Editing Detroit (section)

==History==
<!-- This section is a summary. Please make additions to the full History of ... article. Thank you. -->
{{Main|History of Detroit}}
{{For timeline}}

===Toponymy===
[[File:Detroit_Skyline_view.jpg|thumb|alt=|Detroit and adjacent [[Windsor, Ontario]], Canada separated by the Detroit River]]

Detroit is named after the [[Detroit River]], connecting [[Lake Huron]] with [[Lake Erie]]. The name comes from the French language word {{lang|fr|détroit}} meaning {{gloss|strait}} as the city was situated on a narrow north–south passage of water linking the two lakes. The river was known as {{lang|fr|le détroit du Lac Érié}} in the French language, which means {{gloss|the strait of Lake Erie}}.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rousseau|first=Mary|date=October 16, 2018|title=How Did Michigan Cities Get Their Names?|url=https://www.michigan.org/article/trip-idea/how-did-michigan-cities-get-their-names|access-date=February 16, 2022|website=Michigan|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Detroit word origin|url=https://etymologeek.com/eng/Detroit|access-date=February 16, 2022|website=Etymologeek|language=en}}</ref> In the historical context, the strait included the [[St. Clair River]], [[Lake St. Clair]], and the Detroit River.<ref name="RivièreduDétroit">{{cite web |title=La rivière du Détroit depuis le lac Érié, 1764 |url=https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/french/exhibits/franco_ontarian/big/big_36_map_detroit_river.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703220808/http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/french/exhibits/franco_ontarian/big/big_36_map_detroit_river.htm |archive-date=July 3, 2008 |access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref><ref>[[List of U.S. place names of French origin]]</ref>

===Indigenous settlement===
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| quote = {{flag|Kingdom of France}} 1701–1760<br />{{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain|}} 1760–1796 <br />{{flag|United States|1795}} 1796–1812 <br />{{flag|United Kingdom}} 1812–1813<br />{{flag|United States}} 1813–present
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[[Paleo-Indians]] inhabited areas near Detroit as early as 11,000 years ago including the culture referred to as the [[Mound Builders]].<ref name="lemke">{{cite journal|last1=Lemke|first1=Ashley|title=Great Lakes Rangifer and Paleoindians: Archaeological and Paleontological Caribou Remains from Michigan|journal=PaleoAmerica|date=2015|volume=1|issue=3|page=277|doi=10.1179/2055557115Y.0000000003|s2cid=129841191 |issn=2055-5563}}</ref> By the 17th century, the region was inhabited by [[Huron people|Huron]], [[Odawa]], [[Potawatomi]], and [[Iroquois]] peoples.<ref name="teasdale">{{cite journal|last1=Teasdale|first1=Guillaume|title=Old Friends and New Foes: French Settlers and Indians in the Detroit River Border Region|journal=Michigan Historical Review|date=2012|volume=38|issue=2|pages=35–62|doi=10.5342/michhistrevi.38.2.0035}}</ref> The area is known by the [[Anishinaabe]] people as ''Waawiiyaataanong'', translating to 'where the water curves around'.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=DeVito|first=Lee|title=How New Red Order and MOCAD could redefine 'land acknowledgment' for Indigenous people|url=https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/how-new-red-order-and-mocad-could-redefine-land-acknowledgment-for-indigenous-people/Content?oid=25854180|access-date=June 27, 2021|website=Detroit Metro Times|language=en}}</ref>

The first Europeans did not penetrate into the region and reach the straits of Detroit until French [[Missionary|missionaries]] and traders worked their way around the Iroquois League, with whom they were at war in the 1630s.<ref name="AmHeritageBk">
{{cite encyclopedia |year=1961
|title=The American Heritage Book of Indians
|author=William Brandon
|editor=Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
|pages=187–219|publisher=American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.
|lccn=61-14871
}}</ref> The Huron and [[Neutral Confederacy|Neutral people]] held the north side of Lake Erie until the 1650s, when the Iroquois pushed them and the [[Erie people]] away from the lake and its [[beaver]]-rich feeder streams in the [[Beaver Wars]] of 1649–1655.<ref name="AmHeritageBk"/> By the 1670s, the war-weakened Iroquois laid claim to as far south as the [[Ohio River]] valley in northern [[Kentucky]] as hunting grounds,<ref name="AmHeritageBk"/> and had absorbed many other Iroquoian peoples after defeating them in war.<ref name="AmHeritageBk"/> For the next hundred years, virtually no British or French action was contemplated without consultation with the Iroquois or consideration of their likely response.<ref name="AmHeritageBk"/>

===French settlement===
{{Main|Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit}}
[[File:FortShelbyDetroit.png|thumb|upright|Topographical plan of the Town of Detroit and [[Fort Lernoult]] showing major streets, gardens, fortifications, military comple&shy;xes, and public buildings (John Jacob Ulrich Rivardi, ca. 1800)]]

On July 24, 1701, the French explorer [[Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac]] (1658–1730), with his lieutenant&nbsp;[[Alphonse de Tonty]] (1659–1727), and more than a hundred other [[Kingdom of France|Royal French]] settlers traveling south and west from [[New France]] (modern [[Quebec|Province of Quebec]]), along the [[St. Lawrence River]] valley to the [[Great Lakes]] region, began constructing a small fort on the north bank of the Detroit River. Cadillac named the settlement [[Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/thisisdetroit1700000wood_n6a3|url-access=registration|title=This is Detroit, 1701–2001|last=Woodford|first=Arthur M.|date=2001|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=0814329144|pages=[https://archive.org/details/thisisdetroit1700000wood_n6a3/page/15 15]|language=en}}</ref> after [[Louis Phélypeaux, Marquis of Phélypeaux|Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain]] (1643–1727), the [[Secretary of State of the Navy (France)|Secretary of State of the Navy]] under King [[Louis XIV]] (1638–1715, reigned 1643–1715) in the Royal government in Paris.<ref name="Riley">{{Cite book| author=Riley, John L.|title=The Once and Future Great Lakes Country: An Ecological History|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press| year=2013|isbn=978-0-7735-4177-1}}, p. 56.</ref> [[Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit|Sainte-Anne de Détroit]] was founded on July 26 and is the second-oldest continuously operating [[Roman Catholic]] parish in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stechschulte |first=Michael |date=March 1, 2020 |title=Pope names Ste. Anne Church a basilica, cementing historic parish's importance to Detroit |url=https://detroitcatholic.com/news/mike-stechschulte/breaking-pope-names-ste-anne-church-a-basilica-cementing-historic-parishs-importance-to-detroit |journal=Detroit Catholic |access-date=November 13, 2023}}</ref> France offered free land to colonists to attract families further west into the Great Lakes region interior of the North American continent to Detroit; when it eventually reached a population of about 800 by 1765, after the colonial conflict of the [[French and Indian War]] (1753–1763), ([[Seven Years' War]] in Europe), it became the largest European settlement between the important towns of [[Montreal]] and [[New Orleans]], both also French settlements, in the former colonies of [[New France]] and [[Louisiana (New France)|La Louisiane]] (further south on the [[Mississippi River]], on the coast of the [[Gulf of Mexico]]), respectively.<ref>[https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/franco_ontarian/detroit.htm French Ontario in the 17th and 18th centuries – Detroit] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040824111504/http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/franco_ontarian/detroit.htm |date=August 24, 2004 }}. ''Archives of Ontario'' July 14, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.</ref> The region's then colonial economy was based on the lucrative [[North American fur trade|fur trade]], in which numerous Native American peoples had important roles as trappers and traders.

===British rule===
{{Further|Fort Shelby (Michigan)}}

During the [[French and Indian War]] (1753–63)—the North American front of the [[Seven Years' War]] in Europe between the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] and the [[Kingdom of France]]—British troops gained control of the settlement a few years into the conflict in 1760 and shortened its name to Detroit. Several regional Native American tribes, such as the [[Potawatomi|Potowatomi]], [[Ojibwe]] and Huron, launched [[Pontiac's War]] (1763–1766), and [[siege of Fort Detroit|laid siege]] in 1763 to [[Fort Detroit]] along the Detroit River in the Great Lakes but failed to capture it. In defeat, France ceded its territory in North America of New France and south of the lakes east of the Mississippi to the Appalachian Mountains to Britain following the war.<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/detroit-built-succeed-looking-detroits-past-see-future
| title = Why Detroit is Built to Succeed: Looking at Detroit's Past to See Its Future
| access-date = February 17, 2020
| last = Ross
| first = Marc
| date = January 18, 2017
| work = Diplomatic Courier
| publisher = Global Affairs Media
| language = en
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200217220121/https://www.diplomaticourier.com/posts/detroit-built-succeed-looking-detroits-past-see-future
| archive-date = February 17, 2020
}}</ref>

When Great Britain evicted France from its colonial possessions in [[New France]] ([[Canada (New France)|Canada]]) in the peace terms of the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] of 1763, it also removed one barrier to American colonists migrating west across the mountains.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://totallyhistory.com/french-and-indian-war/|title=The French & Indian War, Seven Years War Summary|date=September 9, 2011|website=Totally History}}</ref> British negotiations with the Iroquois would both prove critical and lead to the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]], which limited settlements South of and below the Great Lakes and west of the [[Alleghenies]] / [[Appalachians]]. Many colonists and pioneers in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] along the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]], resented and then simply defied this restraint, later becoming supporters of the rebellious [[American Revolution]]. By 1773, after the addition of increasing numbers of the [[Anglo-Americans|Anglo-American]] settlers, the population of Detroit and [[Fort Detroit]], was edging up to 1,400 (doubled in the previous decade). During the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783), the indigenous and loyalist raids of 1778 and the resultant 1779 decisive [[Sullivan Expedition]] reopened the [[Ohio Country]] (north of the [[Ohio River]] and west of the mountains) to even more westward emigration, which began almost immediately to get away from the eastern warfare. By 1778, its population had doubled again, reaching 2,144 and it was the third-largest town in what was known then as the [[Province of Quebec (1763–91)|Province of Quebec]] since the British takeover of former French colonial possessions in North America in 1763.<ref>Jacqueline Peterson, Jennifer S. H. Brown, ''Many Roads to Red River'' (2001), p69</ref>

After the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783) and the establishment and recognition of the United States as an independent country, the Great Britain ceded Detroit and other territories in the interior region of the continent, south of the Great Lakes and west of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] to the [[Mississippi River]] under the  peace of the terms of the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|1783 Treaty of Paris]]. The new [[Northwest Territories]] established the southern border with Great Britain's remaining colonial provinces in [[British North America]] and became provinces of [[Upper Canada]] and [[Lower Canada]]. However, the disputed border area remained under British control with several military forts and trading posts for another decade, and its forces did not fully withdraw until 1796, following the negotiations and ratification of the subsequent [[Jay Treaty]] of 1794 between the British and Americans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mocavo.com/History-of-Detroit-a-Chronicle-of-Its-Progress-Volume-1/105630/110 |title="History of Detroit: A Chronicle of Its Progress" Page 71, 1912 |website=Mocavo.com |access-date=October 22, 2024}}</ref> By the turn of the 19th century, white American settlers began pouring westwards across the Appalachians and through the Great Lakes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/historicalmarkers/inventoryfour.html|title=Museum Outreach|website=exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov}}</ref>

====Legacy====
{{Further|Muskrat French}}
Today the municipal [[flag of Detroit]] reflects its both its French and English colonial heritage. Descendants of the earliest French and [[French Canadian|French-Canadian]] settlers formed a cohesive community, who gradually were superseded as the dominant population after more Anglo-American settlers arrived in the early 19th century with American westward migration. Living along the shores of Lake St. Clair and south to [[Monroe, Michigan|Monroe]] and downriver suburbs, the ethnic French Canadians of Detroit, also known as [[Muskrat French]] in reference to the fur trade, remain a subculture in the region up into the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web|last1=LaForest|first1=James|title='Muskrat French': French-Canadian River Culture in the Windsor/Detroit Region|url=https://voyageurheritage.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/muskrat-french-french-canadian-river-culture-in-the-windsordetroit-region/|website=Voyageur Heritage: Community Journal and Resource Guide|date=March 7, 2014|publisher=James LaForest|access-date=September 5, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Beneteau|first1=Marcel|title=Detroit River: A Special Place in French North American History|url=http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/en/article-453/Detroit_River:_A_Special_Place_in_French_North_American_History.html|website=Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America|access-date=September 5, 2015}}</ref>

===Post-revolutionary period and 19th century===
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| image1            = Woodward av Detroit MI Barber 1865p361.jpg
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| image2            = The City of Detroit (from Canada Shore).jpg
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| image3            = The street railway review (1891) (14572207538).jpg
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| footer            = From top: [[Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District|Woodward Avenue shopping district]] in 1865; ''The City of Detroit (from Canada Shore)'', 1872, by A. C. Warren; the [[Belle Isle Park]] in 1891
}}

The [[Great Fire of 1805|Great Detroit Fire of 1805]] destroyed most of the city's wooden buildings, leaving only a stone fort, a river warehouse, and brick chimneys from former homes.<ref>[http://www.ste-anne.org/dempsey.html "Ste. Anne of Detroit"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927095234/http://www.ste-anne.org/dempsey.html |date=September 27, 2011 }}, St. Anne Church. Retrieved on April 29, 2006.</ref> Despite the extensive damage, none of Detroit's 600 residents perished.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/great-fire-1805|title=Great Fire of 1805 &#124; Detroit Historical Society|website=detroithistorical.org}}</ref> The aftermath of the fire left a lasting legacy on the city's heritage. Father [[Gabriel Richard]] coined the city motto, "Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus," as he surveyed the ruins.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RICHARD, FATHER GABRIEL |url=https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/richard-father-gabriel |access-date=June 16, 2024 |website=Detroit Historical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FLAG OF DETROIT |url=https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/flag-detroit#:~:text=Two%20Latin%20mottos%20read%20"Speramus,penned%20by%20Father%20Gabriel%20Richard. |access-date=June 16, 2024 |website=Detroit Historical Society}}</ref> The city seal, designed in 1827, directly depicted the fire by showing two women, one grieving the destruction while the other gestures toward a new city rising from the ashes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flag of Detroit {{!}} Detroit Historical Society |url=https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/flag-detroit#:~:text=Two%20Latin%20mottos%20read%20%E2%80%9CSperamus,penned%20by%20Father%20Gabriel%20Richard. |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=detroithistorical.org}}</ref> The seal forms the center of Detroit's flag.

From 1805 to 1847, Detroit served as the capital city of the [[Michigan Territory]] and later became its first state capital in January 1837 after Michigan's admission to the Union. During the [[War of 1812]], Detroit became a focal point of conflict. U.S. Army commander [[William Hull]] surrendered [[Fort Detroit]] without a fight, underestimating the number of British forces. Later, the U.S. attempted to retake the fort and town during the [[Battle of Frenchtown]] in January 1813, a significant victory for the British. The battle is commemorated at the [[River Raisin National Battlefield Park]] near [[Monroe, Michigan]]. Detroit was eventually recaptured later that year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/rira/learn/historyculture/index.htm|title=River Raisin National Battlefield Park|website=Nps.gov}}</ref>

Detroit was officially incorporated as a city in 1815, and its urban design was influenced by the grand boulevards of Washington, D.C.<ref name=Woodford/> Michigan Territorial Chief Justice [[Augustus B. Woodward]], who played a key role in the city's development, designed a geometric street plan that included wide avenues and plazas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metrotimes.com/the-scene/archives/2018/06/01/how-the-woodward-plan-for-greater-detroit-died-200-years-ago-today|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015104/https://www.metrotimes.com/the-scene/archives/2018/06/01/how-the-woodward-plan-for-greater-detroit-died-200-years-ago-today|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 12, 2020|title=How the Woodward Plan for greater Detroit died 200 years ago today|first=Michael|last=Jackman|date=June 1, 2018|website=Detroit Metro Times}}</ref> In 1817, he founded the [[Catholepistemiad]], later evolving into the [[University of Michigan]] in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]]. Detroit's growth continued as a center of education and culture for the Michigan Territory.

Before the [[American Civil War]], Detroit's position along the Canada-U.S. border made it a vital stop on the [[Underground Railroad]]. Thousands of enslaved African Americans escaped to Canada via the city.<ref name="Chadwick">{{cite book | last = Chadwick | first = Bruce | title = Traveling the underground railroad : a visitor's guide to more than 300 sites | publisher = Carol Pub. Group | location = Secaucus, NJ | page = [https://archive.org/details/travelingundergr00chad/page/272 272] | year = 1999 | isbn = 0806520930 | url = https://archive.org/details/travelingundergr00chad/page/272 }}</ref><ref name=Woodford/><ref>{{cite book | last = US Department of Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service Center | title = Underground Railroad | publisher = DIANE Publishing | page=168 |year = 1995}}</ref> Notable activists like [[George DeBaptiste]], [[William Lambert (abolitionist)|William Lambert]], and [[Laura Smith Haviland]] played key roles in assisting refugees.<ref>Tobin, Jacqueline L. ''From Midnight to Dawn: The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad''. Anchor, 2008. p200-209</ref> Detroit's contributions to the Union effort were also significant, with many residents volunteering to fight. The city's [[24th Michigan Infantry Regiment]], part of the famous [[Iron Brigade]], suffered heavy casualties at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]].<ref>Rosentreter, Roger (July/August 1998). "Come on you Wolverines, Michigan at Gettysburg", ''[[Michigan History (magazine)|Michigan History]]''.</ref> The city's tensions over race, in tandem with national concerns over the draft, led to the [[Detroit race riot of 1863]], leaving some dead and over 200 Black residents homeless. This prompted the establishment of a full-time [[Detroit Police Department#History|police force]] in 1865.

In the late 19th century, Detroit grew as a hub for industry, particularly shipping and manufacturing. The city's wealth, driven by industrial magnates, led to the construction of opulent [[Gilded Age]] mansions along the grand avenues designed by Woodward. Detroit earned the nickname "Paris of the West" for its architectural beauty.<ref name=Woodford/> By 1896, [[Henry Ford]]'s first automobile was built in the city, and Detroit expanded its borders, annexing surrounding villages and townships as it solidified its place as a key player in the automobile industry.<ref>{{cite web|title=Why do Hamtramck and Highland Park exist inside the city of Detroit?|url=https://wdet.org/posts/2014/09/19/80119-why-do-hamtramck-and-highland-park-exist-inside-the-city-of-detroit/|access-date=January 14, 2021|date=September 19, 2014|website=Wdet.org|language=en}}</ref>

===Early 20th century and World War II===
{{multiple image
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|image1 = Detroit_1902.jpg
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|image2 = Campus Martius, Detroit, MI.jpg
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|image3 = Michigan & Griswold circa 1920.jpg
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|footer = From top: [[Cadillac Square]] and [[Wayne County Building]] (1902); [[Campus Martius Park|Cadillac Square]] (1910s); corner of [[U.S. Route 12 in Michigan|Michigan Avenue]] and [[Griswold Street]] (circa 1920)
}}

In 1903, Henry Ford founded the [[Ford Motor Company]]. Alongside automotive pioneers [[William C. Durant]], the [[Dodge]] brothers, [[James Ward Packard|James]] and [[William Doud Packard|William Packard]], and [[Walter Chrysler]], they established the [[Big Three (automobile manufacturers)|Big Three automakers]], solidifying Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital by the early 20th century.<ref name="Woodford" /> The rise of the [[automotive industry in the United States]] transformed the city, leading to the development of related businesses such as garages, gas stations, and factories for parts.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Detroit's population grew rapidly, reaching the fourth-largest city in the U.S. by 1920.<ref>{{cite web|title=Biggest US Cities in 1920 – Historical Population Data|url=https://www.biggestuscities.com/1920|access-date=June 4, 2021|website=www.biggestuscities.com}}</ref>

In 1907, the Detroit River carried 67 million tons of shipping commerce, surpassing both London and New York City in volume. This earned the river the title "the Greatest Commercial Artery on Earth." During [[prohibition in the United States]] (1920–1933), the Detroit River became a major route for smuggling illegal alcohol from Canada.<ref name="auto" /> The booming auto industry and the expansion of shipping trade were central to Detroit's economic growth in the early 20th century.

With the rapid growth of industrial workers in the auto factories, labor unions such as the [[American Federation of Labor]] and the [[United Auto Workers]] (UAW) fought to organize workers to gain them better working conditions and wages. They initiated strikes and other tactics in support of improvements such as [[Eight-hour day|the 8-hour day/40-hour work week]], increased wages, greater benefits, and improved [[Occupational safety and health|working conditions]]. The labor activism during those years increased the influence of union leaders in the city such as [[Jimmy Hoffa]] of the [[International Brotherhood of Teamsters|Teamsters]] and [[Walter Reuther]] of the UAW.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://crosscurrents.hawaii.edu/content.aspx?lang=eng&site=us&theme=work&subtheme=UNION&unit=USWORK029|title=Important U.S. Labor Leaders: Jimmy Hoffa|date=2003|website=Cross Currents|publisher=CULCON (A Digital Cultural Resource of the US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange)|access-date=October 19, 2017 }}</ref>

The demographic shifts caused by industrialization led to significant racial tensions in Detroit. The [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] brought African Americans from the South, while many southern and eastern European immigrants also moved to the city. Competition for jobs and housing fueled tensions between different ethnic and racial groups.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} This period saw the rise of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in Detroit, which became a powerful force in the city during the 1920s, targeting Black, Catholic, and Jewish communities.<ref name="43riots">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/eleanor-riots/ "Detroit Race Riots 1943"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301013611/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/eleanor-riots/ |date=March 1, 2017 }}. ''Eleanor Roosevelt'', WGBH, American Experience, PBS (June 20, 1983). Retrieved on September 5, 2013.</ref> Even after the Klan's decline, the [[Black Legion (political movement)|Black Legion]], a secret vigilante group, continued to spread fear in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bak|first=Richard|date=February 23, 2009|title=The Dark Days of the Black Legion|url=https://www.hourdetroit.com/community/the-dark-days-of-the-black-legion/|access-date=January 14, 2021|website=[[Hour Detroit]]}}</ref>

In the 1940s the world's "first urban depressed freeway" ever built, [[M-8 (Michigan highway)|the Davison]], was constructed.<ref>[http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/M-008.html Route Listings: M-8]. Michigan Highways. Retrieved on July 16, 2013.</ref> Systemic racial discrimination remained prevalent in Detroit, with restrictive housing covenants and violence against Black neighborhoods like [[Black Bottom, Detroit|Black Bottom]] and Paradise Valley.<ref name="census1" /><ref name="NYT26Mar11">{{cite news |last=Sugrue |first=Thomas J. |date=March 26, 2011 |title=A Dream Still Deferred |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/opinion/27Sugrue.html |url-access=limited |access-date=July 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/opinion/27Sugrue.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="DetroitDivided">{{cite book |author1=Reynolds Farley |url=https://archive.org/details/detroitdivided0000farl |title=Detroit divided |author2=Sheldon Danziger |author3=Harry J. Holzer |publisher=Russell Sage Foundation |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-87154-281-6 |location=New York |chapter=The Evolution of Racial Segregation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olcZfAD7cPEC&pg=PP1 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The city's racial tensions boiled over during the [[1943 Detroit race riot]]. Sparked by a protest at the [[Packard Automotive Plant|Packard plant]], the riot resulted in 34 deaths, 433 injuries, and widespread property damage.<ref name="capeci">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20173210?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Dominic J. Capeci, Jr., and Martha Wilkerson, "The Detroit Rioters of 1943: A Reinterpretation"], ''Michigan Historical Review'', January 1990, Vol. 16 Issue 1, pp. 49–72.</ref><ref>[http://blogs.detroitnews.com/history/1999/02/10/the-1943-detroit-race-riots/ "The 1943 Detroit race riots – Michigan History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204514/http://blogs.detroitnews.com/history/1999/02/10/the-1943-detroit-race-riots/ |date=October 29, 2013 }}, ''The Detroit News'', February 10, 1999; Retrieved on July 16, 2013.</ref>

During [[World War II]], the government encouraged retooling of the automobile industry in support of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied powers]], leading to Detroit's key role in the American [[Arsenal of Democracy]].<ref name="Willowrun">Nolan, Jenny (January 28, 1997).[http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=73&category=locations Willow Run and the Arsenal of Democracy] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20121204140927/http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=73&category=locations |date=December 4, 2012 }}. Michigan History, ''The Detroit News''. Retrieved on November 23, 2007.</ref> Jobs expanded so rapidly due to the defense buildup in World War II that 400,000 people migrated to the city from 1941 to 1943, including 50,000 blacks in the second wave of the Great Migration, and 350,000 whites, many of them from the South. Whites, including ethnic Europeans, feared black competition for jobs and scarce housing. The federal government prohibited discrimination in defense work, but when in June 1943 Packard promoted three black people to work next to whites on its assembly lines, 25,000 white workers walked off the job.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gP3DbiRcbPAC&dq=I%E2%80%99d+rather+see+Hitler+and+Hirohito+win+than+work+next+to+a+nigger&pg=PA180 Philip A. Klinkner, Rogers M. Smith, ''The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America'' – Google Books]. Retrieved on July 16, 2013.</ref> 

{{wide image|Detroit, Michigan, skyline ca. 1929.png|900px|align-cap=center|The skyline of Detroit, 1929}}

===Late 20th century, racial tension and decline===
{{Main|History of Detroit#Decline of Detroit}}
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|footer = From top: Aerial photo of Detroit (1932); Detroit at its population peak in the mid-20th century. Looking south down [[Woodward Avenue]] from the [[Maccabees Building]] with the city's skyline in the distance.
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Industrial mergers in the 1950s, especially in the automobile sector, increased oligopoly in the American auto industry. Detroit saw the consolidation of companies like Packard and [[Hudson Motor Company|Hudson]], which eventually disappeared. At its peak in the [[1950 United States census|1950 census]], Detroit was the fifth-largest U.S. city, with a population of 1.85&nbsp;million.<ref>{{citation |title=Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990 |year=1998 |url=https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/1998/demo/POP-twps0027.html |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau }}</ref> In 1950, the city held about one-third of the state's population. Over the next 60 years, the city's population declined to less than 10 percent of the state's population. The sprawling metropolitan area grew to contain more than half of Michigan's population during the same time period.<ref name=Woodford/>

The city's auto industry, which made up 60% of its economy, continued to offer employment opportunities, especially for African Americans migrating from the South to escape [[Jim Crow laws]]. While the migration brought higher employment rates, with a 103% increase in Black workers, racial discrimination persisted in employment and housing. Black Detroiters often held lower-paying factory jobs, while city services and better-paying positions remained largely dominated by white residents. Discriminatory policies, such as [[redlining]], limited Black access to housing and financial services, forcing many into overcrowded, unsafe neighborhoods. White residents and political leaders resisted integration, reinforcing a cycle of exclusion and segregation.<ref name=tjs1>{{Cite book|last=Sugrue|first=Thomas J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59879791|title=The origins of the urban crisis: race and inequality in postwar Detroit : with a new preface by the author|date=August 21, 2005|isbn=0-691-12186-9|edition=1st Princeton Classic |location=Princeton|oclc=59879791}}</ref>

[[Largest cities in the United States by population by decade#1950|As in other major American cities]] in the postwar era, urban planning and infrastructure changes also impacted Detroit's racial dynamics. The construction of highways and freeways in the postwar era displaced many Black communities, including historically significant neighborhoods like Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. These areas, vital for Black businesses and culture, were demolished for urban renewal projects, exacerbating the displacement of low-income residents with little consideration for the community impact.<ref name=tjs1/>

[[File:Detroitwoodward&atwater1953.jpg|thumb|An electric [[PCC streetcar]] in Detroit, 1953]]

The city also saw a shift in its transportation system, as Detroit's last [[streetcar|electric streetcar line]] was replaced with buses in 1956.<ref name="Peter Gavrilovich 2000 p.232">Peter Gavrilovich & Bill McGraw (2000) ''The Detroit Almanac: 300 Years of Life in the Motor City''. p. 232</ref><ref>[http://www2.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=9040 "News+Views: Back track"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317102927/http://www2.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=9040 |date=March 17, 2012 }}, ''Metro Times'', Retrieved on July 16, 2013.</ref> This change, alongside the rise of suburbanization and the relocation of industries to the outskirts, favored car-dependent, low-density development. By the 21st century, Detroit's [[Urban sprawl|sprawling]] metro area had developed into one of the most spread-out job markets in the U.S., contributing to a decline in Detroit's population and eroding its tax base as jobs moved beyond the reach of urban low-income workers.<ref>[http://www.freep.com/article/20130418/BUSINESS06/304180118/jobs-sprawl-Detroit-Brookings-Institution "Metro Detroit job sprawl worst in U.S.; many jobs beyond reach of poor"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423013648/http://www.freep.com/article/20130418/BUSINESS06/304180118/jobs-sprawl-Detroit-Brookings-Institution |date=April 23, 2013 }}, ''Detroit Free Press''. Retrieved on July 16, 2013.</ref>

The [[Detroit Walk to Freedom]] civil rights march occurred in June 1963.<ref>{{cite book|title=Freedom North: Black Freedom Struggles Outside the South, 1940-1980|year=2003|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9780312294670|pages=166–168}}</ref> [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] gave a major speech that foreshadowed his "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech in Washington, D.C., two months later. While the [[civil rights movement]] gained significant federal civil rights laws in 1964 and 1965, longstanding inequities resulted in confrontations between the police and inner-city black youth who wanted change.<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->s|title=1967 Detroit Riots|url=https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/1967-detroit-riots|access-date=January 14, 2021|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref>

{{quote box
| salign = right
| quote = I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children, that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin&nbsp;... I have a dream this evening that one day we will recognize the words of Jefferson that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have a dream&nbsp;...
| source = —Martin Luther King Jr. (June 1963 Speech at the [[Detroit Walk to Freedom]])<ref name="Detroit Speech">{{cite encyclopedia|title=23 June 1963 Speech at the Great March on Detroit|url=http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_speech_at_the_great_march_on_detroit/index.html|encyclopedia=Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute Encyclopedia|access-date=15 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304110107/http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_speech_at_the_great_march_on_detroit/index.html|archive-date=March 4, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| align = center
}}

[[file:Sekai-1967-October-1.jpg|thumb|right|The deadly [[1967 Detroit riot]] resulted in massive demographic shifts via [[white flight]].]]
Longstanding tensions in Detroit culminated in the [[1967 Detroit riot|Twelfth Street riot]] in July 1967. Governor [[George W. Romney]] ordered the [[Michigan National Guard]] into Detroit, and President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] sent in U.S. Army troops. The result was 43 dead, 467 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed, mostly in black residential and business areas. Thousands of small businesses closed permanently or relocated to safer neighborhoods. The affected district lay in ruins for decades.<ref>Sidney Fine, ''Violence in the Model City: The Cavanaugh Administration, Race Relations, and the Detroit Riot of 1967'' (1989)</ref> According to the ''Chicago Tribune'', it was the 3rd most costly riot in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 10 most-costly riots in the U.S. |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-insurance-civil-unrest-riots-bix-gfx-20141126-htmlstory.html |access-date=November 2, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune|date=November 26, 2014 }}</ref>

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In 1970, the [[NAACP]] filed a lawsuit against Michigan state officials, including Governor [[William Milliken]], alleging ''de facto'' segregation in Detroit's public schools. The lawsuit argued that although schools were not legally segregated, policies in Detroit and surrounding counties maintained [[Racial segregation in the United States#Education|racial segregation]] through housing practices, as school demographics mirrored segregated neighborhoods.<ref name=Meinke2011>{{cite journal|last=Meinke|first=Samantha|title=Milliken v Bradley: The Northern Battle for Desegregation|journal=Michigan Bar Journal|date=September 2011|volume=90|issue=9|pages=20–22|url=http://www.michbar.org/journal/pdf/pdf4article1911.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215065214/http://www.michbar.org/journal/pdf/pdf4article1911.pdf |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |url-status=live|access-date=July 27, 2012}}</ref> The District Court ruled in favor of the NAACP,<ref name=Sedler87>{{cite journal|last=Sedler|first=Robert A.|title=The Profound Impact of Milliken v Bradley|journal=Wayne Law Review|year=1987|volume=33|issue=5|page=1693|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/waynlr33&g_sent=1&collection=journals&id=1707|access-date=July 29, 2012}}</ref> but in the landmark 1974 [[Milliken v. Bradley|''Milliken v. Bradley'' decision]], the U.S. Supreme Court limited the scope of desegregation, ruling that suburban areas could not be forced to aid in Detroit's school desegregation.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Marshall|first1=Justice Thurgood|date=1974|title=This Supreme Court Case Made School District Lines A Tool For Segregation|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/07/25/739493839/this-supreme-court-case-made-school-district-lines-a-tool-for-segregation|access-date=January 14, 2021|website=NPR|language=en}}</ref>

Amid these challenges, Detroit elected [[Coleman Young]] as its first Black mayor in 1973. Young focused on increasing racial diversity in city services and improving Detroit's transportation system, although regional tensions with suburban leaders persisted.<ref>{{cite web|title=Detroit Police Department|url=http://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/detroit-police-department|website=Detroit Historical Society|access-date=April 23, 2015}}</ref> In 1976, a federal grant for a regional [[rapid transit]] system failed due to conflicts over planning, leaving Detroit to develop its own [[Detroit People Mover]] system.<ref>{{cite news|last=Austin|first=Dan|title=How metro Detroit transit went from best to worst|url=http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2015/02/06/michigan-detroit-public-transit/22926133/|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=February 6, 2015|access-date=April 21, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia of Detroit {{!}} Detroit Historical Society |url=https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/detroit-people-moverhttps://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/detroit-people-mover |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=detroithistorical.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Felton|first=Ryan|title=How Detroit ended up with the worst public transit|url=http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/how-detroit-ended-up-with-the-worst-public-transit/Content?oid=2143889|date=March 11, 2014|access-date=April 21, 2015|newspaper=Metro Times}}</ref> The city's struggles were exacerbated by the 1973 and 1979 oil crises, which hurt the auto industry and led to layoffs and plant closures, further diminishing the city's tax base.<ref>{{cite news|title=Poletown Becomes Just a Memory: GM Plant Opens, Replacing Old Detroit Neighborhood|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-09-18-fi-6228-story.html|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] | first=James|last=Risen|date=September 18, 1985}}</ref>

Despite efforts to revitalize the city, such as the opening of the [[Renaissance Center]] in 1977, downtown Detroit continued to lose businesses to suburban areas.<ref name="Woodford" /><ref name="partnership">{{cite web |title=Development and Growth |url=http://www.theworldiscoming.com/seethechange.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613121052/http://www.theworldiscoming.com/seethechange.html |archive-date=June 13, 2008 |access-date=May 16, 2009 |work=City of Detroit Partnership}}</ref><ref name="Bailey">Bailey, Ruby L.(August 22, 2007). "The D is a draw: Most suburbanites are repeat visitors", ''Detroit Free Press''. Quote: A Local 4 poll conducted by Selzer and Co., finds, "nearly two-thirds of residents of suburban Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties say they at least occasionally dine, attend cultural events or take in professional games in Detroit."</ref> Middle-class flight, high unemployment, and increased crime worsened the city's conditions, with abandoned buildings and neighborhoods further contributing to its decline. Young's focus on downtown development was criticized as insufficient in addressing the broader social and economic challenges faced by the city's residents.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Detroit and Deindustrialization {{!}} Dollars & Sense |url=https://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2013/0913bluestone.html |access-date=March 6, 2024 |website=www.dollarsandsense.org}}</ref> In 1993, Young retired as Detroit's longest-serving mayor and was succeeded by [[Dennis Archer]]. Archer prioritized downtown development, easing tensions with its suburban neighbors. A referendum to allow casino gambling in the city passed in 1996; several temporary casino facilities opened in 1999, and permanent downtown casinos with hotels opened in 2007–08.<ref>{{cite web|title=East Riverfront History|url=http://www.degc.org/businesses/east-riverfront-history-1|publisher=Detroit Economic Growth Corporation|access-date=April 21, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629145310/http://www.degc.org/businesses/east-riverfront-history-1|archive-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref>

===21st century===
{{Further|Detroit bankruptcy|Planning and development in Detroit}}
[[File:Restored Michigan Central Station.jpg|thumb|[[Michigan Central Station]], once symbolic of the city's decline, was redeveloped by [[Ford Motor Company]] and reopened in 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Marcus |first1=Jonathan |title=Michigan Central and the rebirth of Detroit |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/KnxBMVGAcn/michigan_central_detroit |website=BBC News |access-date=June 20, 2024 |date=July 11, 2019}}</ref>]]

[[Campus Martius Park|Campus Martius]], a downtown park reconfiguration, opened in 2004 and was cited as one of the best public spaces in the U.S.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bleiberg|first=Larry|title=10 Best: Campus Martius among parks that revived cities|url=http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/04/10/campus-martius-park-detroit/25575219/|work=Detroit Free Press|date=April 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Campus Martius Park|url=http://www.pps.org/projects/campusmartius/|website=Project For Public Spaces|access-date=April 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Walsh|first=Tom|title=High Tech Companies Key to Detroit's Future|url=https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/columnists/tom-walsh/2014/09/02/tom-walsh-high-tech-companies-are-key-to-detroits-future-/14963185/|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=September 2, 2014|access-date=November 18, 2021}}</ref> The first phase of the [[Detroit International Riverfront|International Riverfront]] redevelopment was completed in 2001 for Detroit's 300th-anniversary celebration.<ref>{{Cite web |last=WELLS-REID |first=ELLIOTT |date=July 22, 2001 |title=Tricentennial Celebration |url=http://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/tricentennial-celebration/ |access-date=July 5, 2023 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2008, Mayor [[Kwame Kilpatrick]] resigned after felony convictions, and in 2013 was sentenced to 28 years in prison.<ref name="npr.org">{{cite news | url = https://www.npr.org/2010/12/15/132093499/ex-detroit-mayor-faces-new-corruption-charges?ft=1&f= | title = Ex Detroit Mayor Faces New Corruption Charges | date = December 15, 2010 | publisher = [[National Public Radio]]}}{{dead link | date = December 2012}}</ref><ref name="fed sentence">{{cite news|last=Baldas|first=Tresa|title='Corruption no more': Judge sends a message with 28-year sentence for Kilpatrick|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20131010/NEWS0102/310100095/|access-date=October 21, 2013|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=October 10, 2013|author2=Shaefer, Jim|author3=Damron, Gina}}</ref> His actions cost the city an estimated $20&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|last=Baldas|first=Tresa|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/06/how-corruption-deepened-detroits-crisis/2929137/|title=How corruption deepened Detroit's crisis|website=USA Today|date=October 6, 2013|access-date=July 23, 2017}}</ref> In 2011, about half of Detroit's 305,000 property owners failed to pay their taxes, leaving approximately $246&nbsp;million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=246000000|start_year=2011}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) uncollected.<ref>{{cite news |last1=MacDonald |first1=Christine |last2=Wilkinson |first2=Mike |date=February 21, 2013 |title=Half of Detroit property owners don't pay taxes |newspaper=Detroit News |url=http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130221/METRO01/302210375 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809140012/http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130221/METRO01/302210375 |archive-date=August 9, 2013}}</ref>

Michigan took control of Detroit's government after the city faced a $327&nbsp;million deficit and over $14&nbsp;billion in debt.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Eagleton |first=Terry |url=http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/detroit-arcadia |title=Detroit Arcadia |date=July 2007 |magazine=[[Harper's Magazine]] |volume=July 2007 |access-date=March 29, 2013}}</ref> Governor [[Rick Snyder]] declared a [[Financial emergency in Michigan|financial emergency in March 2013]], and the city was relying on bond money to stay afloat, with unpaid days off for workers. Underfunded services and failed turnaround efforts led to the appointment of an emergency manager.<ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Corey |date=March 1, 2013 |title=Governor declares financial emergency in Detroit – Yahoo! Finance |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/governor-declares-financial-emergency-detroit-180448318.html |access-date=March 29, 2013 |publisher=Finance.yahoo.com}}</ref> In June 2013, Detroit defaulted on $2.5&nbsp;billion in debt, and on July 18, it became the largest U.S. city to [[Detroit bankruptcy|file for bankruptcy]].<ref name="Detroit DebtDefault">{{cite web |title=Debt default by Detroit city rocks bondholders |url=http://www.detroitstar.com/index.php/sid/215221308/scat/3d33b780d0e24349/ht/Debt-default-by-Detroit-city-rocks-bondholders |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102160235/http://www.detroitstar.com/index.php/sid/215221308/scat/3d33b780d0e24349/ht/Debt-default-by-Detroit-city-rocks-bondholders |archive-date=November 2, 2013 |access-date=June 15, 2013 |work=Detroit Star}}</ref><ref name="detroitnews1">{{cite news|url=http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130718/METRO01/307180103#ixzz2ZQqjpHYO |title=Creditors to fight Detroit insolvency claim |work=The Detroit News |date=July 18, 2013 |access-date=October 31, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810023805/http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130718/METRO01/307180103/ |archive-date=August 10, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="bankrupt city">{{cite news |last1=Lichterman |first1=Joseph |last2=Woodall |first2=Bernie |date=December 3, 2013 |title=In largest-ever U.S. city bankruptcy, cuts coming for Detroit creditors, retirees |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-detroit-bankruptcy-judge-idUSBRE9B20PZ20131203 |url-status=live |access-date=June 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924191358/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/03/us-usa-detroit-bankruptcy-judge-idUSBRE9B20PZ20131203 |archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> Detroit exited bankruptcy in December 2014, cutting $7&nbsp;billion in debt and investing $1.7&nbsp;billion in services.<ref name="NYTDet">{{cite news|last1=Davey|first1=Monica|last2=Williams Walsh|first2=Mary|date=November 7, 2014|title=Plan to Exit Bankruptcy Is Approved for Detroit|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/detroit-bankruptcy-plan-ruling.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/detroit-bankruptcy-plan-ruling.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited|work=[[The New York Times]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The [[Detroit Institute of Arts]], holding over 60,000 artworks worth billions, became a private organization to help fund the city's recovery after legal battles.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stryker|first=Nathan Bomey, John Gallagher and Mark|title=HOW DETROIT WAS REBORN|url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-bankruptcy/2014/11/09/detroit-bankruptcy-rosen-orr-snyder/18724267/|date=November 9, 2014|access-date=November 20, 2020|website=Detroit Free Press|language=en-US}}</ref>

Post-bankruptcy, efforts to improve city services included replacing non-functional street lights with 65,000 LED lights, making Detroit the largest U.S. city with all LED street lighting by 2016.<ref>{{cite news|last=Reindl|first=JC|title=Detroit Rising: And then there were streetlights|url=http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/11/12/detroit-street-lighting-project-update/31850609/|date=November 11, 2014|newspaper=Detroit Free Press}}</ref> Neighborhood revitalization continued, with volunteer renovation projects and urban gardening movements.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wallace|first=Nicole|title=Detroit Charity Turns Blight into Gardens, Parks, and Homes|url=https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Detroit-Charity-Turns-Blight/154489|magazine=[[The Chronicle of Philanthropy]]|date=August 11, 2014|access-date=September 17, 2016}}</ref> In 2011, the Port Authority Passenger Terminal opened, with the riverwalk connecting Hart Plaza to the Renaissance Center.

One symbol of the city's decades-long decline, the [[Michigan Central Station]], was long vacant. The city renovated it with new windows, elevators and facilities, completing the work in December 2015.<ref>{{cite news| last1=Thibodeau| first1=Ian| title=Windows at Michigan Central Station completed on time and budget| url=http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2016/02/windows_at_michigan_central_st.html| work=M Live| date=February 4, 2016| access-date=June 22, 2016}}</ref> In 2018, Ford Motor Company purchased the building and plans to use it for mobility testing with a potential return of train service.<ref>{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Candice|title=Ford will make Michigan Central Depot a place for mobility innovators, disruptors|url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/01/29/ford-make-michigan-central-depot-place-mobility-innovators-disruptors/4596940002/|date=January 29, 2020|access-date=October 17, 2020|website=The Detroit News|language=en-US}}</ref> Several other landmark buildings have been privately renovated and adapted as [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]]s, hotels, offices, or for cultural uses. Detroit was mentioned as a city of renaissance and has reversed many of the trends of the prior decades.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hammel|first=Katie|title=Detroit, finally on the verge of a real renaissance|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/detroit-finally-verge-real-renaissance-article-1.2626718|work=New York Daily News|date=May 6, 2016|access-date=September 17, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/30/us/detroit-come-back-budget.html|title=Detroit Was Crumbling. Here's How It's Reviving.|date= April 30, 2018|access-date= May 7, 2018|newspaper=The New York Times |first=Monica |last=Davey}}</ref>

The city has seen a rise in [[gentrification]] in some neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://detroit.curbed.com/detroit-development/2019/11/25/20981769/detroit-trends-decade-downtown-redevelopment-foreclosure-demolition |title=Trends that defined Detroit in the 2010s |work=Detroit Curbed |first=Aaron |last=Mondry |date=November 25, 2019 |access-date=June 12, 2023 |quote=With more investment comes higher property values. Much higher. … But as property values rise, so do rents. In a city where 35 percent of its population is below the poverty line, that can result in displacement and parts of the city being unaffordable to people in lower income brackets. }}</ref> In downtown, for example, the construction of [[Little Caesars Arena]] brought with it high class shops and restaurants along Woodward Avenue. Office tower and condominium construction has led to an influx of wealthy families but also a displacement of long-time residents and culture.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mondry|first=Aaron|date=November 21, 2019 |title=10 redevelopments that shaped Detroit over the last 10 years |url=https://detroit.curbed.com/2019/11/21/20975850/redevelopments-detroit-decade-david-whitney-shinola-metropolitan |access-date=November 20, 2020 |work=Curbed Detroit |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Carlisle|first=John|title=Detroit neighborhood group sees gentrification as the enemy|url=https://www.freep.com/in-depth/news/columnists/john-carlisle/2020/05/24/detroit-neighborhood-gentrification-protest-carlisle/4954702002/|date=May 24, 2020|access-date=November 20, 2020|website=Detroit Free Press|language=en}}</ref> Areas outside of downtown and other recently revived areas have an average household income of about 25% less than the gentrified areas, a gap that is continuing to grow.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moskowitz |first=Peter |date=February 5, 2015 |title=The two Detroits: a city both collapsing and gentrifying at the same time |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/05/detroit-city-collapsing-gentrifying |access-date=November 20, 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>