Case Study - Detroit Flashcards
Where is Detroit located?
In Michigan, North East US on the Canadian border
What is heavy industry?
Industry that involves one or more characteristics of large and heavy equipment or facilities, or complex and numerous processes
What was the ‘Steel Belt’?
A belt of the North East US where established waterways, roads and railroads connected coalfields and rich iron ores to produce much of America’s steel products
Why did Detroit’s location make it key to the Steel Belt?
The Appalachian coalfields were to the south and Michigan’s upper peninsula has rich iron ore, so resources were easily available
What were the ‘3 giants’ in Detroit?
Ford, General Motors and Chrysler
What did Detroit become famous for within the steel belt?
Cars
How did Henry Ford change industrial processes?
He invented the production line in 1913
What happened after the Great Depression?
People moved North to find work
How many people did Ford employ when it first opened?
50,000
Why were Ford jobs so attractive?
They paid well and allowed workers to afford the cars they were building
How did Detroit’s population change between 1820 and 1920?
It grew form 1000 to 1,000,000 and the % White stayed roughly constant
How did Detroit’s population change between 1930 and 2010?
It shrank from 1,800,000 to 700,000, and from predominantly White (92%) to predominantly Black (83%)
When did the population peak?
Around 1950
When were the Great Migrations?
Between 1910 and 1980
Why did many Black residents move to Detroit from the South?
To escape racial segregation laws and find jobs
How much of Detroit is suburbs?
90%
Why is so much of Detroit made up of suburbs?
- Construction of interstate highways
- High taxes and house prices in city
- Racial tensions in city
- White flight
- Cars become more accessible for travel
- Business moved out of Detroit
What were some of the forces of change in Detroit?
Globalisation, TNCs, International Institutions
How did oil prices cause decline in the city?
As the oil crisis hit (1956), prices quadrupled and people were put off buying and running cars, so the automotive industry suffered
How did TNCs cause decline in Detroit?
They provided competition as other manufacturers produced similar products at cheaper prices, forcing companies in Detroit to look elsewhere for cheaper labour costs
How did the number of automotive firms in Detroit change in the years of the oil crisis?
Fell from 3400 to 2300
When did Detroit declare bankruptcy?
2013
How do wages in Detroit today compare to the US as a whole?
They are $2.12 an hour lower for skilled workers
How does overall educational attainment compare to other states today?
Much lower
What tax laws were passed in 2012?
To lower income tax rates to lowest in Midwest, tried to attract people
What is segregation?
The action or state of setting someone or something apart from others.
What is racial integration?
Includes integration including goals like levelling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions rather than bringing a racial minority into the majority culture.
What is an enclave?
A portion of territory surrounded by a larger territory whose inhabitants are culturally or ethically distinct.
What is racial disintegration?
The tendency for society to decline or disintegrate over time. For example a growing segregation of races.
What is 8 mile road?
One of a series of roads (also 7 mile + 9 mile + 12 mile etc) named for its distance from the centre of Detroit.
-It is considered the dividing line between the haves and have-nots, though this distinction has diminished significantly in the past few years.
Why did Detroit become a segregated city?
- In 1940s Detroit’s population was growing significantly.
- Many of new inhabitants were poor white southerners and black people, moving into city to find jobs in booming automobile industry.
- Many of existing white residents saw black people as threats to their communities, jobs and homes.
- So black people were excluded from all public housing except for the Brewster Housing projects - here black people were forced to live in horrible conditions.
What is the average age of Detroit?
34.7 years
What is the average house price in Detroit?
$79,000
What was the population in 1950 and how many of those were employed in manufacturing?
1.8 million and 200,000 - this is 1/10
Between 1910-1970 how many black people migrated?
6 million
What percentage of people today live in the suburbs?
90%
Why was there growth of the suburbs?
- Highway gave easy access to downtown core from suburbs, many who worked in the city core live in the suburbs
- The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 subsidised an infrastructural project which authorised $25 billion for construction of 41,000 miles of highway over 10 years, started 1956
What endogenous factors lead to economic boom of Detroit?
- Ford’s assembly line - e.g. technology
- Location - transport hub/access to coal/near to Canada to trade
- Infrastructure- roads e.g. interstate highways
What exogenous factors lead to economic boom of Detroit?
- Investment - the car industry
- Goods and migrants into the city
- Migrants from the south, predominately black.
What is Detroit 2020 mission doing?
- Target is to take down blight (the run down, empty houses)
- 7 Detroit neighbourhoods benefiting from investment or removing the blight
- $5 million investment in Rosedale - west side
How many structures needed intervention in 2014?
78,000
What year did Detroit officially declare bankruptcy?
2013 - the largest city to ever do so
Why is it difficult for Detroit to reduce inequality?
It doesn’t have a strong local economy to provide jobs with.
How was culture brought from black people?
They created Motown e.g. Jackson 5
What is being done to provide little opportunities?
Detroit Soup
What is Detroit Soup?
- Scheme where people pay a small fee ($5) for soup at a designated meeting place
- Whilst entrepreneurs pitch their ideas in hope of getting a share of the $5 investment to support their business and then people vote for their favourite
- E.G. Success of ‘always brewing Detroit’ providing a meeting place for communities
Why did the car industry decline?
- By 1970s Detroit was under pressure by foreign competitors like Honda + Toyota.
- This was because the motor industry was struggling with their high wage cost compared to other countries so began shutting their plants and cutting jobs.
- Led to a decline in corporation tax So economic decline and rust belt began to form in the city
What percentage of people were white in 2010?
10.6%
What percentage of people were black in 2010?
82.7%
