tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post8784475764712427470..comments2023-10-27T03:16:03.213-04:00Comments on Burgh Diaspora: Detroit: A BiographyJim Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-18182149721056802682012-04-30T08:55:03.716-04:002012-04-30T08:55:03.716-04:00I thought it would take Detroit at least 30-40 yea...<i>I thought it would take Detroit at least 30-40 years to start growing again. One thing that I am not sure if it will take longer or shorter, based on the Auto Industry's forced, preplanned, federally supported bankruptcy.</i><br /><br />Lee Iacocca.Jim Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-72924757902556432812012-04-29T13:29:34.626-04:002012-04-29T13:29:34.626-04:00Jim,
I also read Detroit: A Biography and did a r...Jim,<br /><br />I also read Detroit: A Biography and did a review on my blog. I've also written quite a bit about Detroit's demise. I know Detroit much better than Pittsburgh, and I know Chicago very well also. Frankly I know very little about Pittsburgh, but I think the basics of Detroit's collapse are very similar to Pittsburgh's and Chicago's. However, I'd note three things are different: 1) the black migration to Detroit started earlier there, lasted longer, drew greater numbers and caused friction with white residents earlier; 2) Detroit is not a city of neighborhoods in the sense that either Chicago or Pittsburgh are, so it never developed local representation that could "defend" the interests of residents; 3) an industrial land use pattern that constrained the historic core of the city and created a housing crisis post-WWII that was one of the most extreme in the nation; and 4) the election of a black mayor in Coleman Young, who was perceived as seeking retribution on whites by whites. <br /><br />So, economically different from the rest of the Rust Belt? Not at all. Politically, socially and physically different? Definitely. Had Detroit NOT elected a black mayor in 1973, the white outmigration wouldn't have been so severe and would've retained much more of a middle class. It would've been much more like present-day Philly. Conversely, had Chicago elected a black mayor in the early '70s, it would've likely had the same white flight and we'd be talking about it in Detroit-like terms.pete-rockhttp://cornersideyard.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-4538126160801794012012-04-28T19:50:53.031-04:002012-04-28T19:50:53.031-04:00Jim -- I think about Pittsburgh's resilience ...Jim -- I think about Pittsburgh's resilience is built on the industrialist that left legacies Libraries, Arts, Architecture, Universities, etc that are still kept up by the foundations plus tax dollars and the "Blue Collar' working class people. (Migrants) But what I think gets left out is the forced migration, based on the collapse of the Steel industry with out much Federal Government support. Blame Reagan. <br /><br />I thought it would take Detroit at least 30-40 years to start growing again. One thing that I am not sure if it will take longer or shorter, based on the Auto Industry's forced, preplanned, federally supported bankruptcy. Will this keep people in Detroit and not force the out migration, workforce diversity then in migration? A refresh of the gene pool shall we say.<br />Thanks,<br />TomTom Mchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00938551498393850959noreply@blogger.com