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Detroit History Podcast: Debunking Myths of the Motor City

August 09, 2020, 10:26 PM


Overpass collapse at the Packard Plant

Some look at Detroit today and wonder how the abandoned buildings got here. What happened between The Arsenal of Democracy and now? How did a city of nearly 2 million people dwindle down to around 650,000?

There are people that blame the 1967 rebellion for the urban decay the city has seen. Others blame longtime Mayor Coleman Young.

In our Season 3 finale, we explain and debunk these notions. We talk with Thomas Sugrue, author of “The Origins of the Urban Crisis,” and Jeff Horner, Wayne State University urban studies senior lecturer.

The urban crisis Detroit has faced for decades was set in place long before the '67 rebellion. When manufacturing and automobile jobs left, it created a hole in Detroit that left many in poverty. We examine some of the first factories to leave Detroit and the domino effect.

-- Tim Kiska 


Read more:  Detroit History Podcast


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