Detroit has a long history of Big Projects motivated by the hope that, this time, we’ll revitalize the city. What’s actually remarkable about Detroit is that many of these projects are funded by private dollars to a significant degree, although if I had more time, I’d try to find data on how much city funding was behind the private money, in tax credits, land acquisition, etc.
Here’s my partial list, just going from memory, with dates filled in by Wikipedia:
The Renaissance Center, 1977, financed by Ford.
The GM Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant, i.e., Poletown (land acquired by eminent domain), 1981
People Mover, 1987
Detroit City Airport (major expansion in the 80s, but a flop since then so it doesn’t even merit coverage in Wikipedia)
Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly Plant, 1991
Comerica Park, 2000
Ford Field, 2002
The Greektown Casinos, 2000s
I can easily believe that promoters of the Big Project approach to urban development can tout ways that these “investments” generated a certain return on their money (both with respect to public money and the extra costs the private investors took on by building in Detroit, as a form of PR/”community social responsibility”). But the bottom line is still: a functional illiteracy rate of approximately 50%? A dysfunctional workforce is the key problem Detroit suffers from.
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