General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: So Detroit- what went wrong? [View all]FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Large number of people moved to Detroit during the first half of the 20th century when the growing volume of car manufacturing required large numbers of employees doing relatively manual tasks. This reached a peak during WW II when Detroit was the "Arsenal of Democracy", and during the following years when pent up demand for cars was being satisfied.
After the car business moved out of the city to larger manufacturing spaces, and built more manufacturing and assembly plants across the country (e.g. St Louis, San Antonio, etc.), manufacturing in the City of Detroit declined. As economic stresses built, race relations deteriorated, businesses and whites left for the suburbs, and the population declined.
Detroit City government and expenditure did not decline as fast as the population and the tax base.
Hence it is now bankrupt.
Detroit is just a big example of the process that creates Ghost Towns.
America's Coolest Ghost Towns