Detroit, Michigan
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Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat for Wayne County. The city is located on the Detroit River, north of Windsor, Ontario. Established in 1701 by French fur traders, it is the center of an industrial area in the American Rust Belt. Today it is known as the world's traditional automotive center and an important source of popular music—legacies celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames, Motor City and Motown.
Detroit ranks as the United States' 11th most populous city with 900,198 residents; this is half of the peak population it boasted in the 1950s, and Detroit leads the nation in terms of declining urban population. Detroit's crime rate has created international notoriety and a tarnished reputation. The city continues to struggle with the burdens of racial disharmony between itself and its suburban neighbors, and an antiquated economy. In the 1990s and 2000s the city experienced a moderate revival with the construction of the Compuware headquarters and three gambling casinos, amid budget shortfalls and cuts in city services.
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The local economy
Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a manufacturing powerhouse, most notably as home to the Big Three auto companies. There are hundreds of offices and plants in the automotive support business: parts, electronics, and design suppliers. Because of its almost singular dependence on the auto industry, Detroit is more acutely vulnerable to economic cycles than most large cities. Greater competition from foreign brands and more inexpensive labor in other regions of the world have led to a steady decline of manufacturing jobs in the region. In the early 21st century, losses and bankruptcy filings by several of the area's auto parts manufacturers have exacerbated Detroit's economic situation. Another factor contributing to the habitability of the city has been historically high taxes, with many unable to afford the cost of citizenship entailed by levys on property and income. In February 2006, the metropolitan Detroit's unemployment rate was 8.6%, topped only by communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In the city, the unemployment rate hovered around 15% at the end of 2005, leaving Detroit as the nation's poorest city with more than one-third of residents below the poverty line.
In recent years, rising gasoline prices combined with better fuel economy from Japan and Europe's vehicles has seen Detroit's auto industry's attempting to create "greener" vehicles. In 2006, Ford stated that it will dramatically increase production of its hybrid gas-electric models, as well as promote the use of existing technologies to equip vehicles with mixed ethanol and gasoline fuelled systems. General Motors has made a major investment in fuel cell-equipped vehicles, while Chrysler is focusing much of its research and development into biodiesel. In 2002, the state of Michigan established NextEnergy, a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to enable the commercialization of various energy technologies. Its main complex is located north of Wayne State University.
Other Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Detroit include auto parts maker American Axle & Manufacturing, Comerica, and DTE Energy. Detroit is home to Compuware and the national pizza chain Little Caesars. Casino gaming also plays a major economic role, with Detroit currently the largest city in the United States with legalized gaming. Medical service providers such as the Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Hospital are major employers in the city. Other major industries include advertising, chemicals, and computer software.
Source - Wikipedia: Detroit, Michigan
Recent Detroit business news
Links to recent headlines via Topix.net
- DTE Energy Company (DTE) - Financial and Strategic SWOT Analysis...
- Its operating units include Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving almost 2.1 million customers in Southeastern Michigan; MichCon, a natural gas utility serving around 1.2 million customers in Michigan; and other non-utility energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, fuel marketing and and trading, natural gas pipelines and ... (more)
- DTE Energy exceeding commitments under the Pure Michigan procurement initiative
- Detroit, MI, May 25, 2012 - DTE Energy said that it spent $239 million with Michigan based suppliers through April 2012 as part of its commitment to the Pure Michigan procurement initiative; this is 24 percent higher than its 2012 year-to-date target and 35 percent higher than the same period in 2011.
- Two found shot to death on city's east side
- The bodies of two unidentified people were discovered in the middle of an east side street Friday morning.
- Bernard Kilpatrick
- Federal agents are investigating whether money for a $100,000 bribe allegedly paid to former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's father came from an accused international heroin dealer, The Detroit News has learned.
- Half of Detroit's streetlights may go dark as city shrinks itself
- Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating nearly half its streetlights.
- Detroit shutting off street lights to save money
- Detroit, whose 139 square miles contain 60 percent fewer residents than in 1950, will try to nudge them into a smaller living space by eliminating nearly half its streetlights.
- Snyder makes final pick to Detroit board as City Council delays 2 choices
- Even as Gov. Rick Snyder made his final appointment to a financial advisory board that will have power over Detroit's budgets, the City Council opted Thursday not to proceed with its picks for the panel because the city's top lawyer has concluded that the consent agreement to restructure Detroit's finances is illegal.
- Bill Delahunt: A New England Patent Office Will Boost the Economy
- Over the past six months, former Governor John Sununu and I have led a bi-partisan effort to get the Commerce Department to establish a satellite Patent and Trade Office satellite office here in New England.
See also
External links
- Official website
- Detroit business Chamber of Commerce
