Detroit is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the largest city in the state and is the county seat of Wayne County. Established in 1701 by French fur traders, it is best known today as the world's automotive center and an important music capital -- legacies celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames, Motor City and Motown and more recently The D.
Located along the Detroit River -- French: Rivire du Dtroit, i.e. "River of the Strait" -- and across from the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario, it is the center of a tri-county industrial zone (including Oakland and Macomb counties) that is among the most significant in the American Rust Belt.
Detroit is the United States' 11th most populous city, with 900,198 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimate. This is half the population the city boasted at its peak in the 1950s, and Detroit leads the nation in terms of declining urban population. Residents are generally known as "Detroiters." "Detroit" is also sometimes used as shorthand for the Metro Detroit region, which is also unofficially referred to as "Southeast Michigan."
Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a manufacturing powerhouse, most notably as home to the American automobile industry and the Big Three auto companies. General Motors is based in Detroit, Ford Motor Company in nearby Dearborn, and one of the two world headquarters for DaimlerChrysler in Auburn Hills (the other is in Stuttgart, Germany). Dotting the Detroit landscape are countless offices and plants in the automotive support business: parts, supplies, electronics, and design. It is not uncommon in Detroit to hear radio ads or to spy billboards in which multimillion-dollar auto corporations make insider sales pitches to one another. Nevertheless, there is a flip side to the automotive dominance: because of its almost singular dependence on the auto industry, Detroit is more acutely vulnerable to economic cycles than most large cities. According to one saying, "When the auto industry hiccups, Detroit coughs, and when the auto industry catches a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia." Detroit is often one of the first cities to feel the effects of a nationwide recession and one of the last to recover from it.
Including the Big Three, there are seventeen Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Metro Detroit, including Borders Books and Music, Comerica, Federal-Mogul, Kelly Services, and Lear Corporation. Detroit is home to Compuware and the national pizza chain Little Caesars. Other major industries include advertising, medical services, chemicals, computer software, and casino gambling.
J.W. Westcott II, which is the only floating post office in the world, operates on the Detroit River.
French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded a fort and settlement at the site of Detroit in 1701. The settlement was originally called Fort Pontchartrain d'troit after Louis Phlypeaux, the comte de Pontchartrain, minister of marine under Louis XIV and for the river that connects Lakes St. Clair and Erie. The British gained control of the area in 1760 following the French and Indian War and thwarted an Indian attack three years later during Pontiac's Rebellion. In 1796, Detroit and its surrounding areas passed to the United States, and from 1805 to 1847 Detroit was the territorial and state capitol of Michigan. Though Detroit fell to the British for a short time during the War of 1812 (see Siege of Detroit), it was recaptured by General William Henry Harrison in 1813. Detroit was incorporated as a city in 1815.
Situated strategically on a strait along the Great Lakes waterway, Detroit emerged as a key transportation center. The city grew steadily during the 1830s, and subsequent decades saw substantial growth in the shipping, shipbuilding, and manufacturing industries. A thriving carriage trade set the stage for the work of Henry Ford, who in 1896 built his first automobile. Ford's first plant was a rented workshop on Mack Avenue in Detroit; this was soon outgrown, and the first factory built and owned by Ford was constructed in 1904 on Piquette Avenue. The famous Model T Ford was conceived in this plant. By 1909, the Model T's success outstripped the Piquette plant's capabilities, and production was moved to Highland Park, an independent city within Detroit. Ford's manufacturing innovations as well as significant contributions from many other automotive pioneers such as William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, and Louis Chevrolet solidified Detroit's status as the world's car capital, and the blossoming industry spurred the city's spectacular growth during the first half of the 20th century, drawing many new residents from the southern United States.
With the factories came high-profile labor strife, climaxing in the 1930s as the United Auto Workers initiated bitter battles with Detroit's auto manufacturers. The labor activism established during those years, which brought fame and notoriety to hometown union leaders such as Jimmy Hoffa and Walter Reuther, remains a key feature on the city's cultural and political landscape.
Detroit has endured a painful decline during the past several decades, and is often held up as a symbol of Rust Belt urban blight. The city's population has plummeted since the 1950s as residents moved to the suburbs, particularly following the 12th Street Riot in 1967. Court ordered busing accelerated the "white flight" from the city. Large numbers of buildings and homes were abandoned, with many remaining for years in states of decay. The percentage of black residents increased rapidly and the first black mayor, Coleman Young, was elected in 1973. Young's style during his record four terms in office was not well received by many white Detroiters.
Injecting heroin grew in popularity in Detroit during the 1960s. Though use of the drug leveled off as the population declined, the Detroit gang Young Boys Inc. was formed. The 1980s introduced the widespread use of crack cocaine and produced collateral property crime as addicts stole to finance their purchases. Violence was common as competing drug dealers fought for territory. Ongoing urban renewal efforts have led to the razing of abandoned homes as well as the demolition or renovation of some abandoned skyscrapers and large buildings for new housing developments. An expedited process was implemented to remove abandoned homes near schools. With the large number of homes razed, sizeable tracts have reverted back to nature to become a form urban prairie. Wild animals have been spotted migrating from their destroyed former habitat in the suburbs to the city.
"Renaissance" has been a perennial buzzword among generations of city leaders since the 1967 riots, coined with the construction of the Renaissance Center in the early 1970s. One of the city's high schools is named Renaissance High School. It was not until the 1990s that Detroit enjoyed somewhat of a bona fide revival, much of it centered downtown. A 1996 state referendum brought three casinos--MGM Grand Detroit, Motor City Casino, and Greektown Casino--with the goal of increasing tourism and stemming the flow of gambling dollars to the nearby Windsor, Ontario casino.
In 2000, amid some controversy, Comerica Park replaced historic Tiger Stadium as the home of the Detroit Tigers. And in 2002 Ford Field brought the NFL's Detroit Lions back into Detroit from Pontiac. The 2004 opening of the Compuware Center gave downtown Detroit its first significant new office building in a decade. Significant landmarks such as the Fox Theatre, Detroit Opera House, and the Gem Theater have been restored and now host concerts, musicals, and plays. Many downtown centers such as Greektown, Campus Martius Park and the Eastern Market, as well as the Michigan State Fairgrounds on the northern border, draw patrons and host activities.
Source:
Detroit-USA.com
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