The Decline Of Detroit

THE DECLINE OF DETROIT Detroit filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the U.S. on Thursday, July 18, 2013. The Motor City is approximately $18.5 billion in debt and simply cannot raise enough revenue to meet its current obligations. But Detroit's financial woes are not a recent phenomenon -- the city has been in a steady state of decline for years now. THE POPULATION HAS BEEN DECLINING SINCE THE 1950s. As of the 2010 Census, the population of Detroit was less than half of what it was at its peak. 2 MILLION 1.85 MILLION 713,777 1880 1910 A smaller population means less revenue. Detroit's financial woes are a product of decades of population decline, said a report from Gov. Rick Snyder's office from earlier this year. FOR YEARS, DETROIT OVERESTIMATED INCOMING REVENUE. .and overspent the budget that was created based on these inflated revenue estimates. $2 BILLION $1.70 B $1.76 B $1.71B $1.66 B $1.66 B $1.57 B ACTUAL SPENDING $1.51B $1.42 B |$1.30 B $1.37 B $1.27 B $1.28 B BUGETED $1.19 B $1.22 B $1.10 B ACTUAL REVENUE 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 All the money Detroit spent that it didn't have, or overspending, is represented in shades of pink. In the past five years, Detroit spent more than $400 million over and above the actual revenue it brought in. DETROIT HAS HIGH RATES OF CRIME AND POVERTY. In 2012, Detroit had the highest rate of violent crime of all cities with a population over 200,000 for the fourth year in a row, according to FBI data. 2,137 344 THAT'S THE NUMBER OF VIOLENT THAT'S THE NUMBER OF CRIMES COMMITED PER 100,000 RESIDENTS IN DETROIT IN 2011. MURDERS COMMITTED IN DETROIT IN 2011. More than a third of Detroit's population was living below the poverty line between 2007-2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And according to 2010 Census estimates, Detroit has more than 40,000 vacant or abandoned residential properties. The city is already on track to demolish 10,000. As of early 2013, 7,925 such structures had already been demolished because they were so structurally unsound that they posed a danger to society. By Lisa Mahapatra INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Michigan.gov, DetroitMI.gov, Federal Bureau of Investigation Attributions: Eden Clairicia and Scott Lewis from The Noun Project 1890 1900 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010