The Ruins of Detroit

[Iceaxe]

This is pretty cool... I visit a lot of Anasazi ruins and always wonder what people like me will be visiting in anther 1000 years.....

Michigan Central Station




Woodward Avenue




Atrium, Farwell Building




18th floor dentist cabinet, David Broderick Tower




Donovan Building




David Whitney Building




Bagley-Clifford Office of the National Bank of Detroit




United Artists Theater




Fort Shelby Hotel



Ballroom, American Hotel



William Livingstone House



Melted clock, Cass Technical High School




First Unitarian Church



Piano, Saint Albertus School



East Methodist Church



Luben Apartments



Rich-Dex Apartments



Classroom, St Margaret Mary School



Biology classroom, Wilbur Wright High School



St Christopher House, ex-Public Library



Packard Motors Plant



Fisher Body 21 Plant



Room 1504, Lee Plaza Hotel



Ballroom, Lee Plaza Hotel



Packard Motors Plant

[asdf]

looks awesome and sad at the same time.
sure would be awesome to check all those places out.

I am a frequent visitor of the industrial decay network - http://industrialdecay.blogspot.com/

[TreeHugger]

It is sad. Detroit was once such a beautiful city. I think the photography here is awesome - I find it interesting that it looks like there was some kind of sudden catastrophic event where people just up and left things - books, magazines, jars on tables.... I would love to pick through some of those places.

I'm from MI and have visited Detroit a lot, seen some of these places. The architecture is gorgeous. Detroit is experiencing a bit of a renaissance these days - hopefully, some of these remarkable places, or places like them, can be spared.

[americanhero]

It's sad to see this. But it's exactly the impression I got of Detroit when I stopped there last year for a couple of hours.
By the way, awesome shots and beautifully captured

[ibenick]

This must be where they filmed a lot of the those earth after people shows on Discovery. Crazy stuff.

[Iceaxe]

I find it interesting that it looks like there was some kind of sudden catastrophic event where people just up and left things - books, magazines, jars on tables....

Sounds like you are describing the Anasazi ruins of the Colorado Plateau....

But in the case of Detroit we know what the catastrophic event was... economic depression...

[accadacca]

Nice find.

[blueeyes]

Modern day ghost town.

@Summit thanks for the website link. I have a fascination with this urban decay. I have been to ruins in Mexico and China. Those civilizations once flourished like we are now, eventually declined and left behind skeletal impressions of who they were.

How does a house like the William Livingstone Home that was once grand become so neglected and uncared for? Sad and intriguing.

[DiscGo]

That really is amazing to see the demise of such a once prominent city. I hope that the rest of our country never goes the way of Detroit. You have to know that the people who built those building were expecting them to last forever (or much longer than they have).

[Glockguy]

This is what liberalism leaves behind in it's wake.

Check this hobby out. Think of it as "Urban Canyoneering".

http://urbanexplorers.net/

[mhambi]

Awesome pics - sad to see. Reminds me of a blog I used to frequent about the decline/demise of downtown Johannesburg... I just checked though and he hasn't posted since 08.

http://deathofjohannesburg.blogspot.com/

Spent a lot of crazy nights in Hillbrow... sad to see it's state now. (the author of that blog links to some Detroit related stuff too)



That being said, I can't be to hard on Detroit because Moe said so...

[Don]

Beautiful and sad at the same time. Someone should really film a post-apocalyptic (zombie!) movie in Detroit!

[Glockguy]

Beautiful and sad at the same time. Someone should really film a post-apocalyptic (zombie!) movie in Detroit!

Check out the show 'Apocalypse Man'. It was filmed in this area.

[Don]

Check out the show 'Apocalypse Man'. It was filmed in this area.

Meh, I saw the trailer; History Channel meets former soldier/marine/outdoorsman and does something, somewhere. I've seen that show already.

[tmartenst]

I'm from Detroit and have been to many of these places. I still get back there a few times a year. Detroit is an amazing city and still has way more 'character' than most. I miss the grittiness of it compared to SLC. I've had some crazy experiences (self imposed) there but never felt like it was more dangerous than I wanted to experience. The first photo is very oft photographed and filmed and is an amazing building. My brother and I were there last year poking around. Very creepy environment.

Different Vantage of Michigan Central Station:


See here for amazing 360 images: http://photo.photojpl.com/tour/michi...l-waiting.html

[asdf]

cool flickr set of abandoned buildings around Detroit

[canyonphile]

Between vandalism and the fact that nothing in Detroit was built to last (not the least of which were their crappy autos ), I'd be surprised if there is anything but unidentifiable piles of rubble in 1000 years. Sheetrock, brick and concrete don't seem to hold up so well to the elements like the local materials the Anasazi used .

These photos are great, and remind me of Tom Kirch's amazing site that you can literally spend hours browsing through: Urban Ruins. He specializes in old hospitals and insane asylums, and there are apparently a lot of them in the eastern part of the US and in Europe. He never discloses the locations and I'm sure he is trespassing on many occasions to obtain the photos. His images are hauntingly beautiful but disconcerting at the same time.

[blueeyes]

Great site Sonya! He explores old cemeteries I love those as well. The asylum's are haunting.

[Scott P]

But in the case of Detroit we know what the catastrophic event was... economic depression...

Detroit itself has been declining longer than the recent economic problems.

Population of Detroit:

1930 1,568,662
1950 1,849,568
1960 1,670,144
1970 1,511,482
1980 1,203,339
1990 1,027,974
2000 951,270
2010 ~910,000

Detroit has been consided a "rough city" for a long time now. Riots, poverty, crime, etc. While the earlier population decline was due to the move to the suburbs, now even the suburbs have declined and are being abandoned.

Friends in Michigan say that you can "buy" a house for free in Detroit. Supposedly the city figures that it is more benificial to give a house away for free and have it kept up rather than have it abandoned and decay.

[tmartenst]

I feel like I have to defend the city a little. There are many cities that are as troubled as Detroit in some ways (Washington DC is a mess, Buffalo is hurting). Flint, MI is really hurting.

Between vandalism and the fact that nothing in Detroit was built to last

Most of the ruins you see are from very well built structures. Many of them have been abandoned for 30 years or more so they are battling time, vandalism and the elements. Any structure in an city would decay the same or worse.

Detroit itself has been declining longer than the recent economic problems.

The main decline was the suburban sprawl which affects most cities but probably Detroit even more. Suburban Detroit is huge so the numbers are definitely deceiving. I moved away to be a ski bum but most are moving now because of the economy. Most of this was triggered because all of the eggs were in the auto basket. The politicians did a pretty poor job of bringing in other industries, the unions had the companies by the balls and yes, the quality from the Big 3 wasn't great. When they fell, so did all the jobbers and component makers in the area.

Ford is killing it now and GM & Chrysler are making a decent shot at comebacks too. Quality has improved drastically (although I own a Toyota!)

you can "buy" a house for free in Detroit

True, the city has great incentives but you have to stick it out for a period of time and put certain dollars into improving the house you buy.