Marilyn Salenger: ‘White flight’ and Detroit’s decline By Marilyn Salenger By Marilyn Salenger July 21, 2013 Marilyn Salenger is president of Strategic Communications Services and a former correspondent and news anchor for several CBS stations. An almost palpable sadness has swept across the country at the news that the city of Detroit has filed for bankruptcy. In the late 1960s,racial tensions engulfed parts of our country, at the cost of lost lives and abject destruction. It was the beginning of the ending we are now seeing for a city that once stood tall with head held high. opinions Orlando Shooting Updates News and analysis on the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. post_newsletter348 follow-orlando true after3th false The term “white flight” has become less common in recent years because its huge waves appeared to have stopped as tensions eased. While the suburbs began to draw people out of our cities in the 1950s, Detroit’s neighborhoods and their demographics changed drastically and quickly after the 1967 riots.
The rise and fall of Detroit: A timeline Sign Up for Our free email newsletters On Thursday, Detroit made history — and not in a good way. The heart of the U.S. auto industry and home to the Detroit Tigers, Eminem and the White Stripes, Motown, and (maybe) Jimmy Hoffa's body became the largest city ever to file for bankruptcy. July 24, 1701Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac establishes a French settlement, Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit (the strait), along with 100 French soldiers and an equal number of Algonquins. 1760Britain wins the city from the French. 1796U.S. forces capture Detroit from the British. Feb. 1, 1802Detroit becomes a chartered city, covering about 20 acres. 1827Detroit adopts its forward-looking city motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We hope for better days; it shall rise from the ashes). 1850Bernhard Stroh opens Stroh Brewery Company. The Stroh Brewery Company, circa 1864. June 4, 1896Henry Ford test drives his first automobile on the streets of Detroit. 1899Ransom E. 1959Berry Gordy founds Motown Records.
Eerie Before and After Images Show Urban Decay in Detroit | The Weather Channel Perhaps no American city symbolizes urban decay more than Detroit, Michigan. Modern day ruins of the Motor City are not difficult to find, as nature has reclaimed much of the city and neighboring areas. When their occupants left, the homes in the slideshow above became examples of what happens when weather and nature take over unattended homes. Using Google Maps time lapse function, it’s easy to see how much the Detroit suburbs have changed over just the last few years. A lot changes throughout those six years. Weeds, grass and trees grow in the abandoned homes, and take over parts of each neighborhood. But the changes to these buildings stretch beyond natural occurrences. No street appears as devastated as Hoyt Avenue, which had two well-kept homes in 2009 that were completely overrun by grass and weeds by 2013. MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: Modern Ruins of Abandoned Detroit
Detroit Has Worst High-School Graduation Rate The Threat to Detroit’s Rebound Isn’t Crime or the Economy, It’s the Mortgage Industry As a young married couple, Steven and Corey Josephson chose to begin their lives together in Detroit. They came from Greeley, Colorado, a city that couldn’t be more different. It was founded as an experimental utopian community; its majority-white population has more than doubled since 1970; and its unemployment rate is lower than the national average, and about half that of Detroit. But in August 2014, they left. Along with their beagle, Baley, they moved into a house in northeast Detroit near 8 Mile Road. “He bought the house originally for $40,000, but home values are not even close to that,” Josephson says. Two different stories are playing out in Detroit — though they seem like they should contradict each other. But at this point, at least, there’s room for everyone. The story of war ends — so far — in one of two ways. Or perhaps there is someone who wants to buy the home. In Detroit, there were 3,500 sales of single-family homes in 2014. One Neighborhood, Two Mortgage Crises
Detroit pays high price for arson onslaught Detroit — Arson is a raging epidemic in Detroit, destroying neighborhoods and lives as the city tries to emerge from bankruptcy. Even amid a historic demolition blitz, buildings burn faster than Detroit can raze them. Last year, the city had 3,839 suspicious fires and demolished 3,500 buildings, according to city records analyzed by The Detroit News. Burned homes scar neighborhoods for years: Two-thirds of those that caught fire from 2010-13 are still standing, records show. "Nothing burns like Detroit," said Lt. The Detroit News researched arson for more than three months and found that it remains a huge obstacle to renewal efforts following bankruptcy. Few neighborhoods were untouched by arson and the entire city bears its costs. "People don't realize arson is a felony. Aides to Mayor Mike Duggan, who has made fighting blight the cornerstone of his administration, declined comment on The News' findings or his strategy for reducing arson. 'Arson is like a cancer' The News found:
Eight miles of murder | World news Even by the low standards of Eight Mile Road, the Triple C bar was a seedy place to die. It is a squat one-storey building, windowless and dingy. The only hint at the nightclub inside is three white 'C's tacked to a dirty wall. To many, Eight Mile is a familiar name - made famous by the semi-autobiographical movie of the same name by rapper Eminem. But unlike the white rapper Eminem, the black Proof - real name DeShaun Holton - showed that most people do not escape Eight Mile. But Eight Mile means far more than another dead Detroit rapper, far more than one successful movie. Walking from one side of Eight Mile Road to the other is a jarring experience. In Detroit the unemployment rate is 14.1 per cent, more than double the national average. That decision goes to the core of the problem: race. The second blow to Detroit was one of employment. Yet to the north of Eight Mile lies a land of office parks and strip malls. The city has experienced a flowering of talented rappers.
The Downfall of Detroit: White Flight and the 1967 Race Riots | husseinbazzi The 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street riot, was a civil disturbance in Detroit, Michigan that began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, on the corner of 12th (today Rosa Parks Boulevard) and Clairmount streets on the city’s Near West Side. Police confrontations with patrons and observers on the street evolved into one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in United States history, lasting five days and surpassing the violence and property destruction of Detroit’s 1943 race riot, which occurred 24 years earlier. To help end the disturbance, Governor George Romney ordered the Michigan National Guard into Detroit, and President Lyndon B. The events of 1967 were not spontaneous; they had substance for both blacks and whites. Works Cited Blakeslee, Jan. “”White Flight” to the Suburbs: Demographic Approach.” Feagin, Joe R.. Like this: Like Loading...
Taxes fall in Detroit neighborhoods Many Detroit homeowners will see their property tax assessments drop 5%-15% this year, although bustling downtown and Midtown will see an increase of 5%, city officials said Monday. It's the latest adjustment in Detroit's three-year effort to reassess every one of the city's 220,000 homes, something that Detroit's chief assessor, Gary Evanko, said the city hasn't done in at least 45 years. Officials want to ensure that property tax assessments more closely match home sale prices in a city deeply scarred by the subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis. City officials said large portions of northwest, north and northeast Detroit will see 15% reductions, while the southwest, near west and lower east parts of the city will see reductions around 5%. Existing homeowners will not see the full increases because the state's Headlee Amendment limits annual property tax hikes on homes to the rate of inflation, currently running less than 1%, until there is an ownership change.