Detroit is one of the most famous and populous cities in the state of Michigan. Moreover, Detroit is considered one of the largest cities on the United States-Canada border. This popular and large city is also the most dangerous city in America according to Forbes list of most dangerous cities and has been several times.
Skyline of Detroit and the surrounding slums
The Motor City Statistically the Scariest
Forbes list of America’s Most Dangerous Cities is composed through statistics. They begin by searching through a database for areas that have the most violent crime per city population. For example, in Detroit there were about 300 intentional murders in 2014. This give insights that these were not accidental or self-defense. That means that Detroit has a murder rate of 43.5 people out of 100,000 residents. This is extremely high compared to other cities in America and this is why Detroit is considered the most dangerous city in the United States. The data and statistics put into compiling the list of most dangerous cities is detailed in the Forbes article.
Detroit Could be on the Rise
I visited Detroit last year with my family on Winter break and I thought the city was awesome and beautiful. I actually would like to live there in the future even with it being the most dangerous city in America. It was surprisingly quiet and the views were amazing because it is so close to Canada. I really think that Detroit has the potential to be a better city and not so dangerous if they can try and constrain the crime rates. The crime is the only bad thing about Detroit because the city itself is amazing.
In my opinion, in order to restrain the crime, Detroit could revamp its businesses. Buildings that are destroyed or unable to be used could be rebuilt to house more businesses and therefore more jobs would be available. I think a 5-year plan of rebuilding Detroit would be really beneficial for the city. Better law enforcement training and monitoring of the city’s crime could lower murder rates. Also providing more shelter for the homeless could restrain crime since I feel that when I visited I saw a lot of homeless and this could relate to the crime rate. I think improving the city for business to grow and helping the people of Detroit could really help Detroit stop being the most dangerous city in America. What do you think about my solution for Detroit? Would it work or is Detroit beyond hope?
Having lived 15 minutes from Detroit, I saw a city that could be characterized as “down in the dumps”. It is plain to see that it still has not gotten out of the dumps, which is a shame considering its potential. I believe Detroit is in a position to reinvent itself and agree that a 5- year plan is in need. I believe the way to restore Detroit is through small business. Small business will bring extra money into the local economy. Additionally, small businesses will provide taxes to the local government that can be used improve law enforcement and make Detroit a safer place. Small businesses in my opinion are a safe bet in making Detroit more lively economically, as well as a safer place. Furthermore, Detroit is making efforts to encourage small business formation in certain parts of the city by reducing the amount of local and state taxes those businesses have to pay. Overall, the creation of more small businesses might be the solution, or at least the starting ground, to make Detroit great again.
For cities like Detroit there is a lot of potential. In my Urban Geography and Spatial Studies class I learned about something called gentrification.
This means that it is becoming a popular craze for young, rich, generally white people to move into what used to be slums and make it ‘hip’. As stupid as that may sound, it is actually quite useful for that area’s economy. As you may guess, when there are people in the area with money, it will be spent.
Gentrification of areas in New York and Detroit have been on the rise in the past decade, according to my professor in the department of Geography, Lorraine Dowler.
Additionally, I think there is a lot of potential for Detroit because of gentrification but also because of the resources. There are many downtown universities, a spectacular geographic location, and commercial resources. These factors can contribute wildly, but every city goes through boom and bust cycles.