Motor City

While it was once known as “The Paris of the Midwest,” Detroit’s lasting nickname is from its most impactful industry – automobiles. The auto industry began in Detroit, and transformed the city and the world. In a matter of decades, Detroit grew to be the fourth largest city in the United States.

While manufacturing jobs have declined and the city has undergone a major downturn in the past 50 years, the auto industry is still ever-present. The big-three auto manufacturers (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) are still headquartered in metropolitan area, and the major landmarks of the city are from the auto industry, with GM’s Renaissance Center commanding the skyline, and Ford Field serving as home for the Detroit Lions.

In just the past century, Detroit has gone through a number of changes. The city has seen rapid growth, economic downturn, and now a bit of revitalization.

Roots and Downturn

Detroit cemented itself as the Motor City throughout the early 20th Century with Henry Ford’s Model T, Model A, and the labor innovations which accompanied the innovative and transformative industry.

With the industrial revolution and spark of auto industry jobs, the city reached a peak population of 1.85 million in 1950. Since then however, loss of auto industry jobs and rapid growth of the suburbs have depleted the city’s population and left much of it vacant and in disrepair.

Sadly, the city’s story of blight, crime, and struggle was well known, and Detroit was looked down upon for many years throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The city made international news throughout the 2000s for its corruption scandals and financial crisis. In 2013, it became the largest U.S. city to ever declare bankruptcy, and many were ready to pronounce the city dead.

Revival

In the past 10 years, the city has been able to rise from the ashes. The headlines on the Motor City have quickly turned from stories of blight and corruption, to those of revitalization and community involvement. Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans has lead the way in the revitalization of the downtown area, and grassroots efforts and entrepreneurship have brought life into many of the surrounding neighborhoods.

While the Auto industry is what has given the city its famous nickname, it’s the residents of Detroit who have made it what it is today. In 2016, Dan Gilbert said that Detroit is an intersection of “muscles and brains,” meaning that manufacturing still has strong roots in the city, but it’s also quickly becoming a hot spot for technology and innovation.

While many neighborhoods are being left behind in this revitalization, the efforts are quickly making their way outside of the city center and into the surrounding areas.

About the article author: Bryan Finnigan is a Michigander and a professional journalist and copywriter. He's passionate about history, the outdoors, and lifetime learning.