Today the images of Detroit are associated with crime, unemployment, and poverty. Many of the United States car companies opened factories here, among them we can mention Ford, GM and more. The economy grew fast, and the population approached 1.9 million, Detroit had almost 300,000 manufacturing jobs. Later, many companies moved from the city, and the social problems grew exponentially. It became even worse in the 1970s with the oil crisis because the Japanese manufactured smaller cars and became fierce competitors. Today there are no more than 25,000 manufacturing jobs left in Detroit.
Could this city become a center of prosperity again? Could it become a Silicon Valley or something similar? Immigration could be part of the solution.
Detroit has to stop the demographic decline
The population of the city has fallen to less than 678,000 inhabitants, about 35% of its peak, and this is a demographic disaster. Depopulation and poverty go hand in hand because the number of people who work and pay taxes falls. Depopulation causes a lot of social and economic problems. Many schools have been closed in Spain because there were no students, many villages have become ghost towns in Russia and so on.
Open the city to the best foreigners
Detroit has to become a magnet and attract skilled workers, investors and businessmen, they will increase the economic growth and improve social indicators.
They will become new consumers and revitalize the local economy. Silicon Valley has become great because it's opened to skilled immigrants. Its per capita income is much higher than the US average, immigrants are building the society of the future in that city. A society based on technology and intelligence, skilled people from the US, India, Eastern Europe and other countries have created a great place to live and work.
More security is necessary
Lately, the homicide rate in Detroit was more than 44 per 100,000 people, that is about eight times higher than the US average. This has to become an issue of national importance, the security in Detroit has to be increased. Violence is one of the reasons that has made the median home value so cheap in Detroit, and it's just $42,600.
This is too low for a rich country like the US, it's even less than in many Latin American cities. But this can also be a chance, sell the land that nobody wants to local and foreign dreamers who want to build a better future, a better city, and a better society.
