Aug 3, 2020
Some look at Detroit today and wonder how the
abandoned buildings got here. What happened between The Arsenal of
Democracy and now? How did a city of nearly 2 million people
dwindle down to around 650,000? There are people that blame the
1967 rebellion for the urban decay the city has seen, others blame
longtime mayor Coleman Young. In our Season 3 Finale, we explain
and debunk these notions. We talk with Thomas Sugrue, author of
“The Origins of the Urban Crisis,” and Wayne State University
Senior Lecturer of Urban Studies and Planning Jeff Horner.
The urban crisis Detroit has faced for decades was
set in place long before the ‘67 Rebellion happened. When
manufacturing and automobile jobs left the city in droves, it
created a hole in Detroit that left many in poverty. We examine
some of the first factories to leave Detroit and look at the
proceeding domino effect.