10 Surreal Details Surrounding The Abandoned City Of Detroit

6 /10 Empty Buildings

As a result of the ongoing population loss and complicated management of surplus property, Detroit now has an estimated 78,000 empty buildings.

Persistent residents didn’t think much of those; empty buildings are just a part of the landscape.

If graffiti hasn’t taken over, nature will. After decades of population decline, there has been a new sense of urgency to rejuvenate the neighborhoods.

Government planners and academics alike have their proposals to fight back against the departure. Local donors and outside investors have so far poured in hundreds of millions for the purpose.

5 /10 Damaged Social Contract

Detroit is made up of inner-city suburbs in most areas. Low-density developments (or what’s left of it) are stretching for miles, creating a once vibrant, busy industrial city.

Among the disappearing population include a higher proportion of well-educated, middle-class, married residents.

The neighborhoods they used to call home have now turned to mostly inhabited areas pockmarked by empty land and vacant structures.

As local governments continue to provide meager public services for residents, many blank forms just keep adding. It is a damaged social contract yet to be repaired.

4 /10 New Taxes

Vacant homes and buildings mean no tax revenue. According to Detroit News, nearly half of property owners in Detroit didn’t pay their taxes in 2013.

Right from the beginning, when the city started to lose population, it tried to maintain steady income by implementing tax income in 1962 – it was the first in Detroit’s history.

Initially, the rate was a reasonable 1% for residents, non-residents, and corporations. The rate doubled for residents just six years later. Again in 1971, Detroit instituted a new utility tax to support city services and pay for union benefits.

3 /10 Downward Spiral

Property tax ended up being too much of a burden for most residents to cope with and as always, using taxes to keep the government afloat made the city more expensive for everyone.

From a business perspective, Detroit became a less attractive place to make investments. Then the national recession hit in the early 1980s, rendering the automobile industry struggling and Detroit’s financial into a downward spiral.

County and school taxes also increased from 44.79 mills per thousand dollars during the mid-1960s to nearly double in 1991. As a result, people and business entities moved out in large numbers.

2 /10 Bankrupt City

Detroit government argued in the early 1980s that the city had to increase tax and reduce cost for services; otherwise, it would go bankrupt.

As the population declined, a flow of new taxes and increased rates for the existing ones kept coming in. Taxes appeared to be the only savior amidst the loss of revenue from industries.

The same thing went on for three decades until, finally, bankruptcy was inevitable.

In March 2013, Detroit was officially in a state of financial emergency. Just several months later, the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy with an estimated debt of around $20 billion.

1 /10 Hope For Repopulation

Since 1960, the city has torn down more than 200,000 housing units. Many in the town still have hope for repopulation, but it is a long way to go.

At the moment, the best the city can do is to get rid of the vacant homes in many areas. Demolition might not be the best answer, but now it is the most viable option.

Any other plan like restoration or moving people to more dense neighborhoods is unlikely considering the logistical and financial challenges. For Detroiters, it is time to stop planning and start getting some actions going.