mean the experiment has failed. We just have to try harder.
We need more money, more time, more understanding, more programs, more opportunities.
But nothing changes no matter how much money is spent, no matter how many laws are passed,
no matter how many black geniuses are portrayed on TV, and no matter who is president.
Some argue it’s a problem of “culture,” as if culture creates people’s behavior instead of the other way around.
Others blame “white privilege.” But since 1965, when the elites opened America’s doors to the Third World,
immigrants from Asia and India-people who are not white, not rich, and not “connected”-have quietly succeeded.
While the children of these people are winning spelling bees and getting top scores on the SAT,
black “youths” are committing half the country’s violent crime-crime, which includes viciously punching random
white people on the street for the thrill of it, that has nothing to do with poverty. The experiment has failed.
Not because of culture, or white privilege, or racism. The fundamental problem is that white people and black people are different.
They differ intellectually and temperamentally. These differences result in permanent social incompatibility.
Our rulers don’t seem to understand just how tired their white subjects are with this experiment.
They don’t understand that white people aren’t out to get black people; they are just exhausted with them.
They are exhausted by the social pathologies, the violence, the endless complaints, the blind racial solidarity,
the bottomless pit of grievances, the excuses, and the reflexive animosity. The elites explain everything with “racism,”
and refuse to believe that white frustration could soon reach the boiling point. Done!
rott bilse ..very well said
1:51 The Fisher Building looks beautiful. Exudes a lot of strength for the view shown.
Detroit is a city of hope and for innovation, so sad some folks are too small minded to realize this... Rebuilding from the ground up is a slow and painful process in any situation and I hope that for the people of Detroit that this is fuel to keep moving forward rather on dwelling on slow progress. The D lives!
Thanks for posting.
From what I have read, change in business trend is responsible for decline of detroit. Detroit was a manufacturing hub but US based firms have shifted destination to China, India while their R&D and Management is still in US. There is change here from manufacturing to management.
The buildings are such an eyesore tear it down.
Merchants Row is actually very nice. Same with most areas Downtown and the surrounding areas. Hope you enjoy it. Been here 5 years now and love it.
My home town was very industrial back in the day, and has also suffered a long, lingering destruction. Watching this video is so familier to me. Okay we were just a town, not a huge US city... but I can still really sympathise with what's happened to Detroit. Best of luck with your regeneration, guys.
Thanks for the excellent production. I have included it on my channel for the benefit of my Urban Economics Students at Wayne State University.
Really beautiful city.
Growing up in Idaho, I saw a lot of ghost towns, and a lot more towns where half the buildings were abandoned. That's exactly what Detroit is now, and for exactly the same reason: The local industry shut down, and it's never coming back. Nothing's going to change that
Cool! You get what you vote for!
very well done!
@FusionRecordsTV Just watched your great Tribute to Detroit video, and it is awesome!!
If the future of Detroit is up to the people of Detroit, as he says at the end of this video, then you can forget it. It's gonna take a massive effort from multiple sources outside of the city to turn things around.
I pray for that city to come back I admire the strenght of the people that love it and stay because they love it.
wow, jane cooper ele, was my old elementary. i almost cried watching it in this video. i remember when it closed down in 2005. i was in mid. school i cudn't believe it. anyway, i just remember cooper was the best elementary school ever. they had REAL teachers that cared about the students. they taught and made sure ever kid knew what they should have. best school ever.
Very interesting video.
my neighborhood here in Detroit is very nice--the University District. We are actively involved in keeping our neighborhood clean, attractive and safe.
YES it STILL IS I grew up there late 60s to mid 80s when we moved but I’m still close to that area now in Green Acres ! Judging from your time line I was here while you had been there then
I hope Detroit comes back....as the rest of America! God bless the US of A!
It's so sad to see what's become of this once proud and beautiful city, but like everything in life it gets worse before it gets better
Maybe the citizens should make some money and pay some taxes, instead of sitting on the couch and waiting for a paycheck.
NICE!!
it's up to the people of Detroit......... absolutely true.
Detroit saving plan:
1 Study what goods US are importing and see what can be produced on those empty buildings, clothes, furniture, shoes, electronics, bikes, toys, plastic goods, metal goods, etc, try to compete with cheap quality tech, like China, since real estate is cheap in Detroit and transportation can be cheaper with the rail, it is possible compete in this world economy
2 City have, and this is a must, keep tax low for new ventures, tax revenue will hit city arcs after production is set up, not before
3 Promote education
4 Control drugs in three ways, education, marihuana legalization and enforcement
5 Improve accountability of city officials
6 Improve existing services
7 Campaign study of ghetto by choice, teach people the economic value of safety and harmony, may be create a program of economic incentives to cleaner neighborhoods in endangered areas
Write off the back taxes on abandoned houses so that they become worth buying to live in, also saving the city the $22000 cost of demolishing each one.
Stupid, the buildings are empty because cars and other goods that used to be produced in Detroit moved elsewhere. There is no turning back. US corporations of Capitalist America found places where US goods can be produced with cheap labor and light taxes. IBM, Dell, HP, Apple, GM, Chrysler, Ford are American firms, but their goods carry the stickers: "Made in China, Made in Mexico, Made in Brazil, etc."
the maniac part of your moniker rings so true
I brouhgt a 4 unit house for $25,000 that qualifies for section 8 voughers. One family was already in one of the unit. I paid them to take care of the property. They painted it, fixed things
for me.
I live in Tampa, I move 3 other families from down here who has been living in homeless shelters because they cannot find no apartments. Here there is a waiting list of at least 1000 people ahead of people.
now I have all 4 units renting at $650.00 per month I net around $2000 per month.
Of all of the videos I have watched of my home town from many years ago this is the best one I have seen yet so far Most have awful background music put to a slideshow. The narration was nicely done and the truth told. Thank You
Beautiful buildings. So sad to see greed destroy that city. When unions demanded wages twice as high as the rest of the country, this is the result.
The black fist, which we see towards the end of this video, is what destroyed Detroit.
WORDto BIGbird
You kidding right?
Agreed
Great video! By the way it's the Brewster-Douglas Housing Projects, not Brewster-Wheeler, which is the name of the famous recreation center famous for producing Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson.
yes they have now added a few letters to the city's name, it is now Detoilet,Mi.
Our site theneverendingstage Loves this video man You guy's rock killer film!
The family that lives there takes care of everything for me. I guy was actually in construction.
We are working on a single family now for $15,000 that rents for $1100 per month.
threw section 8. Does not need no work, it is already being rented.
Now with section 8 you can pick the people out that lives there. you can look at their past rental history.
as you can see, from 2009 to only 2013 and things have not gotten any better in Detroit but worse. And the same goes for most of the country. Good job guys!
It looks like it could be an amazing site if it was done up properly.
@tallchick80 YOU are right! I was raised there... and I KNOW what the culture was like, and it's just gotten worse. Unions did this! Your local what ever USED to be FOR the people, now they are for themselves! You have gotten hooked on many things, but welfare has taken hold, and this is the result! From a FORMER Detroit resident!
The mansions are gone from Brush Park. Illitch took pride in tearing down city blocks so he could build the city he wanted. I don't miss him.
I went to Jane Cooper Elementary School in the late 70's.
I don't think Detroit is a problem of race, but rather a problem of a single city dependant on a single industry. I miss the Detroit I grew up in..........
Iam watching this in aug 2 2021 all of most of everything that was shown is different or torn down.this old 🎥 video needs to be taken down Detroit looks way better now i love 💙 💙 💙 Detroit.she will rise again 💘
It's a sad story of the slow death of a big city. But every dark cloud has a silver lining. Urban farms and Shinola, a company dedicated to making things in America again, is part of that silver lining.
@GradyWhite2007 I'm not sure what would cost more; take time and labor in restoring the buildings or just knocking them down and starting over completely. Some of the buildings probably have so much termite damage that it might be too dangerous to use the building anymore.
If they had the money they could fix those buildings and houses. The abandoned factories could be used for processing recyclables and making things in America again
Many cities in Germany looked worse than this but look at them now. The RAF and US Air Force "helped" us to solve some of our city planning issues by leveling everything. In Paris a huge fire helped them lay out the city we know today. In Germany we took the opportunity to make the bombed out cities more car friendly by making broader avenues and Autobahns go through some of the cities. That which was worth having was rebuilt and the rebuilding is still going on. We still have huge traffic problems but nothing compared to what we would have if everything stayed as it was. We have cities that escaped the bombing and the renewal and while they are charming, the city centers are being choked by lack of change.
I am not advocating war as an incentive to urban renewal but suggesting that after the shit hits the fan you have an opportunity to rebuild a city better than it was before. It would be nice to have a plan. Redoing the same old structure seems foolish. There are enough large cities world wide that could act as examples. American cities are often so similar to each other that you can't tell the difference by driving through them. I would like to see Detroit rise anew from the ashes.
They aren't doing squat there.
Watch some current videos and it looks worse than ever.
They are just letting it totally rot away
Why are you vomiting those tails you are telling OBVIOUSLY YOU haven’t been here or have no idea what you are spewing out of your pie whole there’s PLENTY happening HERE that is positive judging from your name probably more than what s going on where you reside
Same thing happened in the UK. Liverpool was a major city and now is one of the poorest.
One day, i have to visit detroit
The Government needs to react to this.However it does look as if Detroit is finished.
Detroit will NEVER be 'finished'
Visit sometime, its an amazing city full of great people 💯
If people and Employeers would stop moving further out of the city and move back in Detroit. It would become a great city again. I lived in Westside metro in 1997-1999. and since I moved the Metro area has moved out another 15 miles.
I'm surprised that lots of property in Detroit has been abandoned but not looted out. With the city's poverty levels, the many abandoned infrastructures, and an incompetent city government, you would have expected that those with enough common sense should use the opportunity to take anything of value. Come on, there's even an abandoned skyscraper.
It will come back!
people below me if you knew Detroit you would know that cass tech high..the school they showed in one of the pics that has been rebuilt and is one of the best school in the city...But people need to stop blaming and start doing something for the city..all this pessimisim where is the optimisim..I believe Detroit will get back on its feet...but we need supporters..we need faith
Well said, provided we don't kill ourselves off first. the largest source of fresh water in North America is the Great Lakes, and most of the water is so polluted it would all most kill you if u drank it untreated
If someone kidnaps/buys you... I think it would be kinda difficult to stay where you are if they force you to move. You have an even better day!
if we are a nation of consumers than there's always opportunity to find a way to make profit. it's just up to the people who care to bring new business detroit that's with the times. and at the moment that is happening to a degree with companies that specialize in helping startup businesses.
can you do a documentary about paradise valley and what ruin that?
@dogterd
Wow !!!! Another enlightening comment !!!! You guys are on FIRE
@ 0:48 A person has to have their eyes closed to think they are in 1950's Detroit.
i agree. A pal of mine worked as coder / programmer on Wall $treet-- even years b4 Wall street's $CAMMING of billions,, he shared with me one brilliant LINE :::
"CAPITALISM should SUPPORT Democracy, NOT the OTHER way AROUND."
Most people don't know this, but famous architect Albert Kahn of Detroit, was black.
Most people might know this. But everyone in Detroit is black.
Jay J. Bennett Most people don;t know this........but Gordy Howe was teh last white person to set foot in Detroit and survive.
***** most people definitely know this .when whites aren't around. Blacks can't survive. Fact!
I personally like to visit post apocalyptic do you think its recommendable to go there?
Why did the car manufacturers leave Detroit? Answer: Unions; all of the transplant factories in the South are non-union.
i would love to see some one save the pakard plant that is one the biggest auto plants in the world and like the guy said in the video, what do you do with a 1 square mile auto plant? i think it could be used part could be an indoor paint ball field and some could be rented out for storage or an exhibition haul the rest could be a museum.
Someone had come here with plans to renovate it but apparently it was more than they could handle so UNFORTUNATELY it’s BACK on the demolition track 4/4/2020
Lovely, a homework assignment from a stranger in the Internet. What should I be looking for regarding the population of blacks in Detroit in the 60s v 5 years ago?
He said " It's up to the people of Detroit to bring it back" There is no skilled labor in Detroit; so there screwed!!
@FusionRecordsTV Whats going on in America right now its hard to tell if they would ever fix Detroit back to its former self
"Once the war was over, that's when the decline started." - Yeah, just start another war and it will be all right again ... ^^
yes, corporations never ask for free hand outs from the government!
WHY ISN'T THE MAYOR DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT?JEEZ
@MemoPortero
I am not asuming anything, I am neutral, not attacking anyone, not defending anyone. I am just observing a racial bias (although your comment was meant to be positive ) in your statement that you may not have been aware of.
you take that back now!
Detroit is a great place to visit, if you stay locked safely inside of your car. Oh, and you must keep moving...
@MemoPortero
No, you did not start it, you are just perpetuating it ..and doing a damn good job !!!
im about to move to Detroit lol to the Lofts of Merchants Row
During the early part of the 20th century it was the unions who fought for the 40 hour work day and increased wages. We need that kind of spirit again. The unions aren't as effective today. Walmart makes billions of dollars. The Waltons are billionares. I know a manager at a Walmart who couldn't afford to hear her house in the winter. That is unacceptable.
We might be keeping each other down.
How could we let the arsenal of democracy fall?
Blame the Democrats. Detroit had not had a Republican mayor since 1962.
Although Coleman Young, and those who continued to vote him in at each election, have a great deal to do with Detroit's fall from grace; the reasons go much deeper than that! Some of the manufacturers seldom invested in their businesses, because, as they tell it; they had to pay the stockholders. They paid them; then the Japanese moved in and they couldn't compete without costly improvements so they bought Japanese steel and parts instead of making them.
High crime levels was an environment that also created "White Flight", and later on, "Black Flight"! Getting them back will require better parenting by those who remain in the city. Drugs, guns, and gangs are killing their kids, and the neighbors kids also.
AlexS71192 blame the car companies, the whole city was so dependent...
Sarah....Actually Detroit had a very diverse business climate; although the auto companies were at the top of the wage bracket. Most of Detroit's income came from resident taxes, both income and property taxes. Loss of residents meant a loss of taxes.
Sarah. It was Democratic policies that put them out of business. Democrats favored strong unions paying every worker $20.00hr starting with lots of benefits. Was a ton of money back then. Democratic officials kept raising taxes driving away the wealthy tax payers. All while city couldn't control their spending within their budget that got them into debt. Sarah this is why every ghetto in America is Strongly Democratically controlled. Their failed Socialistic Policies don't work.
Alex....You have no idea what you are talking about, just the typical BS ignorant people speil daily.
big change in 20 yrs
Detroit: An example of what happens when you let big business (lifeblood Big Auto in Detroit's case) - as well as far too powerful unions...do whatever they please...
I dont know how the city can rebound when all the manufacturing has moved out. It's a dead city likely never to be revived unless we return to the producing nation we once were. We are now a nation of consumers.
@OrionHeights167 And that is the paradox of Detroit. There is no money to tear it all down but if they don't property prices will continue to stay low in turn keeping property tax low and new residents low in turn keeping tax revenues low.
Why should they grow crops when they know their Bridge card will be reloaded on the first of the month
This is also a social problem. This is what might become of any city if middle class vanishes. It's a city blood
Detroit is a big example of what happens when you have unfettered and unregulated capitalism.
RIP DILLA
It already is.
They are, they're doing it to the Detroit suburbs
"Y'all need to take this old bullshit down"! Because here in 2018, Downtown Detroit has never looked better" even mid-town, corktown, Greektown, Harbortown, techtown, university district, the Ave of fashion, La Salle Gardens, Palmer Woods, Boston Edison, Indian Village, East English Village, west Village, Rosedale Park, & ect. Detroit City is on a Upswing"! So y'all can take down this pist"! Unless you're talking about some of the neighborhoods around the City, that haven't been improved yet"! But like I've stated in the beginning, Downtown Detroit is on the Rise"!
@MemoPortero
I am not asuming anything, I am neutral, not attacking anyone, not defending anyone. I am just observing a racial bias (although your comment was meant to be positive ) in your statement that you may not have been aware of...... And YES I think Dogterd is a fool, but I did not want to say it out loud.
@Moralvorstellung28
And people say racism is dead...Thanks for the reminder !!!!