# Photos: The Ruins of Detroit

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-the-ruins-of-detroit/489855>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 18, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-the-ruins-of-detroit/489855 "2009-03-18T05:32:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-the-ruins-of-detroit/489855/61 "2009-03-20T19:39:58Z")

</div>

There are plenty of towns that have been devastated by loss of industry. The process has been going on a LONG time, though. Some cities have re-invented themselves and kept on going, though.I’ve seen dead mining towns out in Utah and Colorado, and manufacturing in the Midwest and New England. Lowell and Lawrence in Massachusetts never really got over the loss of the fabric and show-making businesses, and the cities are still dominated by the huge mill buildings and canals used for water power. Fitchburg, Mass lost its lumber and paper industry. Southbridge lost American Optical (and several other optical companies and spin-ffs, although several remain), and the AO complex , although partia;lly rehabilitated, still stands mostly empty.

Heck, Salem, Massachusetts never really recovered from the loss of its China-trading route – it supported several other industries (Parker Brothers games, for instance, which finally pulled out a decade ago), most notably tourism.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-the-ruins-of-detroit/489855/62 "2023-07-27T18:33:13Z")

</div>

> [@Mr.Moto](#):
>
> Hmmm…Harrisburg has had some success attacking blight with land value taxation. I wonder whether that could help some in Detroit as well.

> **[Detroit Considers Shift From Property To Land Value Taxation](https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/detroit-considers-shift-property-land-value-taxation)**
>
> Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D) recently proposed raising the city’s tax on vacant or undeveloped land while reducing taxes on buildings by 30 percent. The...

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-the-ruins-of-detroit/489855/63 "2023-07-28T09:52:07Z")

</div>

One of the two links in the OP still works. The images are striking. After looking at all of them, I found it very cool to realize that the thread is 14 years old! Abandoned…

The image of the library is kinda heartbreaking.

I have to wonder about that photographer, wandering around the ruins with an expensive camera and, I assume, several lenses. I wonder if or how many times he/she got _jacked_.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photos-the-ruins-of-detroit/489855.md?page=3)