In the 1990s, as with the nation, Detroit experienced economic growth. The auto industry “experienced seven straight years of unprecedented growth, with North American vehicle production reaching 17,615,611 units in 1999” (Woodford 246). In 1997, the state of Michigan’s unemployment rate was 3.9 percent about an entire percentage point lower the the national rate (Woodford 237). Meanwhile in Detroit, exciting development was occurring!
Detroit in the nineties was filled with promising projects. In 1993, Fox Theater--featured in the Chrysler ad-- reopened after restoration (Woodford 228). The Detroit Opera House renovation was also completed in the nineties, 1996. Additionally, in 1997 (Woodford 241), the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History opened and still claims on their website the honor as “world’s largest institution dedicated to the African American experience.” Further illustrating the cultural boom time, the Detroit Historical Museum was able to increase the amount of money their fundraising efforts so that by 1997 their budget was only comprised of 57 percent of public funds as opposed to the 85 percent in 1992 (Woodford 241). The prosperity of the era is reflected in the success of the institutions of the humanities.
Cultural enterprises were not alone in nineties development. Businesses were also moving into and developing within the city center. As previously stated, the auto industry was in a period of growth. For $73 million, GM purchased its space in the Renaissance Center in 1996 (Woodford 248) and moved into the location in 1999 (Woodford 246)--notice the building labeled GM in the background. In addition to the auto industry’s contributions, new businesses were setting up shop in Detroit. In 1992, the Greektown staple, Athenum Suite Hotel and Conference Center, checked in its first guest (Woodford 242). In 1999, Compuware Corporation announced the decision to move downtown, which would include the renovation of a building, and promised both to fill the void left when the J.L. Hudson Building was demolished in 1998 and “ten thousand jobs [to be] brought back to the city” (Woodford 250). Detroit was also starting to recognize the effects of the recent 1988 special referendum which allowed for gambling casinos in the city. MGM Grand celebrated its opening in 1999, with MotorCity Casino Hotel’s opening to follow shortly (Woodford 246). To cap off the decade, the Lions announced on November 16, 1999 that they would move back into the city center after 25 years of playing in Pontiac (Woodford 246).
Detroit in the nineties was filled with promising projects. In 1993, Fox Theater--featured in the Chrysler ad-- reopened after restoration (Woodford 228). The Detroit Opera House renovation was also completed in the nineties, 1996. Additionally, in 1997 (Woodford 241), the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History opened and still claims on their website the honor as “world’s largest institution dedicated to the African American experience.” Further illustrating the cultural boom time, the Detroit Historical Museum was able to increase the amount of money their fundraising efforts so that by 1997 their budget was only comprised of 57 percent of public funds as opposed to the 85 percent in 1992 (Woodford 241). The prosperity of the era is reflected in the success of the institutions of the humanities.
Cultural enterprises were not alone in nineties development. Businesses were also moving into and developing within the city center. As previously stated, the auto industry was in a period of growth. For $73 million, GM purchased its space in the Renaissance Center in 1996 (Woodford 248) and moved into the location in 1999 (Woodford 246)--notice the building labeled GM in the background. In addition to the auto industry’s contributions, new businesses were setting up shop in Detroit. In 1992, the Greektown staple, Athenum Suite Hotel and Conference Center, checked in its first guest (Woodford 242). In 1999, Compuware Corporation announced the decision to move downtown, which would include the renovation of a building, and promised both to fill the void left when the J.L. Hudson Building was demolished in 1998 and “ten thousand jobs [to be] brought back to the city” (Woodford 250). Detroit was also starting to recognize the effects of the recent 1988 special referendum which allowed for gambling casinos in the city. MGM Grand celebrated its opening in 1999, with MotorCity Casino Hotel’s opening to follow shortly (Woodford 246). To cap off the decade, the Lions announced on November 16, 1999 that they would move back into the city center after 25 years of playing in Pontiac (Woodford 246).
But, even among the excitement and prosperity of the nineties, people were still moving from the city. During the building development just described, Detroit “lost over 6,000 acres of residential land to other uses, representing 15% of total residential space” (Grengs 349). While the development of the 90s created some what are now Detroit favorites, less housing was available in the exciting areas. However, the wealth, development and population decline of the nineties also made so that the 2000 census showed that the number of people living in high-poverty neighborhoods had dropped by 74 percent since the 1990s in Detroit. This decrease was the highest in comparison with every other metropolitan region in the nation (Grengs 248).
The renovations of the nineties continued into the early Naughts with projects such as the Detroit Opera House embarking on a “$10 million restoration” and the Detroit Historical Museum receiving grants that would allow an increase in exhibit space in the Detroit Science Museum (Woodford 241). And although there was less concentrated-poverty, Detroit “was the most impoverished large city in the nation in 2003, with more than one in three residents living below the federal poverty line,” a stark contrast with the development of the time (Grengs 348).
The recent history of Detroit is the epitome of alternating excitement and disappointment. Tiger’s played their first game in Comerica Park on April 11, 2000. The Lions moved into Ford Field for the 2002 season. If you ignore the 25 percent population decrease that happened between 2000 and 2010 and that in 2003 from January through November 6 “more people were killed in Detroit --3,313-- than have died among U.S. forces in 10 years of fighting in Afghanistan,” (“Living”) Detroit was having an okay time. Then, in the summer of 2007, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick “lied under oath... at a police whistle-blower trial that [had] cost the city more than $9 million” (Schmitt). On March 24, 2008, The Detroit Free Press reported “Kwame Malik Kilpatrick, once heralded as the bright future of the city that reared him, instead became the first sitting Detroit mayor to face criminal charges --eight felony counts, the fallout from a text message scandal” (Ashenfelter). Just recently, December 9, 2011, the Detroit Free Press released the story “Ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is Hiding his Assets, Wayne County Prosecutor Says” that asserts Kilpatrick is hiding “assets and living large in Texas” prompting “Wayne County Prosector Kym Worthy [to ask that] the amount [of restitution Kilpatrick is paying the city monthly be] increased from $160 to $1,000,” given that Kilpatrick’s cable bill is $314.98 a month (Baldas).
While Kilpatrick enjoys HBO, Detroit is on track to be bankrupt by April. The state is reviewing the city’s finances to see if an emergency financial manager will take over the city’s budget. Seeking to avoid the loss in autonomy, Mayor Bing “submitted a $103 million savings plan for the current physical year to [Governor] Snyder’s office” (Williams “Detroit Mayor”). In 2009, an emergency financial manager was assigned to the Detroit School District. After cutting more than 1,000 jobs and closing more than a dozen schools as of March 2011 (Altman), the district reported its “first budget surplus in four years” in December 2011 (Williams “Detroit Schools”). Kilpatrick, the reverse Robin Hood, stealing from the poor and giving to himself.
Despite Detroit’s troubles, businesses still are continuing to locate in the downtown. In 2009, Dan Gilbert, founder and owner of Quicken Loans, moved his business from the suburbs into the center of Detroit. Gilbert’s business decision alone brought more than 3,000 into Detroit (“So Cheap”). The Economist article “So Cheap, There’s Hope; The Parable of Detroit,” points out that:
Considering the fact that the city of Detroit is 83 [percent] black (and a further 7 [percent] Hispanic), you see an awful lot of white faces around TechTown, and for that matter at Quicken Loans. This leads the main criticism that can be levelled at the new Detroit: that it focuses on downtown and midtown; that it is benefiting people who, often enough, live not in the city but the suburbs; and that the bulk of Detroit’s inhabitants are being overlooked. All of these are very hard to deny.
So despite efforts by Quicken Loans and other job creators, as of this school year, Detroit school’s have a high enough percentage of children who qualify for free meals that every child in entire school system will now “receive free breakfast, lunch and snack” as part of the Hungry-Free Kids Act (Battaglia). And so, again, the thrill of development is tempered by the reality of Detroiters’ experiences.
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