DETROIT, MICHIGAN

[movieswithpopcorn]

a good way for a place to revive itself is to change its name. change the name of detroit, open up land, make it free, and see what happens.

[indiandave34]

powerful visual!!!!!!!!!!!

[techracer100]

auto unions (shame on you) and greed. They promised what they could not provide, as did the auto makers. such a shame................... Government here would never let that happen (Australia/New Zealand)

[kurtdoelle]

I am 50 and do not ever remember Detroit looking worthy of resideing there. We all pray and hope it will improve. The one dose of joy has been the preservationists who risk everything to restore and preserve the grand vision of the city. What caused it UNION GREED, RACISM and HATE. Things have improved partly becuase of the courage of DAVE BING and some courageous citizens who whis to put up a fight. God Bless Detroit

[Justinlomako1857]

In the early 1970's San Francisco had streets that were abandoned and NY City was far worse.

Today big money has been investing in Detroit and these firms are very experienced and have a proven track record of success.

Now is the time to buy property in Detroit and fix it up and hang on to it.

[martind586]

Detroit is an OLD CITY - This stuff happens,,,,

When the economy is rockin,,,people r in detroit,,,, 300k just left in the past 4 years!

[plumstreetmusic]

A fun romp. Here's some history for viewers

1:30 The Siegel house (Siegel Department Store)

1:32 The Colonel Hacker house (19th Century lumber baron)

1:44 Charles T. Fisher house (Fisher Body--GM)

2:29 The train depot (note: the floors in the tower were never finished or occupied because of the 1930s depression)

2:52 The Book-Cadillac Hotel (before the $200 million restoration by Westin)

[nasisjesus]

Detroit got blasted. They have been hit hard with every problem you could imagine. This is an amazing city, I can guarantee that no city in America could ban together like Detroit can. This city has seen nothing but shit.. Give it some props because without Detroit there would be no Big Three. Detroit has built itself off hard work and not listening to everyone else. Respect this city, come here, see what it's all about. No it is not a huge ghetto, nobody gives this place a chance.

[Ladymermaid33]

You have made a powerful statement with this video. Very artistic yet realistic. In my research I discovered that Detroit is possibly the worst place in the USA to raise children. I am featuring your video on one of my articles. Great work. Very powerful.

[vwcaddylowrider]

amazed at how such an amazing city has become this today,,what the hell happened..i know industry shut down but how did so many buildings get empty..where did all the people go to ...????

[leaturk11]

this america's future !

[abcmikke]

Detroit has its good parts and bad... hopefully we'll start to see more good.

[Croozer]

Detroit's problems stemmed from 1. Dependence on the auto industry, 2. Racial polarization.

[newhotman1001]

Two of my cousins grew up in Rosedale Park and the other two near Denby High in the 50's and 60's. Both lived in beautiful neighborhoods with houses that were well maintained. It is true Vixie that the riots hastened the white middle class exodus for the suburbs. But it is sad to see what happened to what was once the 4th largest city in America and the middle class dream. Give mayor Bing a chance to see if he can put the wheels in motion to get Detroit moving again.

[wilatemodel]

@newhotman1001 good luck with that!

[7477238]

What streets or areas of Detroit were these mansions located? If the jobs could be brought back from Asia to the US and the union greed gotten under control things will get better.

[4149stonepony]

detroit is sad to see, i visited and it just shows how much the powers that be care about the american middle class. Every big city has some Detroit in it. Detroit is to big to be rescued, but hopefully the city can become, at least a functional city again.

[Sundevilhp29]

1:33.....  where is that at?

[natethegreat1719]

@Sundevilhp29 thats the boston edison historic district... Right off M-10

[whereamigoingnow]

well done vid

[jasoncuts1]

detroit riocks!!!!!!

[TheSims278]

Why live there

[Brettski94]

Isn't ashame what Detroit is today? I am scared to even head down there, to go to the Tigers games, of launch my boat to go walleye fishing! Excellent video though; were some of those houses in Indian Village?

[Brettski94]

Isn't ashame what Detroit is today? I am scared to even head down there, to go to the Tigers games, of launch my boat to go walleye fishing! Excellent video though; were some of those houses in Indian Village?

[nolanryan99999]

i work there, right on 8 mile,

[Joseph9536]

It seems like any city with a high population of blacks is the cities with the most crime!

[question4seller]

Blame blcks, Its the same exact story all over the world, an entire continent Africa, Haiti,Jamaica+islands, in Brazil the Favelas(ghettos) are full of blacks.

Not only do they produce least amount of intelligent kids on average but by far most criminals.

Black kids score below all in every single STATE, in every single GRADE, in every single SUBJECT. Blacks in US r about 12% of US pop yet they commit nearly 50% of all crime inc. murders+rapes. They're on welfare more than 5x compared to whites

[dukesgrill]

Detroit's top 5 problems:

1.) Union greed

2.) Socialistic, entitlement-driven local government

3.) Union greed

4.) Union greed, and

5.) As mentioned earlier, the '67 riots and busing

[ripperduck]

@dukesgrill Wrong.Unions have been giving back a hell of a lot, and Ford's unions stopped giving concessions and they turned a profit. Of course they make trucks people want, didn't make mortgages ala GMAC/Ditech. And explain why if unions were the problem, GMAC Financing, which ain't union went tits up.

I realize now why the right needs unions, they have to find something to blame other than themselves...

[dukesgrill]

@ripperduck I think you missed the point. The unions threatened strikes, work stoppages, etc if their demands of ridiculously higher wages and other concessions were not met. Look at GM's Jobs Bank where workers were paid not to work. The pension plan and medical plan for retirees alone has been found to be unsustainable financially. I knew a union rep who said that they would threaten strikes for more concessions, even if things were good, just to keep the management on their toes. Greed

[ripperduck]

@dukesgrill GM unions have been making concessions all the way. Two tier workers, more speedup, and the pension plan was being paid into by management for years. Pension plans are administered by management, so unions have little to do with its stability. And how do you define wages as being ridiculous? Wages are based on productivity and capacity to make profits. GM made profit on cars up to about 10 years ago, when the big concessions started to come in. And Ford unions get paid similar and

[ripperduck]

@ripperduck they turned a profit.So why are Ford unions any different.

Unions are the symptom not the cause. Union membership in 75 was a little less than 40% of all private workers, now its about 7%. It makes no sense to blame unions when they have collapsed 5x. You would have a point if union membership was growing, but for >30 years they have fallen. And again if unions were the problem why did nonunion GMAC/Ditech collapse as well?

[ripperduck]

@dukesgrill Actually that should have read "the pension plan wasn't being paid into by management for years." It isn't just GM. Pension plans have been underfunded by management for decades, having based their contributions on the increasing value of the stock prices which they had contributed. Now that situation is coming to an end as stock values gyrate wildly and the pension funds are now understood to be way underfunded. This has been know for quite some time.

[Headshot426]

Type in W Robinwood St. There's the real detroit.

[toadabc]

As a contractor who has spent my life restoring historic buildings, my heart breaks to see such splendor rot away. Sadly, the is the future for all of America under Obama.

[DirtyVegas7]

@toadabc Don't just blame Barack Obama, I don't like him either but let's not forget about our republican friends as well. They are no better then him.

[toadabc]

As a registered independant, I have little use for either party. BUT the republicans never held office in Detroit. Coleman Young, the black democrat who did more to distroy Detroit than the car industry held power for 30+ years. The whole city was run by democrats, as was the State of Michigan for most of the time. Most of the rust belt is under liberal controll, as are the big dying rust belt inter cities.

[DirtyVegas7]

Why do you feel the need to state "The Black Democrat" as if I or anyone else would not know who Coleman Young was.....your problem seems to be driven by racial skin color other then local politics. And as a fellow Caucasian, I'm taking it that you are a Caucasian such as myself I find this disturbing as the Republicans control funding throughout the entire state and have the Majority in the Senate and Detroit has had state funding cuts for the past 20 years. How do you explain this?

[smilzeee1]

I live in England ( where black & white live side by side ) but if you asked me where I thought the blame should be laid I would have to say that it would have to be Narcotics , I can see Detroit being bought out by Pakistani/Indian's I will be very surprised if they are not currently snapping up properties at bargain basement prices , ready for Muslim immigrants from the middle east . Then Detroit would become a base for terrorists preparing terrorist attacks on America.

[DirtyVegas7]

I don't know...but you could be correct. Their is allot of excess real estate in the City of Detroit and throughout the entire state of Michigan. To touch up on blacks and whites living side by side....yes that is very possible and is everyday life here as well, what people fail too see is that their are good blacks and their are blacks, just as their are good whites and bad whites. People like to paint others with a broad brush "If one is bad they are all bad" And that is just not the case.

[VeryFineCrapVideos]

@smilzeee1 um that's what dearborn michigan is.

[popeyesgal]

Moved to Michigan when I was 2. Have always called the Detroit area my home. I wish things were different there and as I read all of the posts it makes me sad. Sad to see all the broken, abandoned buildings, sad for the loss of jobs and spirit. Yet there are those of us who will always love and defend Detroit. I could never live anywhere but here. Bad or good, it is home. Wish there was something that could be done on a large scale to help this area with jobs, industry, revitalization etc.

[jpomar6]

@popeyesgal detroit really does need help and so does all of michigan i will allways defend all of michigan its my home forever i wish the dam goverment would help michigan out

[popeyesgal]

I couldn't agree more. Our Ford plant closed last year, so many people out of work. Detroit still has the potential to come back, as does all of Michigan. We are a resilient people and will survive and although we may not go back to what we were, Detroit will always be the Motor City, Motown and the Big D to all who love it here.

[jpomar6]

@popeyesgal yeah might come back i had to move cause my mom lost her job now i live with my dad and motor city for life

[chaser5444]

Some people like to gamble!

[tonid5573]

the music goes along good with the video, where did you get the music

[tonid5573]

are those big victorian homes really abandoned

[westindude]

I have lived here my whole life,and detroit is worth saving!

[ronoman88]

15 and you open your mouth about Detroit?

A beautiful montage you've done JGira.

[buckson]

Whats your point???

[yeahlizzie]

I'm 15 I live in detroit and attend Cass tech!

it truly urks me that people only show the

trash of detroit and not the masions

the new buldings and the theaters.

This is the reason Detroit is continuing to go down. No one cares about the good it has, therefore, it goes down from lack of appreciation and attention.

[goodozog]

Detroit has a lot more slums on the east side and near down down, but most of it i has high crime,even the nicer looking ghetto's

[yeahlizzie]

there is no such thing as a nice ghetto

and not all of detroit is ghetto and not all of the east side looks like that.

i'm tired of ppl saying that all you look for is the bad

there are mansions

new businesses and houses that aren't mansions that are very neat

and again all i said was all people show are the bad

not the clean parts the theatres and thr nice houses

[goodozog]

but not all of ann arboris nice , i agree with not all of detroit is ghetto

[yeahlizzie]

yea i know

i visit there often

i luv it

just like i luv my city

[yeahlizzie]

oh yea..and this person did show some of the nice parts

[goodozog]

yea he did show a few, I've been to Detroit downtown , at masonic temple even there it kind of run down, but there are some nice condo's too

[9toonsis9]

Detroit has become a burned out, crime ridden shithole, thanks to the FUBU racism, political nepotism and corruption. The cancer is metastisizing over all of Southeastern Michigan. Downtown smells like a musty basement from all the abandoned skyscrapers that were once touted as architectural wonders. The neighborhoods...well...only rats and people foul their own nests. Just disgusting!

[xmeta1headx]

damn there is like no one out in this videos here in dc u could never get a shot without seein people nice video

[askat33]

nice vid !

[macdogq]

So sad to see a american city in ruins. It dates back to 67' riots. a riot sinse then has decayed a city in such proportion. Unbeleivable!

[August171964]

The riots are the events we all remember, the marker of Detroit's downfall, but flight to the suburbs began in the 40's and really got going in the 50's. Two decades of declining population and lots of racial tension spurred the riots, which convinced everyone left, who had the economic means, that it was time to leave.

[4footvagina]

i live in michigan and detroit is a bad place to visit without a shotgun.

[AwesomeTechno15]

So true! I live near Grand Rapids, and I've never been to Detroit cause my parents are too afraid to go there! lol I'm sure when they were growing up it was some big nice city, now...not at all!

I still want to go there someday. It's only a 2 hour drive.

[vixie007]

Do not blame George Bush! I was born in Mich. & I'm 38 now. For as long as I can remember this is how Detroit ALWAYS looked. What happened to Detroit? Ask any old timer & they will tell you the riots of 1967 & the busing of the city's children to integrate schools. I thought EVERYONE knew this (Time Mag even did an article about it). These events in history killed Detroit. Now in 2009, my opinion is the auto unions & greed have been the new killer of Detroit, it's suburbs & soon Mich.

[Muunlite01]

You said it Vixie007. Detroit has always looked like this and it was the riots and busing that started its demise.

[San47di1]

@vixie007 Sorry but you're absolutely WRONG! What killed Detroit is allowance of foreign auto imports & loss of "Quality" work w/ American Auto Makers. When the Auto Plants closed, the DRUG Lords were "allowed" to move in, & internal destruction began. I KNOW what I'm talking about because I was There!! Born & raised & I'm 57 & witnessed the riots of 67. They didn't have a darn thing to do with Detroit's decline! Time Mag doesn't know what the hell they're talking about!! I LIVED IT!

[JetMechMA]

@vixie007 You expect American workers to compete with Chinese slaves. You're a piece of shit. YOU are the reason places like Detroit are abandoned. Traitors like YOU abandoned America. That's 17 thumbs up your ass !

[GeoSusan]

how can this happen to a city in America I'm speechless. I think of all the money wasted in Iraq when we have cities like this dying. they kill this city then recruited all the young people to go to Iraq why would the young people care about going to Iraq when they have grown up in a war zone. shame on all of us from closing are eyes to this a not screaming are outrage that this can happen to a great city in America every American needs to see this just shocking

[smart14u2]

It's called GEORGE BUSH the bastard!

[scoobidy]

Well said GeoSusan!  I agree!

[ajbirchett]

Obviously, you are only interested in showing the negative parts of Detroit. If you were a true video juornalist you could have done a contrasting video showing some of the great beauty Detroit has to offer. The GM waterfromt,Greektown, Campus Martius Park, Sherwood Forest, Cultural Center, Detroit Medical Center, Rennaisaince High School beautiful homes on Outer Drive etc... You obviously are not a "true Detroiter"

[oc5nsli341nforce4]

This is how the rest of America will look in 20 or 30 years time all rundown abandon and all bought out by bankers and foreigners. A future I don't want.

[Muunlite01]

Thank you Obama

[party455alldatime]

i lived a block from 2;04 to 2;13

[edgar8459]

The beautiful mansions seem to be in the Boston-Edison neighborhood. I wonder whether they're all lived in, and how their owners or dwellers deal with the crime surrounding them? It looks like an island of affluence in a sea of blight and poverty...

[annaleighclark]

There're several neighborhoods of these beautiful mansions (mostly dating back to auto and forestry fortunes). Besides Boston-Edison, there's Sherwood Forest, Palmer Woods, Indian Village ... and, where that huge mansion in the video is, East Ferry Street (where I live!).

Detroit is a city of neighborhoods, with open space in between. After living here 18 mths, I've never experienced a crime or felt at wary abt walking and biking outside. You get to know your neighborhood, you know?

[edgar8459]

Thanks! I grew in the northwest neighborhood: Littlefield just south of 7 Mile Rd. do you know it? We left it in 1972 when we were the last whites there.

BTW I noticed a boarded up house on Edison, I was looking on Google street view today. Where did you live before Detroit?

I now live in Israel.

[edgar8459]

I liked it! and I've seen about all of the videos of Detroit posted on youtube.

[randy09660]

Nothing like finding the worst stuff you could find about Detroit! Nothing good you can see?

[JGIRA]

There are some beautiful houses and buildings I shot. The camera doesn't lie, what I shot is what i saw and what makes the visual landscape of Detroit, Detroit. It's a unique city, just unfortunate and I want people to realize that this was once a thriving beautiful city that has been neglected for way to long.

[12344bam]

yeah but what r u going do when the industry that the city relies on falls apart the city can't keep going when what it relies on falls

[scoobidy]

The reality of it is all too sad. It makes me almost cry. Detroit will always be my home, although I'm not living there anymore. Home is where the heart is, and my heart is in the Detroit of yore. Thank you for this very enlightening, albeit very sad video.

[Muunlite01]

Detroit is my home too and always will be even though I live in another state. Detroit lives in my heart and no matter what these videos show I would still call it home and walk the street fearlessly ... call me crazy.

[GreekVegetarianRecip]

To Muunlite01 and toJGira

I have watched many of the "Detroit" videos and every time I burst out crying (and I am not from Detroit). Such is the result of greed. Go to a city, use it abuse it, rape its resources, pollute its air, its water, and then leave it to rot like this, with the blessing and encouragement of the politicians. Only one politician who can save this country and that is Dennis Kucinich, (but no, people had to vote for Obama).

[joeguinn39]

@JGIRA love it i live in detroit west side music sounds like porno music