Even in the most developed country in the world (USA) there is a ghostly city - Detroit. A few decades ago, it was a successful and dynamically developing metropolis with modern infrastructure - the world capital of automotive industry. But what happened? Why is Detroit a ghost town? We have to figure it all out today.
Acquaintance with the "Hollywood city"
Do you want to buy real estate in America for just a couple of dollars? It's not a joke. Due to the insolvent population, which is already scarce here, most houses (if not all) are auctioned at extremely low prices.
There are no customers here. A rare occurrence is the redemption of one’s own housing from the city municipality. And it's cheaper than paying taxes. The latter is not a replenished duty of local residents.
Detroit, a ghost town in the United States, is also a Hollywood site for filming apocalyptic movie scenes. It is enough to just come here with a film crew - no scenery will be needed. It’s all as if the inhabitants hastily left the city, which turned into a ghost many years later.
What does a ghost town look like?
Over 80 thousand abandoned buildings, turned into ruins, skyscrapers with broken glass, dilapidated and grassy houses. This is the most dangerous and criminal American city. However, the number of killings has declined in recent years. At a conference, the mayor answered a question about the fall in crime, saying that there was simply no one else to kill.
Locals jokingly call their city, which turns into a wasteland - the prairies, steppes of North America, emphasizing the decay and tragedy of the city.
Turn to history and find out why Detroit is a ghost town. A photo of this mystical city is presented below.
From the history of past centuries
The city was founded in 1701 by the French leader Antoine Lome, it was he who gave the name to this settlement. Translated from French, "detroit" ("detroit") means "strait". There was a fur trade with the Indians. About a century this city belonged to Canada, but in 1796 became the property of the United States - Detroit turns into a major American transport hub, due to the convenient location of the lakes and the junction of transport routes. The economy of the city at that time depended on shipbuilding.
Until the mid-19th century, Detroit was the state capital of Michigan.
Detroit Development
Now many are wondering why Detroit is a ghost town. A century ago, this city was experiencing the heyday of its development. Majestic buildings, skyscrapers, office buildings and luxurious mansions were built here. It was in Detroit that the first Ford automobile plant opened, and then Cadillac, Dodge, Chrysler and Pontiac. Detroit has become the site of the global automotive industry, it was called the West of Paris. It was here that the fashion for cars was created, new models were released, becoming the subject of admiration and imitation.
High employment and rapid infrastructure development have contributed to economic recovery. As a result, other areas of urban life have grown. Due to the growth of the economy, the local population is also increasing. Life in Detroit is in full swing.
Reasons for the devastation of the city
But the economic boom also had the flip side of the coin - cheap labor is beginning to gather here. The white American population is mixed with blacks, offering their services for a penny, unlike the indigenous people of the city.
Here lies the answer to the question of why Detroit is a ghost town. Gradually, local residents, not wanting to live next to the settlers, move to the outskirts of the city. The middle class, accustomed to good cars and a beautiful life, is less and less using the services of city shops. Due to the decline in customer flow, businessmen rushed to the places where their potential customers live.
The consequences of the outflow of solvent class
When bankers, engineers, store owners, and doctors began to leave Detroit, the city began to experience an economic crisis. The number of African Americans continued to grow, so the poor became more and more.
Automobile factories, following the rest of the business, began to close. Arriving immigrants began to lose their jobs. They had no money to move from the once rich Detroit, and now desolate and gloomy. Poverty and poverty enslaved the city, and the municipal treasury did not count taxes.
Below is the ghost town of Detroit - photos before and after the collapse of the economy.
Detroit Life Stops
Due to poverty and lack of jobs, the city has become the most criminal and criminal place in the United States. The remaining residents clashed with immigrants from Africa. Interracial clashes were constantly ongoing, crime was gaining momentum. The culmination of events - 1967, which entered the textbooks of American history- "Unrest on 12th Street." In July of that year, serious confrontations took place, which resulted in the most violent riots and lasted five days. The rebels set fire to cars, shops, houses, devastated and robbed everything that came in the way. All of Detroit was engulfed in fires and chaos.
In the course of these riots, police took everyone away. In the suppression of the riot took part and national federal troops. At the end of the uprising, losses were calculated: 2.5 thousand shops were burned and robbed, about 400 families were left without houses, over 7 thousand were arrested, about 500 people were injured and 43 were killed. Economic damage ranged from 40 to 80 million dollars (or 250-500 million dollars at today's prices). A photo of the ghost town of Detroit (one of the houses) below.
This became a point in the life of the city. Small and medium-sized businesses completely left the city. The oil crisis in the country, which erupted in 1973 and lasted six years, finally shook the automotive business of the American auto industry. Gluttonous American cars were bought less and less. It was decided to close the last plants in the city. Workers moved out of town with their families. And who could not - stayed here.
The Detroit administration announced financial problems that could not be dealt with on its own. All of the above reasons were the answer to why Detroit became a ghost town.
Car hopes of residents
The reason was not only the influx of African emigrants, but also the discrepancy between the hopes of the highways that the residents had. The claimed requirements for comfortable movement on Detroit roads have become difficult to fulfill. There came a moment when everyone simply did not have enough space on the roads for everyone to break in their vehicles.
By the way, public transport here was very poorly developed, because the original motto for the townspeople was: "Each family has its own car." This is another reason why Detroit is a ghost town. The outflow of the population began earlier, and immigrants accelerated its process and deepened the problem.
Detroit today
Today, less than 700,000 people live in the city. Of these, less than 20% of the population are Americans, 80% are African Americans. According to statistics, only 7% of school-age children can read and write fluently.
Many are trying to sell their homes, but there are no buyers. And there is no money either to leave the ghost town. In such a vicious circle the population lives. If you look today at the empty city center with apocalyptic landscapes, it becomes clear why Detroit is called the “ghost town”.
The city administration does not have the money to restore it, the US government has often taken to rebuild Detroit, but all attempts have been futile. Some owners of buildings do not give up hope that someday life will return to Detroit, and land and real estate here will rise in price.
Thousands of abandoned buildings and offices are targeted by local vandals. Since the beginning of the 80s of the last century, local residents have a tradition of setting fire to houses. On Halloween, massive arson starts in the city. Why the signs from the ghost town of Detroit (photo below) were picked up by other statesmen, it remains unclear. But the fact remains.
Artistic Look at Detroit
Not only Hollywood directors are interested in this gloomy place, but also artists draw inspiration here. Needless to say, the place is very unusual, it is possible to build the development trajectories of the modern post-apocalyptic period. For example, the American artist Tyri Gaton began to attract tourists to the city with his work on the Detroit ruins. He created objects that are both painting, and the subject of sculpture, and the object of design, and the original installation. He laid out abandoned houses, rusty cars and household appliances in bizarre compositions and painted them with bright colors. Heidelberg Street, where the artist worked, attracted not only American, but also foreign tourists, and Gaton himself received several international awards for his creative achievements.
How is the US government planning to revive Detroit?
As previously written, American authorities have repeatedly made attempts to rebuild the city. But due to many reasons, this has not yet been possible. One of the ideas of local government was to open two casinos in the city. But they did not live up to hopes for Detroit’s economic recovery.
The bankruptcy process in Detroit lasted from 2013 to 2014. During this period of time, it was not possible to demolish the dilapidated buildings that were planned by the government to rebuild the city. When the process was documented, the authorities decided to demolish almost one quarter of the buildings in the city. According to the authorities, this would help attract new investors and in the future close old debt obligations, which at that time amounted to over $ 20 billion.