Driving Detroit: The Quest for Respect in the Motor City

George Galster

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press 2012

Driving Detroit

The Quest for Respect in the Motor City

George Galster

In the series Metropolitan Portraits

https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812206463

Overview
Contents

About this book

Driving Detroit paints a portrait of metropolitan Detroit through an imaginative application of social science, song lyrics, poems, and oral history to explain why the city has fallen from industrial powerhouse into urban dysfunction.

Author / Editor information

George Galster is Clarence Hilberry Professor of Urban Affairs in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Reviews

"An immensely readable and personal book. Underlying [Galster's] fine analysis of how the city went from arsenal of democracy and engine of America's manufacturing might to its current state of terrible decay is a deep knowledge of its streets, its music, its history, and its people."—Urban Affairs

"George Galster cares deeply about Detroit—as should we all. In this clever and highly readable book, he draws upon history, social science, music, poetry and art to build a compelling case that bitter, unresolved conflicts have trapped the region in a zero-sum game, undermining the well-being of its people and communities—past, present, and future. Although Detroit is unique in many respects, the conflicts that bedevil it are not. There's a lot to learn here for anyone who cares about 21st-century urban America."—Margery Austin Turner, The Urban Institute

"Like a good documentary, Driving Detroit expertly guides us through a fascinating yet grim and sad urban reality while exposing the deeper historical impact of economic restructuring, enduring racism, and selfish politics. And yet the insights connected to this extreme case are not confined only to Detroit. This book should be compulsory reading for urbanists in the U.S. and beyond who are searching for adequate responses to the challenges of their own cities."—Sako Musterd, University of Amsterdam

"Driving Detroit is replete with interesting insights on the social history of one of America's most troubled cities. George Galster has done a remarkable job of revealing how powerful elements in the Detroit metropolitan area created over time intense race and class polarization and a pronounced city-suburban dichotomy. There are lessons to be learned from this compelling study of a dysfunctional metropolitan region. Indeed, Galster's illuminating analysis is a must-read."—William Julius Wilson, Harvard University

"An insightful history of Detroit from its accidental birth to its tortured present."—Planning

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Prologue. Two Daughters of Detroit Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Riding on the Freeway: A Riff on the Place Called Motown Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2. Sculpting Detroit: Polity and Economy Trump Geology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
3. From Fort to Ford to ... ? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
4. From Old World to Old South and Old Testament Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
5. Who Will Feast on the Fruits of Labor? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
6. Turf Wars Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
7. Wrestling for Pieces of the Proletarian Pie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
8. Feasting on Fear Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
9. The Dynamics of Decay, Abandonment, and Bankruptcy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
10. What Drives Detroiters? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
11. From Motown to Mortropolis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	270
Epilogue. Two Daughters of Detroit Revisited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
Selected References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 320
Illustrations
- Other: 26 illus.
Keywords: Social Science; General; Geography; Urban Studies; American History; American Studies

eBook

Published: August 16, 2012
ISBN: 9780812206463