Detroit 2011

Because I have difficulty properly placing videos and photos in relation to appropriate text in these postings I am dividing this entry into 2 parts. The Internet is filled with still photos of the recent devastated state of the City of Detroit and there are a good many excellent videos on YouTube. I have a modest collection of photos that I took a couple of years ago, but other than a dramatic image of the abandoned Packard Motor Company plant-- a very unoriginal photo subject-- nothing that I could post here equals this video for impact. Indeed, in my opinion video captures the astounding derelict status of the city much better than can be achieved by still photography.

By the way, I don't think that dereliction of vast swaths of an American city is unique to Detroit, but it is the place that I know best, having grown up and lived there until I was 16 years old. This was, for those who don't know the historical context, what many consider to be zenith of Detroit's prosperity and predominance as the nations premier industrial center. Starting when I was 12, I travelled throughout the city , mainly by bus, but also by bike and hitchhiking (I didn't say I was smart, just adventurous and well travelled) and knew it fairly well. Not until, during my adult years, when I gained perspective and realized how far the place had deteriorated could I appreciate its onetime magnificence... and the tragedy of its downfall.

I suspect that my contemporaries who grew up in places like Memphis, East St.Louis, Newark and lots of other bedraggled cities would have similar thoughts.