Detroit
Sam Gendron
John Lapine
EN-111
29 September 2014
Detroit
Detroit Michigan is the largest example of a boomtown to date in America. Detroit was once a front runner in very respectable categories such as per capita income and automotive production, and at one time was one of the greatest cities in our country. The city took a turn for the worst when Japanese automakers figured out how to make a better car in cheaper fashion, and Detroit has been paying the price ever since. The city of Detroit in its heyday was a metropolis of 1.8 million people and it had the highest per capita income in the United States. (Snyder) It is now a rotting embarrassment of about 700,000 people that the rest of the world jokes about. Detroit was once a front runner in a positive way, now it is a front runner in the most negative way. Detroit leads nationwide statistics for crime in the largest cities in America. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose and that is the idea the people of Detroit have adopted since the decline of their once great city. The citizens have become desperate to survive and desperate times call for desperate measures. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics for America the city has the highest unemployment rate of the fifty largest cities in our country at twenty three percent. (Snyder) That only includes the labor force that can “work” and doesn’t take into account the amount of people on welfare and other government sponsored programs. That number rests at thirty four percent of the population. “Whatever the background of the adults not working is one of every two Detroit adults neither holding a job nor looking the worst percentage for 2010 among 41 major U.S. cities. This means there is some 174,000 Detroiters ages 16-64 who cannot find a job, or just aren’t trying, and this poses a serious challenge for a city on the brink of fiscal ruin.” (Gallagher Seidel) All of these unemployed people that aren’t on welfare are going to desperate
John Lapine
EN-111
29 September 2014
Detroit
Detroit Michigan is the largest example of a boomtown to date in America. Detroit was once a front runner in very respectable categories such as per capita income and automotive production, and at one time was one of the greatest cities in our country. The city took a turn for the worst when Japanese automakers figured out how to make a better car in cheaper fashion, and Detroit has been paying the price ever since. The city of Detroit in its heyday was a metropolis of 1.8 million people and it had the highest per capita income in the United States. (Snyder) It is now a rotting embarrassment of about 700,000 people that the rest of the world jokes about. Detroit was once a front runner in a positive way, now it is a front runner in the most negative way. Detroit leads nationwide statistics for crime in the largest cities in America. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose and that is the idea the people of Detroit have adopted since the decline of their once great city. The citizens have become desperate to survive and desperate times call for desperate measures. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics for America the city has the highest unemployment rate of the fifty largest cities in our country at twenty three percent. (Snyder) That only includes the labor force that can “work” and doesn’t take into account the amount of people on welfare and other government sponsored programs. That number rests at thirty four percent of the population. “Whatever the background of the adults not working is one of every two Detroit adults neither holding a job nor looking the worst percentage for 2010 among 41 major U.S. cities. This means there is some 174,000 Detroiters ages 16-64 who cannot find a job, or just aren’t trying, and this poses a serious challenge for a city on the brink of fiscal ruin.” (Gallagher Seidel) All of these unemployed people that aren’t on welfare are going to desperate
Cited: Emeka, Traquina. “Detroit Riot of 1967.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2014. Wed. 30 Sep. 2014. Gallagher, John, and Jeff Seidel. "Detroit 's Workforce." Detroit Free Press. 8 Apr. 2012. Web. Jackson, Russ. "The Detroit Race Riot of 1943." The University of Chicago Law Review 10.4 (2012): The University of Chicago Law Review, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. Snyder, Michael M. "The Rise and Fall of Detroit." The Economic Collapse. 20 July 2013. Web.