MEMORANDUM

To: Dr. Aaron Martin

From: Audrey Stahrr
Date: February 8, 2017
Subject: Detroits Reputation

Dr. Martin,
In the past, the Ford assembly line made Detroit the place to live and work. Detroit was
known for its automobiles and sports teams. But in recent years, Detroits reputation has
changed. Detroit is now faced with a reputation of being dangerous. Factors that led to this bad
reputation include white flight and decentralization. These factors caused people to leave the city
and move to outside areas. When the people moved they brought their money with them
decreasing financial status of the city. Another factor that changed the reputation of Detroit was
when the city was forced to declare bankruptcy on July 18, 20131. The decline of Detroit was a
result of Kwame Kilpatrick being elected as the Mayor for the city of Detroit in 2004. Over the
years with Kilpatrick in office, illegal activities were occurring such as bribes being given out
and Kilpatrick receiving thousands of dollars in cash backs.2 These illegal activities lead to the
city losing money and not being able to financially support themselves. This unstable economy
led to the city taking loans from the Government and bankruptcy was the result.

Detroits bankruptcy was the nations largest bankruptcy3 and this has led to the decline of
Detroit and its reputation. People now see Detroit as a low populated city with abandon and
open buildings. The media portrays Detroit as a city with high rates of crime and violence and
this is what people think of when they think of Detroit. The media focuses on the negative
aspects of the city instead of the positive aspects. People do not hear about the new restaurants or
businesses that are Downtown in Campus Martius but they know about the murders and drug
dealers. This poor image of Detroit is affecting the city negatively and is resulting in people
being afraid of Detroit.

1 According to "What Happened to and in Detroit?"

2 According to "Kwame Kilpatrick Corruption Time Line."

3 According to "Detroit Paid $50M, Now it Wants Firms' Money Back."

This change in reputation over the years has negatively affected Detroit. The city went from a
place that everyone loved to a place where everyone feared. This is worse for the city in all
aspects, including the economy. This problem that began in 2013 is new to the city. Before the
city was corrupt and forced to file for bankruptcy it was stable and could be compared to other
cities, like New York, Chicago and Phoenix. However, now it is seen as the most dangerous of
the main cities in the United States. This is because the media focuses on the negative aspects of
the city. Crime and drug rates are high in other cities, like Chicago, as well but people do not
focus on the bad. This is because the media focuses on the good, like the restaurants and the
skyscrapers so they ignore the negative aspects.

We must change the way that the media and the people outside of Detroit see the city.
Detroit has more to offer4 than just the violence and crime which is what people see. We need to
get them to see the good things like Campus Martius, the Fox, and the sports arenas. This will
bring more people in which brings more money in. By bringing in more money, Detroit can
become the great city that it once was.

Our goal this semester is to bring awareness to the people outside of the city and show them that
Detroit has a lot to offer. Detroit is not a place they need to be scared of but a place they should
want to go. We can use sources from the Detroit Free Press to find articles of the past and the
present to show how the reputation of Detroit is different today. Since the reputation of Detroit
has changed over the years and has become negative we know that it is possible for the
reputation to change again. We are going to try to better the city by changing the reputation
Detroit has because a positive reputation will help the city grow.

4 According to "'D Troit'."

 Works Cited
Cotter, Holland. "'D Troit'." New York Times, 9 Jan. 2004, p. E43.
link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A112004336/OVIC?u=lom_waynesu&xid=bfff5022.
Accessed 9 Feb. 2017.

Dolan, Matthew. "Detroit Paid $50M, Now it Wants Firms' Money Back." Detroit Free PressDec
01 2015. ProQuest. Web. 9 Feb. 2017 .
"Kwame Kilpatrick Corruption Time Line." Detroit Free PressOct 11 2013. ProQuest. Web. 9
Feb. 2017 .
McDonald, John F. "What Happened to and in Detroit?" Urban Studies 51.16 (2014): 3309.
ProQuest. Web. 9 Feb. 2017.