> The ruins of Detroit (on this page, use the arrow on the left to click through the photos)
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the city of Detroit developed rapidly thanks to the automobile industry.
Until the 50′s, its population rose to almost 2 million people. Detroit was the 4th most important city in the United States.
It was the dazzling symbol of the American Dream City with its monumental skyscrapers and fancy neighborhoods.
Increasing of segregation and deindustrialization caused violent riots in 1967. The white middle-class exodus from the city accelerated and the suburbs grew. Firms and factories began to close or move to lower-wage states. Slowly, but inexorably downtown high-rise buildings emptied.
Since the 50′s, “Motor City” lost more than half of its population.
Nowadays, its splendid decaying monuments are, no less than the Pyramids of Egypt, the Coliseum of Rome, or the Acropolis in Athens, remnants of the passing of a great civilization.
With all the big money in places like Gross Point etc…
Why can’t groups come to gather to rehab some of these great landmarks? Rehab will turn some of the ruins into urban showcase’s. This work will help bring areas back one building at a time. Just over twenty years ago Chicago’s Pullmen and Uptown areas looked very much like parts of Detroit but the decaying theaters and hotels were brought back to life and with their rise a renewed feeling of hope also started to grow like a sunflower making its way up to the sky. The same could happen in Detroit if they rebuild the cities gilded past and allow to rejoin the present they will come and return from near and far.
Unfortunately, there are political and social issues that need to be addressed before something, like what you are suggesting, can happen. The segregation, that is referred to in the article, is stronger than ever and fiercely defended by many.
ummm………i would just bulldoze every abandoned building and start anew with city farms and try to attract every big business to detroit, and then detroit wouldn’t rely on ONE INDUSTRY, to keep it from getting to where it got…too bad bulldozing it would cost too much money D: