AMERICAN STUDIES 334

URBAN AMERICA

Detroit, Then and Now

The above panoramic view is of the city of Detroit, drawn by an artist in 1892.  As you can see, we've reached the ages of steam, though many boats were powered by a combination of Steam and sail.  You can also see, along the skyline of what Detroit's future would bring.  Within a few years it would be America's greatest manufacturing city.  The image is linked to the original in the Library of Congress.  On their website, one can manipulate the image and prowl around.  You might find a panoramic image (or two, or three) of your own city.  Or you may not.  The only way to find out it so look.

YouTube contains much more than music.  One can find documentary videos there as well.  The above "Portrait of a City" was created in 1961, When Detroit was still the automobile capital of the world.  Later, I'll be adding videos and photograph showing the condition of the city at present.  I'm experimenting with the size of the video.  The player allows one to stretch it to make it bigger, so I did.  I'll see if this makes the quality more blurred.  IF so, I can edit this back to a size which is clearer.

​I captjured this image from Google Earth, which has some great opportunities to do and use a variety of things.  Detroit is no longer the motor capital of the world.  Remember Rybczynski .​remarking that Detroit had lost 175,000 people between 1980 and 1990.  Here you see the results of this kind of population loss.  What effect does this have on the neighborhood?  Whjere would you expect this neighborhood to be?