March 27, 2018 ▸ Places

Episode 283: Detroit: Motor City to Murder Capitol

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On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we look at the rise and fall of Dave’s hometown, the Motor City, Detroit. Detroit is an example of the perfect storm of what happens when an industry rises and falls in one area, and it isn’t a bad example of what happens when racial policies divide a city in half. At its height, Detroit was the 13^th largest city in the united states with almost 2 million inhabitants; now, it is down to about a third of that number. It is considered one of the most violent cities in America, has one of the highest murder rates, and currently police often issue notices to “enter at your own risk” for the city!

What made it all get so bad? For one, the failing of the auto industry. Detroit started as a small time industrial city, but when Henry Ford started his auto plant, the city grew exponentially fast. Within decades, this was one of the hottest spots on the entire planet for people to get works. Car factories hired people for amazingly high wages, and they looked for people with no experience since the factory line made the work amazingly simple. Eventually, as blacks started to flee the South in the wake of Jim Crow laws, the population of Detroit became increasingly African-American.

However, bit by bit, the city’s base started to erode. Gas got more expensive, companies started to outsource to other countries, foreign car companies created increasingly attractive cars. This led to a decline in Detroit. As more and more factories shrank or closed, the city became increasingly empty. At this point, a staggering 1/3 of the city is thought to be vacant and abandoned. The empty neighborhoods (estimated to be 100,000 properties abandoned) leave havens for drug dealers, gangs, and even arson. From Devil’s Night to the Detroit riots, this episode has it all.