DownTown Detroit

In Detroit the automobile is the source of everything, for better or for worse. Three major American car manufacturers have their headquarters in Detroit: Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. They put the city on the map. Well into the 1950s people were still coming here to find work, most of them were African American. Whereas they settled in the inner city where the factories were, white people moved out to the suburbs. Later, when the automobile industry started having problems and laying off workers, the inner city began to lose population, while surrounding areas remained intact. This is why the city is sometimes called the ›urban doughnut‹.