Detroit Isn’t Motor City

Don’t call it Motor City anymore; the link between the auto industry and its birthplace has shattered. The world dominance of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler built Detroit into a prosperous city that reached a population of 1.85 million in 1950. Later, the decline of the Big Three brought Detroit low as they moved factories out of the city and foreign competitors won the hearts of drivers. General Motors and Chrysler declared bankruptcy in 2009 and Detroit’s municipal government followed in 2013, after the state turned over control of the city’s finances to an emergency manager. The city emerged from bankruptcy in 2014, but its 680,000 residents still face daunting struggles. Last year was the car companies’ best since 2007.

After coming out of a record $18 billion bankruptcy in December 2014, Detroit’s street lights are lit, park land gets mowed and the municipal debt is sold on the public market. A vibrant downtown is attracting young people, while Quicken Loans Inc. and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan are responsible for more than 15,000 jobs in the city center. Yet the recovery in Detroit is largely confined to downtown. Surrounding neighborhoods, which represent about 95 percent of the city’s 139 square miles (360 kilometers) define the long-term struggle. This area, roughly the size of Boston and Baltimore combined, is home to 70,000 vacant buildings. Despite downtown’s growth, the city continues to lose population. And the city’s school system faced the prospect of being unable to pay its bills as it reached its debt limit, while teachers protested deteriorating conditions. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed the judge who had overseen the city’s bankruptcy to lead the school system as it sought to stabilize its finances.