Haunting Images Of Detroit's Decline (PHOTOS)

In Detroit, the devastating economic effects of deindustrialization continue to push inhabitants away from what was once the fourth-largest city in America.

New census data indicates Detroit's population dropped by a startling 25 percent in the last decade, from 951,270 in 2000 to 713,777 last year. That's a 60 percent decline from its 1950 peak population -- 1.85 million -- and the lowest count since the 1910 Census put the then-promising Motor City's population at 285,704.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, aware his state's manufacturing sector might be in permanent decline, has been on a campaign to reinvent his state. "We cannot cling to the old ways of doing business," he said in response to the newest census numbers. "We cannot successfully transition to the 'New Michigan' if young, talented workers leave our state." Chrysler has been on the campaign trail too, releasing a Super Bowl ad with Eminem titled "Made in Detroit."

A recent book called Ruins of Detroit depicts how Detroit's downturn has turned to decay over the last several years: Abandoned hotels, houses and schools line the streets as a reminder of the city's slow economic decline. The devastation takes on an eerie beauty, as captured by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. The book, published in 2010, depicts Detroit's urban landscapes over several years.

The photographs show once-lively structures of an American city, now remembered by its remains.

The entire collection of photos can be found in the Ruins of Detroit book, or at Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre Photography

Take a look at the ruins of the city:

Michigan Central Station

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Michigan Central Station

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Comments

[jacobisrael]

02:28 PM on 04/25/2011

The other point which is missing entirely on this thread Is the impact of affirmative action on Detroit.

Perhaps because such comments are censored?

[jacobisrael]

10:03 PM on 04/18/2011

Let Pastor Manning tell YOU what's wrong with Black people who LOVE obama and WRECK America );

http://youtu.be/SPp5LrG1t5I

You know why my belly hurts right now? All the belly laughs!!!

[jacobisrael]

09:23 AM on 04/16/2011

It was not long ago that South Central Los Angeles was even MORE beautiful than Detroit:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/cripsandbloods/timeline.html

But now it looks MUCH worse than Detroit!!

[Casa-Giardino]

10:22 AM on 04/11/2011

SHAMEFUL! We should be preserving our cities.

[robinhood1]

05:05 PM on 04/10/2011

I guess the city could be used as a movie site if you are making a film set in Berlin c. 1945. Why worry about our crumbling cities when there are so many gay marriages to stop? The US is rotting from within. One day, even the Chinese won't want to buy our bonds.

[Charles Grimmett]

12:35 AM on 04/10/2011

As a native Detroiter my heart breaks at seeing some of the places that were landmarks of my life in such ruin. Contrary to popular opinion Detroit was once a beautiful city, and some of the landmarks shown here were a part of that beauty.

Last year I made a trip back to the city and went back through the neighborhood where I grew up. I found it abandoned, resembling something from a post-apocalyptic science fiction movie. What was once a neighborhood filled with solid single family homes now is a like a mouth filled with broken, missing, and decaying teeth. While there are still many wonderful neighborhood in the city, it bares little resemblance to the vibrant, place where I was born and raised, worked and raised my children. While the changes in the city have occurred over a period of many years, in the last 10 they have been most profound.
The triple whammy of a shift in the industrial paradigm, political corruption, and entrenched racial intolerance have all lead to the disgraceful situation that exist in what was once one of the world's most beautiful and livable cities. If you want to see what's ahead for the rest of the country, let the unchecked greed of those who see people working for a decent wage as the problem. You will see their solution and your future in streets of Detroit.

[jacobisrael]

09:38 AM on 04/16/2011

Let's be HONEST here, for a change!

This WILL happen if you let Blacks in!

It will NOT happen if you DON'T!

[traveling1]

05:23 PM on 04/09/2011

It looks just like the Life After People show - http://www.history.com/shows/life-after-people

[mmkay]

10:49 AM on 04/09/2011

In the words of one of my favorite songwriters of all time, "All things must pass, all things must pass away. . ."

[Lizzy Cat]

09:27 AM on 04/09/2011

The truth is that the demise of this building has nothing to do with the people of Detroit but a person who owns the building who sees no value if maintaining and preservation of the past.
Our family arrived in this train station in Nov 1963, and we've never been able to go back.
We have a stong European heritage and trains stations have long been a place to view in awe.
Let's stop tearing down the past and repurpose the buildings. She still has some beauty left in her.
Focus on preservation....not on destruction.

[mpilkanis]

11:15 PM on 04/08/2011

Look and weep at the remnants of one of America's golden periods, the great early-to-mid-twentieth-century. We were unstoppable then with practically no competitors. It's hard to believe how ornate and glamorous even America's breadbasket once was when dollars flowed like water on the shores of the Great Lakes. Whither Detroit? Whither America? I am too sad now.

[jacobisrael]

02:05 PM on 04/13/2011

EVERY place in America where Blacks have moved to in big numbers has met the exact same fate, if not worse. They DESTROYED South Central Los Angeles and it's STILL: a complete wasteland, surrounded by amazing structures and infrastructure. It's right now happening even in remote places like Victorville, Ca., where real estate prices have dropped more than 75% and people STILL can't sell a single house.

[kdcy]

10:26 PM on 04/08/2011

Most of this is due to globalized free trade. How can anyone here compete with those overseas making $2 a day and no environmental regulations? Pretty soon our entire country will look like this if our trade policies are not changed.

[jacobisrael]

02:09 PM on 04/05/2011

I've been to countries which are too durn lazy or too durn stupid to take the time to pick dead bodies up off their streets, which is about the only positive thing we can say about Detroit. Except that at the rate the dead bodies are piling up in Detroit, and the way their budget is going, Detroit might not be able to even brag about THIS.

[Peter Paul Hoffman]

09:48 PM on 04/03/2011

http://www.facebook.com/RUINS.OF.DETROIT

[clsmithj]

01:35 PM on 04/08/2011

So tell us how Blacks created the ruins in the pictures shown in this article?

[MadJayhawk]

12:12 AM on 04/01/2011

Incredible. Great pictures. Tragic. It didn't have to happen. The same has happened wherever industries and communities lose sight of what is important. Companies get sucked dry by unions and governments to the point that they can no long produce goods and services at a cost that allows them to compete with other companies who do not have the same burdens. Companies are not charitable organizations. They provide wages and benefits to their employees and, as they should, profits (if any) to their owners. The average business is not bottomless money pits that greedy politicians can steal money from to fund their latest entitlement or giveaway to their political buddies.

Corporations, governments, and unions should be partners and not adversaries. They should work for their mutual good. Too often those on the left demonize corporations without realizing that corporations, large and small, are the ones who provide jobs, pay taxes, and create our standard of living. Government does not do these things. Government is a leech that lives off all of us.

There are a lot of cities like Detroit in the US. When cities quit working towards making the environment for businesses attractive they will lose businesses to other cities that will. Many times instead of trying to compete for new businesses in order to expand there tax base they raise taxes on the remaining businesses to make up the difference. Then more businesses leave. Then you have a Detroit.

[Treasonous1]

04:54 PM on 04/01/2011

Yes, and of course there is the other side of the coin where if corporations don't pay their employess properly, or meet there other obligations to the comunity, then the population cannot afford to buy their products and you end up in the same cycle. That is why captalism is such a boom and bust economy. You just go from one end to the other because everyone (corporations and people) are always concerned with getting more out than they put in... and that is just not possible long term.

[jimboy71]

11:55 AM on 04/11/2011

What a disgusting screed.

"Attractive to business" means "slave labour" pure and simple.

The problem isn't working people, and their wages, nor their lifestyles. It's greedy rich corporations and their complete dominance over the political process which led to massive deregulation.

Put the trade tariffs and duties back to where they were, and American business can employ American citizens instead of "made in China".

Apologism of the worst order.

[MadJayhawk]

04:16 PM on 04/11/2011

Show me a community that does not do things that make their community attractive to business that is thriving. Show me a community that is doing all in its power to suck everything they can out of the businesses crazy enough to maintain a presence in their community that is thriving.

Face it, you want government to own all businesses. You want the state to dictate how businesses are run, who profits from them, the working conditions within the business, and everything else. When it comes to business the word 'freedom' does not mean anything to you.

Tariffs and duties are a two way street. Want a simple example? Look at how much it costs US citizens to get a tourist visa to enter Brazil. It cost a US citizen $160 for a Brazilian tourist Visa (more if you go through a 3rd party to get it). It cost citizens from other countries almost nothing. It costs Brazilian citizens almost the same amount to get a US visa. Contrast that to how Australia runs it Visa process and how much it costs. Simple and inexpensive. Somewhere down the line the US and Brazil governments got into a p******* contest on this issue. We all now suffer. The same thing happens on tariffs and duties. We put a tariff on. They will do the same. Tariffs cost jobs. They kill exports.

[Qudsia00]

11:35 AM on 03/31/2011

Detroit is full of potential and there has been a lot of development to revitalize the city. But of course you won't see those pictures here as that would take away from the shock and awe of these images. Even though many Detroiters may have moved out to other places to seek employment or better living/schooling areas, Detroit as a town is very much alive with businesses and day commuters as there are some impressive companies with their headquarters in Detroit, Including GM. It should not be that difficult a job to bring back the town as it borders with Windsor, Canada and a lot of two way traffic passes through Detroit.