Talk:History of Detroit/Archive 1

Archive 1

Section 3.5 -- Immigrants

Section 3.5 on Immigrants in the 19th century only talks about the first American-born Catholic priest of Polish descent. He strikes me a very obscure figure to receive a whole section in a general article about Detroit. Would anyone be opposed to deleting that section? Borodino21 (talk) 20:58, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Keep. Polish immigrants are an important part of Detroit history. He was recognized for that time period and that section of the city. Thomas Paine1776 (talk) 00:42, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Pair trees?

The lead's second paragraph mentions "the twelve original missionary pair trees". Firstly, it should probably be "pear trees" and secondly, is there a reference for this? --Thomprod (talk) 16:55, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Skewed POV

The 17:19, 14 September 2006 version of this article includes a section on the urban decline of Detroit:

Detroit has endured a painful decline during the past several decades, and is often held up as a symbol of Rust Belt urban blight. After peaking in 1950 with 1.85 million residents, the city's population has plummeted as residents have moved to the suburbs and other regions of the country.

The 12th Street Riot in 1967 and court-ordered busing accelerated "white flight" from the city. Large numbers of buildings and homes were abandoned, with many remaining for years in states of decay. Recent urban renewal efforts have led to the demolition or renovation of several abandoned skyscrapers and large buildings, the razing of old houses for new housing developments, and an expedited process to remove abandoned homes near schools. Nevertheless, large numbers of abandoned buildings remain in many blighted areas. With the large number of homes razed, sizeable tracts have reverted back to nature to become a form urban prairie. Wild animals have been spotted migrating from their destroyed former habitat in the suburbs to the city.[3] File:Coleman young.jpg Coleman Young following his election as mayor, in front of the Spirit of Detroit.

The percentage of black residents increased rapidly and the first black mayor, Coleman Young, was elected in 1973. Young's style during his record four terms in office was not well received by many white Detroiters.[4]

During the latter half of the 20th century, Detroit's crime figures were often among the highest in the country. Though those figures have decreased in recent years, the crime rate remains high, and the murder rate — partly caused by gang-related activity — was one of the highest in the United States. Though the 1960s saw the rise of heroin, use leveled off as the population declined. The Detroit gang Young Boys Inc. was formed in the 1970s and introduced a crack cocaine epidemic and produced collateral property crimes. Violence was common as competing drug dealers fought for territory.

This era of Detroit's history no longer exists, according to Wikipedia. There is, however, a confusing section of "urban revival" (revival from what, I wonder?) --me, 128.187.0.183 (talk) 00:41, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

Origins

What tribe did the first Native Americans who encountered the French belong to? I wasa bit surprised to see that not mentioned, and mention of Native Americans in the origins section doesn't come back up until Pontiacs rebellion. It appears quite a few tribes came after the founding of Fort Detroit, but which tribe used the area upon the first European contacts? --Criticalthinker (talk) 12:29, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Whitewash

This article, and the main article about Detroit, completely gloss over the stark economic realities and socio-political strife of recent decades. Instead, the narrative jumps from one rosy-tinted look back ("Arsenal of Democracy" in WW2) to tripe about urban revitalization in the 1990s. There is scant mention of the 1967 riots, the decline of the city population (and the causes behind it), the rise of a black political class in the 1970s, etc. It reads like propaganda from an urban economic development council, or some other "public-private" institution big cities love to waste time and money on. Halda (talk) 03:04, 9 June 2012 (UTC)