"Vintage Promo Film Made for Detroit's 1968 Olympic Bid Reveals City's Precipitous Decline"
Am I the only one who misread this Autoblog headline? Yes, I read “porno” instead of “promo.” So, yes, my mind is in the gutter. But so is Detroit. Autoblog’s wistful nostalgia does absolutely nothing to convey the horror of modern-day Motown. For that, you need to turn to the Wall Street Journal. Their article about the death of retail in the Motor City is, perhaps, one of the most depressing dispatches from the Motown Meltdown that I’ve ever read. To wit: “Last week, Lochmoor Chrysler Jeep on Detroit’s East Side stopped selling Chrysler products, one of the 789 franchises Chrysler Group LLC is dropping from its retail network. It was Detroit’s last Chrysler Jeep store . . . Hundreds of buildings were left vacant by the nearly one million residents who have left. Thousands of businesses have closed since the city’s population peaked six decades ago . . . Meanwhile, the former Lochmoor Chrysler Jeep is now Lochmoor Automotive Group, a used-car dealership and repair shop. Gina Russo, daughter of the dealer’s longtime owner, is being groomed to take over the family business. She has agreed to start selling small pickup trucks made by India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.”
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Stein: Beijing got some mojo from the Olympics, but the reason those hotel rooms are empty is because people found out about the smog. Who wants to spend their vacation in a yellow fog? Old info. No true anymore. From my 39th floor office, I see all but blue skies. Other people noticed that as well. Why? No idea. Maybe the just turned the filters on they always had. Also, banning the polluting cars from the city helped. The cheap hotels are caused by the common suspects: 1.) Oversupply. Too much building before the Olympics. 2.) No enough demand. Falling exports means fewer business trips, as the airlines are painfully aware of. In 2007, when the smog was worst, hotels were booked solid ....
derm81- You mean that History Channel show was about Detroit's FUTURE? I thought I was watching the news!
Even the dead are leaving Detroit. Detroit has long been an sociological case study in urban decline. As an amateur aficionado of architecture, I am fascinated by urban and industrial ruins, and Detroit has some of the most stark and hauntingly fantastic ones anywhere (along with St. Louis as a good runner up). Big round of gratitude for those who have taken the time to document and display these treasures for us to peruse.
In reply to becurb: I've lived in Owosso for 45 years, raised two children here, worked here, own a home here - for the last 10 years I have had to work out of town but I still choose to make my home in Owosso because it is a great small town. Owosso is a wonderful community that is surviving its dependance on the auto industry by reinventing itself. Last year my husband and I decided to open a new business and we made a choice to open it in Owosso which turned out to be a great choice. This community is very supportive. We are not a perfect town but I believe the enviornment you live in is often what you make of it and what you choose to embrace and support as opposed to complain about.