Detroit Failed Because It Didn't Do What Cities Do

Detroit's city government filed today for Chapter 9 bankruptcy after years of financial trouble and industrial contraction. It's easy to think that the city's fault was going all in on auto manufacturing. Detroit made a bet, and the bet went bad. No surprise, then, that Detroit went bad, too. Including, in this case, its municipal debts.

Detroit's dependence on cars, though, wasn't exactly the problem. It was dependence itself. Cities should never go all in on any industry, cars or otherwise. It didn't realize that until it was too late.