Detroit has seen its population plummet since the incompetent racist Coleman Young was mayor; a lot of that was due to the cratering of the auto industry, which itself resulted from the deadly combination of the 1973 OPEC embargo and permanent high oil prices controlled by a cartel, along with the need for higher-markup smaller vehicles — to support the UAW welfare state — and those are difficult to sell without a constant drive for quality improvement a la the Japanese. I remember when Japanese cars were first starting to appear, they were small, fuel efficient, piles of junk that disintegrated from the winter salt. So, the gubmint said, knock it off with the salt. :’)
Anyway, the Detroit of the 1960s riots and 1970s shuttered storefronts is basically gone, literally demolished. My last trip downtown there was about ten years ago, it was already beginning to look like I could farm there.
Some things are actually turning around in Detroit one neighborhood at a time. Big players moving in along with some big stores which are bringing jobs and money.
The grandson of one of my neighbors transferred to Detroit from NY a while back and says he loves it. All of his neighbors are high 5 to mid 6 figure coworkers from Quicken loans or JP Morgan. They got big bonuses for living in the city and the value of their dollar goes a lot further than it did in NY. He bought a decent home from a private owner and a lot on either side from the city for under $65 grand and all his neighbors are doing the same.
The guy says its actually got a small town feel with white picket fences and all. They pay for extra private security and the companies are paying for upgrades to power and sewer systems. He says that there are a few elderly blacks still in the neighborhood and couldn’t be happier to see what’s happening.