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It's just the most extreme case. There have been similar patterns of urban decay in many places, and yes these cities are almost always Democrat controlled, although I agree that this isn't the main reason for their problems.
Most cities are Democratic. Detroit was a one industry town and when that went, nothing replaced it. The Democratic cities and regions are the economic powerhouses in the USA. I think many here forget that or do not understand it.
-Democratic support of things like NAFTA contributed to urban decay
-Republican opposition to things like training people for new jobs contributed to urban decay
-The problems our cities face are simply too big for local or even regional government to tackle without significant support from their states and the fed. government.
You just punched a hole in your own argument. Detroit is a RUST BELT city. Seattle, San Jose, Denver, are not Rust Belt cities. When the economy went belly-up in many areas, those who could work went elsewhere. Many who couldn't do better stayed. Obviously, home values and home prices drop.
Seattle, San Jose, other West/West Coast cities, they attract many people, particularly because of the tech industry. Alot of people actually want to move to Denver. There is a reason the cost of living in those cities are very high. Alot of people want to move to those cities. And thanks to the geography of the West Coast, not as much land to work with, therefore, that makes the price surge. Tech industry in combination with a high demand for the west coast and not alot of room equals high prices for rent. Contrast this with alot of Rust Belt cities that are losing alot of people and there is alot more room to expand.
You cannot blame Democrats for that. Accusing me for cherry picking only says you can't refute me, but you don't like what I had to say.
Go to San Jose, do you see prosperity there? All it has is a bunch of rich upstarts with homeless people (the ones dems claim to care about) everywhere else.
There’s crumbling infrastructure, failing schools, the city is in debt, just because corporations within the city are doing good does not mean the actual city is.
San Jose, California has been controlled by Democrats as far back as the 1950s. San Jose is in good shape. It doesn't have sky high crime. Very low murder rate. It's a hub in Silicon Valley. San Jose has about 1 million people, up from 95,000 in 1950.
Seattle,Washington, ran exclusively by Democrats since 1969. It's noted has having one of the fastest growing populations in the USA. Seattle has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. Large tech industry in the city. Low crime rate, and an especially low murder rate.
Denver, Colorado, another city ran by Democrats for decades. Alot of people want to move to Denver. Denver's population is now larger than Detroit's population. Major telecommunications hub in the USA. Alot of energy companies have a big presence in the Denver area. Low murder rate too. And it isn't decaying.
Detroit is in bad shape. The cities I listed, Seattle, San Jose, Denver, are not in bad shape at all.
Austin, Texas is another city ran by Democrats for decades. Their population is exploding because the city is doing so well. Another hub of high tech jobs.
Powerful video, its sad to see the once beautiful buildings and churches (and only) 40-50 years later destroyed and smashed to pieces . That was destroyed purposefully from within.
What kind of people destroys their own cities buildings like that?
Those questioning Donald Trump yes he should be trying to help revive Detroit but what the heck did Barack Obama do for them? or the previous five presidents they all had a responsibility to help.
I will agree that the downfall of Detroit occured during Democratic control and that liberal policies contributed to its downfall, but how do you explain Detroit’s much worse condition compared to other cities that were Democrat controlled?
The answer is something you might not expect. Detroit actually had one of the highest standards of living of all American cities due to the high-paid blue collar manufacturing jobs. For example, Detroit was a top city in owner-occupied single family homes. Because of this, Detroiters moved outward from downtown at a higher rate than other cities. Residents left behind their small closely-spaced bungalows on garageless, narrow lots and moved out to the suburbs to bigger homes with garages and big back yard.
I’m a Detroter and frequently visit other cities of comparable age and size to Detroit and am surprised to see how many people still live in townhouses and apartment buildings in the older areas. There are no townhouses in Detroit and few apartment building. Even high-rise housing projects were rare and have all been demolished. Because of the prosperity of Detroiters, there was never demand for such housing.
Now that those who could afford to move out have done so, Detroit proper is left with undesirable housing that no one wants to live in. Even many of the black people have moved out.
The good news is that there are areas that are so widely abandoned that the vacant property is being bought out by companies for distribution centers and other commercial development.
But, yes, it is sad to see so many beautiful buildings decay. And Detroit had many of them.
Well put. And yes, I agree , Detroit's demise has fallen under Democratic rule. Now that being said, it's restructuring and revival is also being done under Democratic rule, with a brief interlude which it had an emergency manager.
People don't realize that Detroit isn't just the motor city, and that they put all their eggs in one basket. Detroit has been a focal point of heavy industry far before that. Flour milling initially was the start. Ship building was a huge industry prior to automotive. And along with ship building, foundries which made all the fixtures and such for the ships. With the foundries , other things were made, such as stoves and at one point in time was known as the stove making capital of the world. All this was made possible by the huge amounts of iron and copper in the UP and the ease of which it could be transported (ships). And with all this industry, engineers, draftsmen, etc were also needed. So Detroit wasn't short sighted by investing in the automotive industry , they had been a huge focal point of industry since the early 1800's.
And yes, in 1960 Detroit had the highest per capita income of the entire country. It is a shame the decline it has taken. And I feel the majority of it is to blame on the Democrats, but the GOP is not without blame either. Both parties allowed corporations to take advantage of offshoring , starting with Reagan and the demise of the CDS (subsidies) for the shipping industry in 1981. By this time Detroit was the Motor city though, transitioning thru the 60's. With the advent of offshoring though, one industry fell after another. Leaving what we have now.
As much as people like to point their fingers at the Democrats, the residents of the city were the ones that voted them in one after another. The city is seeing a turn around though, even under Democratic rule and some help from rich GOP individuals like Dan Gilbert. Unfortunately the newly developed and desirable areas are clustered in certain areas and extremely expensive to live. Leaving many other areas in ruins. At least we are seeing a turn around, one that hopefully continues and extends further out into the still ruined areas.
There aren't even 5 cities in America in general with populations over 2 million people. Anyway, we were talking about Detroit vs other large cities. Does it only count if the city has over 2 million people?
Where are you getting the 2 million number ? The population is down to 675k now.
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