Why Old Detroit DIED

In 1950, Detroit was the fourth largest city in the United States. 1.85 million people. The auto industry had just helped win a world war. Hudson's department store on Woodward Avenue was the tallest in the world. Berry Gordy was about to turn a two-story house into Hitsville USA. The Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder all grew up in Detroit public schools. The city did not just make cars. It made the modern American middle class. Today, a third of the city is vacant land. 50,000 structures sit abandoned. In 2013, Detroit became the largest American city in history to file for bankruptcy. This is the story of how the Motor City stalled.