Aftermath: Unions, Dutch elm disease and Black plague.

[Steve 1]

Take the tour!
.http://www.detroityes.com/home.htm

[SmokinLowriderSS]

But Steve, you KNOW we just cannot "get rid" of 100 year old buildings. We must IGNORE the fact that they are :
Dilapidated
Failing Structurally
Dangerous, due to the above
lacking sufficient electrical service to be useful
lacking sufficient water and sewer service to be useful
not necissarilly sized or suited for modern uses
unable to be retrofitted to modern EPA and OSHA codes
crippled by poor transportation access
MAGNETS to gang-bangers and the homeless
FAR MORE expensive to "refurbish and use" than to replace, let alone just "refurbish and turn into museum pieces" that nearly nobody will tour.
No, we must ignore reality and save all the buildings, no matter the cost.

[Steve 1]

SS Agreed in part! but if a building has the history and is in fact structurally sound like the Uni Royal factory did then it should be saved as for the old mansions,
Yes again why let the bums just torch them?
My Point is some of these can’t ever be replicated! The old masters are long dead.

[centerhill condor]

interesting link, good view of the "rust belt". I visit South Bend 'bout once a year and see the old factories and history....could it all be 'cause they don't have grits on the menu?
CC

[Old Texan]

Growing up I have a lot of memories of Detroit. I hadn't been there in years until around 2000 and was shocked at how far this once grand city deteriorated.
You couldn't save that many buildings as their is no money to sacrafice. The Teamsters and UAW hold a good bit of the blame, poor decisions by the the Big 3, and about 30 years of a Mayor who had no clue and not to be racist, a 80% black population that literally destroyed the town neighborhood by neighborhood. Most of the old neighborhoods were ethnically populated with Irish, Polish, Italian, Greeks, etc. It took several generations for those neighborhoods to change and as it did you could witnees the urban decay.
No one shopped in downtown since the mid 60's and it went down fast. The riots of 67 or 68 destroyed multiple city blocks that never were rebuild and lay unihabited still to this day. Warehouses and factories became obsolete and the businesses moved elsewhere, mainly out of state and out of country.
Detroit was a grand town and a rough town. The rough has won out. But it's trying to come back and maybe it will get back to 50%. Who knows.