Gm Concept Car 1965 Photo Madler General Motors Vintage Original Signed Dated

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 176269159316 GM CONCEPT CAR 1965 PHOTO MADLER GENERAL MOTORS VINTAGE ORIGINAL SIGNED DATED. A SIGNED DATED 8X10 INCH PHOTO BY MADLER (NEIL ARTHUR MADLER) FROM GENERAL MOTORS OF A CONCEPT CAR MODEL FROM 1965



General Motors (GM), formally the General Motors Company,[2] is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States.[3] By sales, it was the largest automaker in the United States in 2022, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the top spot to Toyota in 2008.[4][5] General Motors operates manufacturing plants in eight countries.[6] Its four core automobile brands are Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. It also holds interests in Chinese brands Baojun and Wuling via SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile.[2] GM also owns the BrightDrop delivery vehicle manufacturer,[7] a namesake defense vehicles division which produces military vehicles for the United States government and military,[8] the vehicle safety, security, and information services provider OnStar,[9] the auto parts company ACDelco, a namesake financial lending service, and majority ownership in the self-driving cars enterprise Cruise LLC. In January 2021, GM announced plans to end production and sales of vehicles using internal combustion engines, including hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrids, by 2035, as part of its plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.[10] GM offers more flexible-fuel vehicles, which can operate on either E85 ethanol fuel or gasoline, or any blend of both, than any other automaker.[11] The company traces itself to a holding company for Buick established on September 16, 1908, by William C. Durant, the largest seller of horse-drawn vehicles at the time.[12] The current entity was established in 2009 after the General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization.[13] As of January 2023, GM is ranked 25th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[14] History Further information: History of General Motors By 1900, William C. Durant's Durant-Dort Carriage Company of Flint, Michigan had become the largest manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in the United States.[15] Durant was averse to automobiles, but fellow Flint businessman James H. Whiting, owner of Flint Wagon Works, sold him the Buick Motor Company in 1904.[16] Durant formed the General Motors Company in 1908 as a holding company, with partner Charles Stewart Mott, borrowing a naming convention from General Electric.[17] GM's first acquisition was Buick, which Durant already owned, then Olds Motor Works on November 12, 1908.[18] Under Durant, GM went on to acquire Cadillac, Elmore, Welch, Cartercar, Oakland (the predecessor of Pontiac), the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, and the Reliance Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan (predecessors of GMC) in 1909. Durant, with the board's approval, also tried acquiring Ford Motor Company, but needed an additional $2 million.[19] Durant over-leveraged GM in making acquisitions, and was removed by the board of directors in 1910 at the order of the bankers who backed the loans to keep GM in business.[16] The action of the bankers was partially influenced by the Panic of 1910–1911 that followed the earlier enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. In 1911, Charles F. Kettering of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO) and Henry M. Leland invented and patented the first electric starter in America.[20] In November 1911, Durant co-founded Chevrolet with Swiss race car driver Louis Chevrolet, who left the company in 1915 after a disagreement with Durant.[21] General Motors Company share certificate issued October 13, 1916 GM was reincorporated in Detroit in 1916 as General Motors Corporation and became a public company via an initial public offering. By 1917, Chevrolet had become successful enough that Durant, with the backing of Samuel McLaughlin and Pierre S. du Pont, reacquired a controlling interest in GM. The same year, GM acquired Samson Tractor.[22] Chevrolet Motor Company was consolidated into GM on May 2, 1918, and the same year GM acquired United Motors, a parts supplier founded by Durant and headed by Alfred P. Sloan for $45 million, and the McLaughlin Motor Car Company, founded by R. S. McLaughlin, became General Motors of Canada Limited.[23][24][25] In 1919, GM acquired Guardian Frigerator Company, part-owned by Durant, which was renamed Frigidaire. Also in 1919, the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC), which provides financing to automotive customers, was formed.[26][16] In 1920, du Pont orchestrated the removal of Durant once again and replaced him with Alfred P. Sloan.[27] At a time when GM was competing heavily with Ford Motor Company, Sloan established annual model changes, making previous years' models "dated" and created a market for used cars.[28] He also implemented the pricing strategy used by all car companies today. The pricing strategy had Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac priced from least expensive to most, respectively.[29] In 1921, Thomas Midgley Jr., an engineer for GM, discovered tetraethyllead (leaded gasoline) as an antiknock agent, and GM patented the compound because ethanol could not be patented.[30] This led to the development of higher compression engines resulting in more power and efficiency. The public later realized that lead contained in the gasoline was harmful to various biological organisms including humans.[31] Evidence shows that corporate executives understood the health implications of tetraethyllead from the beginning.[32] As an engineer for GM, Midgley also developed chlorofluorocarbons, which have now been banned due to their contribution to climate change.[33] Under the encouragement of GM President Alfred P. Sloan Jr., GM acquired Vauxhall Motors for $2.5 million in 1925.[34] The company also acquired an interest in the Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company the same year, and its president, John D. Hertz, joined the board of directors of GM; it acquired the remainder of the company in 1943.[16] In 1926, the company introduced the Pontiac brand and established the General Motors Group Insurance Program to provide life insurance to its employees.[16] The following year, after the success of the 1927 model of the Cadillac LaSalle designed by Harley Earl, Sloan created the "Art and Color Section" of GM and named Earl as its first director. Earl was the first design executive to be appointed to leadership at a major American corporation. Earl created a system of automobile design that is still practiced today.[35] At the age of 24, Bill Mitchell was recruited by Harley Earl to the design team at GM, and he was later appointed as Chief Designer of Cadillac. After Earl retired in December 1958, Mitchell took over automotive design for GM.[36] GM acquired Allison Engine Company[16][37] and began developing a 1,000 horsepower liquid-cooled aircraft engine in 1929.[16] The same year, GM acquired 80% of Opel, which at that time had a 37.5% market share in Europe, for $26 million. It acquired the remaining 20% in 1931.[34] In the late-1920s, Charles Kettering embarked on a program to develop a lightweight two-stroke diesel engine for possible usage in automobiles.[38] Soon after, GM acquired Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Co., and in 1941, it expanded EMC's realm to locomotive engine manufacturing.[39] In 1932, GM acquired Packard Electric[16][40] (not the Packard car company, which merged with Studebaker years later). The following year, GM acquired a controlling interest in North American Aviation and merged it with the General Aviation Manufacturing Corporation.[41] The GM labor force participated in the formation of the United Auto Workers labor union in 1935, and in 1936 the UAW organized the Flint Sit-Down Strike, which initially idled two key plants in Flint, Michigan, and later spread to 6 other plants including those in Janesville, Wisconsin and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In Flint, police attempted to enter the plant to arrest strikers, leading to violence; in other cities, the plants were shuttered peacefully. The strike was resolved on February 11, 1937, when GM recognized the UAW as the exclusive bargaining representative for its workers and gave workers a 5% raise and permission to speak in the lunchroom.[42] Walter E. Jominy and A.L. Boegehold of GM invented the Jominy end-quench test for hardenability of carbon steel in 1937, a breakthrough in heat treating still in use today as ASTM A255.[43] GM established Detroit Diesel the next year.[44] In 1939, the company founded Motors Insurance Corporation and entered the vehicle insurance market.[26] The same year, GM introduced the Hydramatic, the first affordable and successful automatic transmission, for the 1940 Oldsmobile.[45][46] 1926 Pontiac radiator logo 1926 Pontiac radiator logo   1928 Pontiac Series 6-28 2-door 5-passenger Coach sedan 1928 Pontiac Series 6-28 2-door 5-passenger Coach sedan   1932 Pontiac Series 402 Six 2-door 5-passenger Coach sedan 1932 Pontiac Series 402 Six 2-door 5-passenger Coach sedan   1936 Pontiac Master Six Series 6BB Coupe 1936 Pontiac Master Six Series 6BB Coupe During World War II, GM produced vast quantities of armaments, vehicles, and aircraft for the Allies of World War II. In 1940, GM's William S. Knudsen served as head of U.S. wartime production for President Franklin Roosevelt, and by 1942, all of GM's production was to support the war.[47] GM's Vauxhall Motors manufactured the Churchill tank series for the Allies, instrumental in the North African campaign.[16] However, its Opel division, based in Germany, supplied the Nazi Party with vehicles. Sloan, head of GM at the time, was an ardent opponent of the New Deal, which bolstered labor unions and public transport, and Sloan admired and supported Adolf Hitler.[48][49] Nazi armaments chief Albert Speer allegedly said in 1977 that Hitler "would never have considered invading Poland" without synthetic fuel technology provided by General Motors. GM was compensated $32 million by the U.S. government because its German factories were bombed by U.S. forces during the war.[50] Effective January 28, 1953, Charles Erwin Wilson, then GM president, was named by Dwight D. Eisenhower as United States Secretary of Defense.[16] In December 1953, GM acquired Euclid Trucks, a manufacturer of heavy equipment for earthmoving, including dump trucks, loaders and wheel tractor-scrapers, which later spawned the Terex brand.[51][52] Alfred P. Sloan retired as chairman and was succeeded by Albert Bradley in April 1956.[53] In 1962, GM introduced the first turbo charged engine in the world for a car in the Oldsmobile Cutlass Turbo-Jetfire.[16][54] Two years later, the company introduced its "Mark of Excellence" logo and trademark at the 1964 New York World's Fair. The company used the mark as their main corporate identifier until 2021.[55] GM released the Electrovan in 1966, the first hydrogen fuel cell car ever produced.[56] Though fuel cells have existed since the early 1800s, General Motors was the first to use a fuel cell, supplied by Union Carbide, to power the wheels of a vehicle with a budget of "millions of dollars".[57][58][59] An advertisement for the 1969 Chevrolet Nova using the advertising slogan "Putting you first, keeps us first" In the 1960s, GM was the first to use turbochargers and was an early proponent of V6 engines, but quickly lost interest as the popularity of muscle cars increased. GM demonstrated gas turbine vehicles powered by kerosene, an area of interest throughout the industry, but abandoned the alternative engine configuration due to the 1973 oil crisis.[60] In partnership with Boeing, GM's Delco Defense Electronics Division designed the Lunar Roving Vehicle, which traversed the surface of the Moon, in 1971.[61][62] The following year, GM produced the first rear wheel anti-lock braking system for two models: the Toronado and Eldorado.[63] In 1973, the Oldsmobile Toronado was the first retail car sold with a passenger airbag.[64][65] Thomas Murphy became CEO of the company, succeeding Richard C. Gerstenberg in November 1974.[66][67] GM installed its first catalytic converters in its 1975 models.[68] From 1978 to 1985, GM pushed the benefits of diesel engines and cylinder deactivation technologies. However, it had disastrous results due to poor durability in the Oldsmobile diesels and drivability issues in the Cadillac V8-6-4 variable-cylinder engines.[69] GM sold Frigidaire in 1979. Although Frigidaire had between $450 million and $500 million in annual revenues, it was losing money.[70] General Motors headquarters building, 1981 Robert Lee of GM invented the Fe14Nd2B the Neodymium magnet, which was fabricated by rapid solidification, in 1984.[71] This magnet is commonly used in products like a computer hard disk. The same year, GM acquired Electronic Data Systems for $2.5 billion from Ross Perot as part of a strategy by CEO Roger Smith to derive at least 10% of its annual worldwide revenue from non-automotive sources.[72] GM also intended to have EDS handle its bookkeeping, help computerize factories, and integrate GM's computer systems. The transaction made Ross Perot the largest shareholder of GM; however, disagreements with Roger Smith led the company to buy all shares held by Ross Perot for $750 million in 1986.[73] In a continuation of its diversification plans, GMAC formed GMAC Mortgage and acquired Colonial Mortgage as well as the servicing arm of Norwest Mortgage in 1985. This acquisition included an $11 billion mortgage portfolio.[74] The same year, GM acquired the Hughes Aircraft Company for $5 billion in cash and stock and merged it into Delco Electronics.[75] The following year, GM acquired 59.7% of Lotus Cars, a British producer of high-performance sports cars.[76] In 1987, in conjunction with AeroVironment, GM built the Sunraycer, which won the inaugural World Solar Challenge and was a showcase of advanced technology. Much of the technology from Sunraycer found its way into the Impact prototype electric vehicle (also built by Aerovironment) and was the predecessor to the General Motors EV1.[77] In 1988, GM acquired a 15% stake in AeroVironment.[78] In 1989, GM acquired half of Saab Automobile's car operations for $600 million.[79] In August 1990, Robert Stempel became CEO of the company, succeeding Roger Smith.[80] GM cut output significantly and suffered losses that year due to the early 1990s recession.[81] In 1990, GM debuted the General Motors EV1 (Impact) concept, a battery electric vehicle, at the LA Auto Show. It was the first car with zero emissions marketed in the US in over three decades. The Impact was produced as the EV1 for the 1996 model year and was available only via lease from certain dealers in California and Arizona. In 1999–2002, GM ceased production of the vehicles and started to not renew the leases, disappointing many people, allegedly because the program would not be profitable and would cannibalize its existing business. All of the EV1s were eventually returned to General Motors, and except for around 40 which were donated to museums with their electric powertrains deactivated, all were destroyed. The documentary film Who Killed the Electric Car? covered the EV1 story.[82] In November 1992, John F. Smith Jr. became CEO of the company.[83] In 1993, GM sold Lotus Cars to Bugatti.[84] In 1996, in a return to its automotive basics, GM completed the corporate spin-off of Electronic Data Systems.[85][86] In 1997, GM sold the military businesses of Hughes Aircraft Company to Raytheon Company for $9.5 billion in stock and the assumption of debt.[87][88][89][90] In February 2000, Rick Wagoner was named CEO, succeeding John F. Smith Jr.[91][92] The next month, GM gave 5.1% of its common stock, worth $2.4 billion, to acquire a 20% share of Fiat.[93] In December 2000, GM announced that it would begin phasing out Oldsmobile. The brand was eventually discontinued in 2004, seven years after it had become the first American car brand to turn 100.[citation needed] Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid vehicle Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid vehicle   Second generation Chevrolet Volt Second generation Chevrolet Volt   The Chevrolet Volt The Chevrolet Volt   The General Motors EV1, an electric car, was introduced in California in 1996. The General Motors EV1, an electric car, was introduced in California in 1996. In May 2004, GM delivered the first full-sized pickup truck hybrid vehicles, the 1/2-ton Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra trucks.[94] These mild hybrids did not use electrical energy for propulsion, like GM's later designs. Later, the company debuted another hybrid technology, co-developed with DaimlerChrysler and BMW, in diesel-electric hybrid powertrain manufactured by Allison Transmission for transit buses.[95] Continuing to target the diesel-hybrid market, the Opel Astra diesel engine hybrid concept vehicle was rolled out in January 2005.[96] Later that year, GM sold its Electro-Motive Diesel locomotive division to private equity firms Berkshire Partners and Greenbriar Equity Group.[97][98] GM paid $2 billion to sever its ties with Fiat in 2005, severing ties with the company due to an increasingly contentious dispute.[99] GM began adding its "Mark of Excellence" emblem on all new vehicles produced and sold in North America in mid-2005. However, after the reorganization in 2009, the company no longer added the logo, saying that emphasis on its four core divisions would downplay the GM logo.[100][101] In 2005, Edward T. Welburn was promoted to the newly created position of vice president, GM Global Design, making him the first African American to lead a global automotive design organization and the highest-ranking African American in the US motor industry at that time. On July 1, 2016, he retired from General Motors after 44 years. He was replaced by Michael Simcoe.[102][103] In 2006, GM introduced a bright yellow fuel cap on its vehicles to remind drivers that cars can operate using E85 ethanol fuel.[104] They also introduced another hybrid vehicle that year, the Saturn Vue Green Line.[105] In 2008, General Motors committed to engineering half of its manufacturing plants to be landfill-free by recycling or reusing waste in the manufacturing process.[106] Continuing their environmental-conscious development, GM started to offer the 2-mode hybrid system in the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade, and pickup trucks.[107] In late 2008, the world's largest rooftop solar power installation was installed at GM's manufacturing plant in Zaragoza. The Zaragoza solar installation has about 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2) of roof at the plant and contains about 85,000 solar panels. The installation was created, owned and operated by Veolia Environment and Clairvoyant Energy, which leases the rooftop area from GM.[108][109][110] Chapter 11 bankruptcy and bailout Further information: General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization In March 2009, after the company had received $17.4 billion in bailouts but was not effective in a turnaround, President Barack Obama forced the resignation of CEO Rick Wagoner.[111] General Motors filed for a government-backed Chapter 11 reorganization on June 8, 2009.[112][113] On July 10, 2009, the original General Motors sold assets and some subsidiaries to an entirely new company, including the trademark "General Motors".[112][113] Liabilities were left with the original GM, renamed Motors Liquidation Company, freeing the companies of many liabilities and resulting in a new GM.[112][113] Through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the United States Department of the Treasury invested $49.5 billion in General Motors and recovered $39 billion when it sold its shares on December 9, 2013, resulting in a loss of $10.3 billion. The Treasury invested an additional $17.2 billion into GM's former financing company, GMAC (now Ally Financial). The shares in Ally were sold on December 18, 2014, for $19.6 billion netting the government $2.4 billion in profit, including dividends.[114][115] A study by the Center for Automotive Research found that the GM bailout saved 1.2 million jobs and preserved $34.9 billion in tax revenue.[116] General Motors Canada was not part of the General Motors Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[117] Post-reorganization This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This section reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. (January 2023) This section appears to be slanted towards recent events. (September 2022) This section is in list format but may read better as prose. (September 2022) In June 2009, at the request of Steven Rattner, lead adviser to President Barack Obama on the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, Edward Whitacre Jr., who had led a restructuring of AT&T was named chairman of the company.[118] In July 2009, after 40 days of bankruptcy protection, the company emerged from the government-backed General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization.[119] In December 2009, the board of directors forced CEO Frederick Henderson to resign and Edward Whitacre Jr. was named interim CEO.[120] In 2010, GM acquired Americredit, a subprime lender, for $3.5 billion, which was merged into GM Financial.[121] The company returned to profitability in 2010.[122] In 2010, the company shut down Hummer and Saturn Corporation after failing to find a buyer for the brands.[citation needed] In January 2010, GM sold Saab Automobile to Dutch automaker Spyker Cars.[123][124] In May 2010, the company repaid a $6.7 billion loan from the government ahead of schedule.[125] In September 2010, Daniel Akerson became CEO of the company.[126] In October 2010, GM discontinued the Pontiac brand.[citation needed] In November 2010, GM again became a public company via an initial public offering that was one of the world's top five largest IPOs to date.[127] In 2010, GM introduced the Chevrolet Volt as an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV), an electric vehicle with back-up generators powered by gasoline, or series plug-in hybrid.[128][129] GM delivered the first Volt in December 2010.[130] The Chevrolet Volt was a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with back-up generators powered by gasoline (range-extended electric vehicle).[131] General Motors built a prototype two-seat electric vehicle with Segway Inc. An early prototype of the Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility vehicle—dubbed Project P.U.M.A. – was presented in New York at the 2009 New York International Auto Show.[132] 2nd generation Buick LaCrosse (2010–2016)[133][134] 2nd generation Buick LaCrosse (2010–2016)[133][134]   General Motors Sequel, a fuel cell-powered vehicle from GM. General Motors Sequel, a fuel cell-powered vehicle from GM.   E85 FlexFuel Chevrolet Impala LT 2009 (USA) E85 FlexFuel Chevrolet Impala LT 2009 (USA)   The Chevrolet Bolt EV was released in late 2016. The Chevrolet Bolt EV was released in late 2016. In July 2011, General Motors invested $7.5 million in solar-panel provider Sunlogics to install solar panels on GM facilities.[135] In October 2011, GM introduced the Chevrolet Spark EV, an all-electric car version of the third generation Chevrolet Spark, the first all-electric passenger car marketed by General Motors in the U.S. since the General Motors EV1 was discontinued in 1999. The production version was unveiled at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show.[136][137] The Chevrolet Spark was released in the U.S. in selected markets in California and Oregon in June 2013.[138] Retail sales began in South Korea in October 2013.[139] In 2011, GM revived one of its idled U.S. factories for the production of a subcompact car in Orion, Michigan, with the creation of 1,500 jobs. This was the first time that GM produced a subcompact car in the United States since the Chevrolet Chevette ended production in 1986.[140] Production started in late 2011 with the Chevrolet Sonic.[141] GM ended production of the Sonic at Orion Assembly on October 19, 2020.[142] In 2012, PSA Group and General Motors formed an alliance, and GM acquired 7% of PSA Group.[143] The ownership was divested on December 13, 2013, generating gross proceeds of €250 million.[144][145] On July 2, 2013, GM and Honda announced a partnership to develop fuel cell systems and hydrogen storage technologies for the 2020 time frame. GM and Honda are leaders in fuel cell technology, ranking first and second, respectively, in total fuel cell patents filed between 2002 and 2012, with more than 1,200 between them according to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index.[146][147][148] In late 2013, after losing approximately $18 billion over 12 years, GM began phasing out mainstream sales of Chevrolet in Europe and finished by late 2015 to focus on Opel/Vauxhall. The Chevrolet brand had been reintroduced in Europe in 2005, selling mostly rebranded Daewoo Motors cars acquired by GM Korea.[149][150] On January 15, 2014, Mary Barra was named chief executive officer, succeeding Daniel Akerson. Barra also joined the GM board.[151] The 2014 General Motors recall, which was due to faulty ignition switches, and was linked to at least 124 deaths, was estimated to cost the company $1.5 billion.[152] In October 2015, the second-generation Volt was launched in the United States and Canada. The second generation had an upgraded drivetrain and improved battery system that increased the all-electric range from 38 to 53 miles (61 to 85 km).[153][154][155] On January 4, 2016, in its first investment in a ridesharing company, GM invested $500 million in Lyft.[156][157] In March 2016, General Motors acquired Cruise, a San Francisco self-driving vehicle start-up, to develop self-driving cars that could be used in ride-sharing fleets.[158][159] In October 2016, GM began production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV, the first ever mass market all-electric car with a range of more than 200 miles (320 km).[160][161] The battery pack and most drivetrain components were built by LG Corporation and assembled in GM's plant in Lake Orion, Michigan.[162] In December 2016, General Motors began testing self-driving vehicles on public roads in Michigan after Governor Rick Snyder signed bills legalizing the operation of autonomous vehicles.[163] On March 6, 2017, General Motors sold its Opel and Vauxhall brands to PSA Group for $2.3 billion.[164][165] On April 20, 2017, the Government of Venezuela seized the General Motors Venezolana plant in Valencia, Carabobo.[166] In October 2017, GM acquired Strobe, a solid-state LIDAR company. Strobe's prototypes produce brief "chirps" of frequency-modulated (FM) laser light, where the frequency within each chirp varies linearly. Measuring the phase and frequency of the echoing chirp allows the system to directly measure both the distance and the velocity of objects on the road ahead. Strobe, Cruise, and GM will work together to develop the technology for future self-driving cars.[167][168] In October 2018, Honda invested $2.75 billion in GM's self-driving car unit, including an initial investment of $275 million, followed by $2 billion within a year.[169][170][171] In November 2018, GM announced it would lay off more than 14,000 employees in North America, comprising 15% of its workforce and 25% of its executive staff in the region.[125] The company ceased production at three assemblies: Lordstown Assembly in Ohio, Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Michigan and Oshawa in Canada and two engine/transmission (White Marsh, Maryland, and Warren, Michigan) plants in 2019.[172][173] In March 2019, GM ceased production of the Chevrolet Volt.[174] In March 2019, the company announced that it would begin production of a new EV model in Lake Orion, Michigan.[175] In May 2019, General Motors received pushback on its plan to release a fleet of up to 2,500 modified Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles. The company planned to release these vehicles by Q4 of 2019 as part of initiatives to build a controlled self-driving fleet.[176] In November 2019, GM sold its former Chevy Cruze plant in Lordstown, Ohio to Lordstown Motors.[177] In January 2020, GM announced the return of the Hummer nameplate as a series of electric vehicles to be sold from within the GMC portfolio, known as the GMC Hummer EV.[178] The first vehicle, a pickup truck variant with over 1,000 horsepower, shipped in December 2021.[179][180][181] In April 2020, the company shut down Maven, a car-sharing service in the United States.[182][183] In September 2020, GM announced a partnership with Nikola Corporation to engineer and manufacture the Nikola Badger, and GM made an equity investment in Nikola. The Badger will use GM's Ultium battery technology, and GM will be an exclusive fuel cell supplier for all of Nikola's class 7/8 trucks.[184] Following fraud allegations from short-seller[citation needed] Hindenburg Research concerning the mechanical capabilities of the Badger pickup truck along with separate sexual misconduct allegations involving former CEO Trevor Milton, GM scaled back its investment with Nikola via a smaller revised deal.[185][186] In September 2020, GM and Honda announced an alliance to cooperate on purchasing, research, and vehicle development.[187][188] In November 2020, GM committed to increased capital investment in electric vehicles to over half of new capital expenditures, totaling $27 billion over five years.[189] On January 8, 2021, GM introduced a new logo alongside the tagline "EVerybody in", with the capitalized "EV" as a nod to the company's commitment to electric vehicles.[190][191] GM's new logo used negative space to create the idea of an electric plug in the "M" of the logo.[192] At the January 2021 Consumer Electronics Show, GM launched BrightDrop, its brand for all-electric commercial vehicles.[193] On January 28, 2021, GM announced that it will end production and sales of fossil-fuel vehicles (including hybrids and plug-in hybrids) by 2035 as part of its plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2040.[194] In 2021, GM announced plans to establish an automotive battery and battery pack laboratory in Michigan.[195][196][197] GM will be responsible for battery management systems and power electronics, thermal management, as well as the pack assembly. An existing GM facility at Brownstown Township was chosen to be upgraded as a battery pack plant.[128] LG Chem's U.S. subsidiary, Compact Power of Troy, Michigan, has been building the prototype packs for the development vehicles and will continue to provide integration support and acting as a liaison for the program.[198] in April 2021, after being criticized for not advertising enough in black-owned businesses, General Motors said that it will spend 2% of 2021's advertising budget on Black-owned media and 4% in 2022 until reaching 8% in 2025.[199] In April 2021, GM announced a joint venture with LG, to build a $2.3 billion plant to build batteries for electric vehicles.[200] In November 2021, GM acquired a 25% stake in Pure Watercraft, a producer of all-electric boats.[201] In January 2022, General Motors announced plans to invest $7 billion to convert a plant in Michigan to produce electric cars and build a new battery plant.[202][203] It also announced an investment of $154 million into its Western New York Lockport Components plant.[204][205] In August 2022, the company offered buyouts to the roughly 2,000 Buick dealers in the US that did not want to make investments as the company switches to an all-electric lineup. This move came after a similar move with Cadillac dealers that reduced their presence by about a third.[206][207] In September 2022, the firm announced it would introduce an electric version of its Chevrolet Equinox in the third quarter of 2023, priced around $30,000 to leave it less expensive than comparable vehicles.[208][209] In October 2022, the company announced the creation of GM Energy, a unit that would provide battery packs, EV chargers, and software to help residential and business customers to help with charging and electrical grid disruptions.[210][211][212] In May 2023, GM announced the creation of GM Envolve, a synergistic combination of the company's business-to-business products and services into a new division with an emphasis on helping customers with sustainability goals and providing future-forward technology. The new entity is focused on GM's proprietary electric, fuel cell, autonomous and, intelligence platforms.[213] Other international history China For the Chinese market, most of its cars are manufactured within China. Shanghai GM, a joint venture with the Chinese company SAIC Motor, was created with Canadian Regal 1990 on March 25, 1997. The Shanghai GM plant was officially opened on December 15, 1998, when the first Chinese-built Buick came off the assembly line. The SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile joint-venture is also selling microvans under the Wuling brand (34% owned by GM). Buick is strong in China from its early introduction by the Canadian Buick sold to the last Emperor of China, later being led by the Buick Regal 1990 subcompact. The last emperor of China owned a Buick.[214] The Cadillac brand was introduced in China in 2004, starting with exports to China. GM pushed the marketing of the Chevrolet brand in China in the mid-2000s as well. As part of this push, GM transferred the Buick Sail to that brand as an attempt to appeal to Chinese middle-class buyers looking for small and affordable cars.[215] In August 2009, FAW-GM, a joint venture between GM and FAW Group that mainly produced FAW Jiefang light-duty trucks, was formed.[216] GM left the joint venture in 2019, and the Jiefang brand is now wholly owned by FAW.[217] In 2011, GM opened an auto research center as part of a US250 million corporate campus in Shanghai to develop gasoline-hybrid cars, electric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles, engines, and new technologies.[218] A second phase opened in 2012.[219] SAIC-GM-Wuling established the low-cost Baojun brand to better compete with domestic rivals Chery Automobile, Geely Automobile and BYD Auto for first-time buyers of cars priced around US$10,000.[220] Japan GM maintains a dealership presence in Japan, called GM Chevrolet Shop, previously known as GM Auto World Shop.[221] Current GM Japan dealerships were either former Saturn dealerships or Isuzu dealership locations. Since 1915, GM products are also currently sold by the company Yanase Co., Ltd. currently a subsidiary of ITOCHU Corporation.[222] GM also had a capital tie-up with Suzuki Motor Corporation from 1981 to 2008, and Suzuki has been a procurement source to GM.[223][224] A three-way agreement of co-ownership was signed in August 1981, with Isuzu and Suzuki exchanging shares and General Motors taking a 5% share of Suzuki.[225] The Swift and Sidekick were cousins to GM's Geo Metro and Geo Tracker and were mostly produced in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada by Suzuki and GM's joint venture, CAMI Automotive. The Swift GT/GTi and 4-door models were imported from Japan. In 1998, Suzuki and GM agreed on joint development of compact vehicles, both companies agree to strengthen their business tie-up and form a strategic alliance, and GM increased its equity stake in Suzuki from 3.3% to 10%.[226] GM raised its stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. to 20%.[227] When GM's performance deteriorated, the stake was lowered from 20% to 3% in 2006, and the business tie-up continued.[228][229] The Suzuki SX4 is produced as a joint venture with Fiat and the XL7 (notice the shortening of the name from Grand Vitara XL-7) was produced as a joint venture with GM at CAMI Automotive Inc. in Ingersoll. Suzuki put XL7 production on indefinite hiatus in mid-2009 due to low demand and subsequently sold off its share of CAMI back to GM later that year. In 2008, the deterioration of GM's business performance has become serious, and the remaining 3% stake will also be sold in 2008. The two companies have agreed to actively promote cooperation in the development of cutting-edge automotive technologies, existing projects, and collaboration in new markets. This agreement is based on mutual confirmation by Osamu Suzuki, chairman and CEO of Suzuki, and Rick Wagoner, Chairman and CEO of GM. Their sourcing business relations still remains in a few countries.[230][231][232] Indonesia In August 2011, GM announced plans to build a $150 million 190,300 square-foot plant in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, which would produce 40,000 passenger cars per year for the Southeast Asian market.[233] The plant opened on March 11, 2013.[234] The plant was shut in 2015.[235] GM withdrew the Chevrolet brand from Indonesia in March 2020. However, GM will continue to sell Wuling badged vehicles in Indonesia through SGMW Motor Indonesia.[236] South Korea In October 2011, the South Korea free trade agreement opened the South Korean auto market to American-made cars.[237] GM owns 77.0% of its joint venture in South Korea, GM Korea, which mainly designs and produces Chevrolet and Holden branded vehicles.[2] In 2011, GM discontinued the Daewoo brand in South Korea and replaced it with the Chevrolet brand.[238] In 2018, the company approached the Korea Development Bank to participate in a $2.7 billion debt swap issued by its Korean subsidiary.[239] In February 2018, General Motors shut one factory in South Korea. The plant was affected by the pullout of the Chevrolet brand from Europe.[240] Uzbekistan In 2008, GM Uzbekistan was established, owned 25% by GM. It produced Ravon, Chevrolet, and Daewoo branded vehicles. This interest was sold to the Government of Uzbekistan in 2019. India In 1928, GM became the first car maker to manufacture cars in India. GM entered the market for the second time in 1996. The older Halol, Gujarat plant, with a capacity of 50,000 units, stopped production on April 28, 2017, and was sold to MG Motor India. GM continues to manufacture cars for the export market from its Talegaon Dhamdhere, Maharashtra plant, which has a capacity of 160,000 units annually. Thailand GM stopped production of the Chevrolet Sonic in Thailand in mid-2015.[241] In February 2020, GM discontinued the Chevrolet brand in Thailand.[242] GM withdrew from the Thai market and sold its Rayong plant to Great Wall Motors.[243] Egypt GM has a long history in Egypt which began in the 1920s with the assembly of cars and light pickup trucks for the local market. In the mid of the 1950s, GM withdrew from the Egyptian market. Some years later, the Ghabbour Brothers began to assemble Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Buick models up to the 1990s. Since 1983, GM and Al-Monsour Automotive have owned General Motors Egypt, which is currently the only manufacturer of traditional GM branded vehicles in Egypt.[244] Nigeria In the 1920s, Miller Brothers Nigeria was founded as an importer of commercial vehicles of the Bedford brand in the country. In 1949, the company opened its own assembly plant and operated under the name Niger/Nigeria Motors. In 1965 the plant and its distribution network were split into different companies and renamed Federated Motors Industries. In 1991 the company was taken in by a joint venture between General Motors and UACN of Nigeria.[citation needed] Tunisia In 1982, GM formed Industries Mécaniques Maghrébines, which built a plant in Kairouan, Tunisia.[245] East Africa Formed in 1975, General Motors East Africa (GMEA) was the largest assembler of commercial vehicles in the region, exporting them from Kenya to East and Central African countries, including Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda and Burundi. Its facility located in Nairobi assembled a wide range of Isuzu trucks and buses, including the popular Isuzu N-Series versatile light commercial vehicle, TF Series pick-ups, and Isuzu bus chassis. In addition to assembly, GMEA also marketed the Chevrolet Spark and Optra. In 2017, GM sold its 57.7% stake in General Motors East Africa to Isuzu,[246] and GMEA was renamed Isuzu East Africa Limited.[247] South Africa General Motors began operating in South Africa in 1913 through its wholly owned subsidiary, General Motors South Africa, and was a market that briefly had its own local brand, Ranger. Following the passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986, GM was forced to divest from South Africa, and GMSA became the independent Delta Motor Corporation. GM purchased a 49% stake in Delta in 1997 following the end of apartheid and acquired the remaining 51% in 2004, reverting the company to its original name. By 2014, it was targeting the production of 50,000 cars a year but was being hampered by national labor unrest, strikes, and protests.[248] GM exited the South Africa market in 2017, selling its parts business to Isuzu.[249] New Zealand In New Zealand, GM locally assembled Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac vehicles from 1926 and Vauxhall cars from 1931. After World War II, the local production of Chevrolet and Vauxhalls resumed, followed by Pontiac in 1959. In 1954, sales of fully imported Holden vehicles into New Zealand began. New Zealand assembly of Holdens began in 1957, and by the end of the 1960s, Holdens replaced all Chevrolets and Pontiacs (both in 1968) and most Vauxhalls. Opel, Bedford, and Isuzu vehicles were assembled or imported at different times during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. All local General Motors assembly plants in New Zealand closed by 1990. GM New Zealand was renamed Holden New Zealand in 1994.[250] Australia Main article: Holden GMSV logo In 1926, GM formed an Australian subsidiary, General Motors (Australia) Limited, which imported, distributed and assembled General Motors products.[251] The bodies were manufactured at an Adelaide-based family business, Holden's Motor Body Builders, which had built up its operations with the help of tariff protection and amicable relations with trade unions.[252] During the Great Depression, Holden's Motor Body Builders collapsed, which allowed General Motors to acquire Holden, becoming General Motors-Holden in 1931. In 1948, the first fully manufactured Australian car, the Holden 48-215, was released to great fanfare amongst the Australian public. It was marketed as "Australia's Own" Holden, and became an iconic feature of post-war Australian culture.[253] In 2012, GM established Opel as a niche marque in Australia and began to sell Opel branded cars in Australia. However, in August 2013, sales of Opel ceased due to low sales.[254][255] In 2020, GM discontinued the Holden brand due to poor reception and sales, shutting the facilities where they were produced. GM continues to export some Chevrolet vehicles to Australasia through a new entity called General Motors Specialty Vehicles.[256][257] Motorsports history Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the IMSA SportsCar Championship GM participated in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) from 2004 to 2012,[258] and has also participated in other motorsport championships, including 24 Hours of Le Mans,[259] NASCAR,[260] SCCA[261] and Supercars Championship.[262] GM's engines were successful in the Indy Racing League (IRL) throughout the 1990s, winning many races in the small V8 class. GM has also done much work in the development of electronics for GM auto racing. An unmodified Aurora V8 in the Aerotech captured 47 world records, including the record for speed endurance in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Recently, the Cadillac V-Series has entered motorsports racing. GM has also designed cars specifically for use in NASCAR auto racing. The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is the only entry in the series.[263] In the past, the Pontiac Grand Prix,[264] Buick Regal, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Chevrolet Impala, and the Chevrolet SS were also used. GM has won many NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer's championships, including 40 with Chevrolet,[265] the most of any make in NASCAR history, 3 with Oldsmobile, 2 with Buick, and 1 with Pontiac. In 2021, Chevrolet became the first brand to reach 800 wins.[266] In Australia, Holden cars based on the Monaro, Torana and Commodore platforms raced in the Australian Touring Car Championship until 2022. Holden won the Bathurst 1000, a record 36 times between 1968 and 2022 and the Australian Touring Car Championship 23 times.[267] From 2023, the Chevrolet Camaro will be raced.[268] Logo evolution Evolution of the GM logo through the years:[269] 1938–1964 [269] 1938–1964 [269]   Mark of Excellence (1964–2021) [269] Mark of Excellence (1964–2021) [269]   2001–2021 [269] 2001–2021 [269]   2010–2021 [269] 2010–2021 [269]   2021 (gradient) [269] 2021 (gradient) [269]   2021 (flat) [270] 2021 (flat) [270]   2022 (wordmark)[271] 2022 (wordmark)[271] Brands Current Origin Brand [272] Founded Began manuf. Joined GM Markets served today  US Buick 1899 1903 1908 China, North America  US Cadillac 1902 1902 1909 North America, Middle East, China, Japan, South Korea, Europe, Kazakhstan  US Chevrolet 1911 1911 1918 Americas, China, Middle East, CIS, South Korea, Philippines, Japan, Europe, Australasia  US GMC 1912 1912 1919 North America, Middle East, South Korea  CHN Baojun 2010 2010 2010 China  CHN Wuling 2002 2002 2002 China, Indonesia Former Origin Brand [272] Founded Began manuf. Joined GM Fate Defunct / Sold Notes  CAN Acadian 1962 1962 1962 Discontinued 1971  CAN Asüna 1992 1992 1992 Discontinued 1994  CAN Beaumont 1966 1966 1966 Discontinued 1969  UK Bedford 1931 1931 1931 Discontinued 1991  US Cartercar 1905 1905 1909 Discontinued 1915  KOR Daewoo 1972 1972 1999 Discontinued 2011 Succeeded by GM Korea  US Elmore 1893 1900 1912 Discontinued 1916  US Geo 1989 1989 1989 Discontinued 1997  AUS Holden 1856 1908 1926 Discontinued 2020  US Hummer 1992 1992 1998 Discontinued 2010 Name revived in 2021 for GMC Hummer EV  US LaSalle 1927 1927 1927 Discontinued 1940  UK Lotus 1948 1948 1986 Sold to Romano Artioli 1993 Currently owned by Geely  US Marquette 1909 1909 1909 Discontinued 1931  CAN McLaughlin 1907 1907 1918 Discontinued 1942  US Oakland 1907 1907 1909 Discontinued 1931  US Oldsmobile 1897 1897 1908 Discontinued 2004  GER Opel 1899 1899 1931 Sold to PSA Group 2017 Currently owned by Stellantis  CAN Passport 1987 1987 1987 Discontinued 1991  US Pontiac 1926 1926 1926 Discontinued 2010  US Rainier 1905 1905 1909 Discontinued 1911  US Reliance 1903 1903 1911 Discontinued 1912  RSA Ranger 1968 1968 1968 Discontinued 1978  US Rapid 1902 1902 1909 Discontinued 1912  SWE Saab 1945 1949 1990 Sold to Spyker N.V. 2010 Company defunct in 2016  US Saturn 1985 1990 1985 Discontinued 2010  US Scripps-Booth 1913 1913 1916 Discontinued 1923  US Sheridan 1920 1920 1920 Discontinued 1921  UK Vauxhall 1903 1903 1925 Sold to PSA Group 2017 Currently owned by Stellantis  US Viking 1929 1929 1929 Discontinued 1930  US Welch 1901 1901 1910 Discontinued 1911 Financial results Vehicle sales General Motors was the largest global automaker by annual vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years, from 1931, when it overtook Ford Motor Company, until 2008 when it was overtaken by Toyota. This reign was longer than any other automaker, and GM is still among the world's largest automakers by vehicle unit sales.[273] In 2008, the third-largest individual country by sales was Brazil, with some 550,000 GM vehicles sold. In that year, Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela sold another 300,000 GM vehicles, suggesting that the total GM sales in South America (including sales in other South American countries such as Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, etc.) in that year were at a similar level to sales in China.[citation needed] In 2009, General Motors sold 6.5 million cars and trucks globally; in 2010, it sold 8.39 million.[274] Sales in China rose 66.9% in 2009 to 1,830,000 vehicles and accounting for 13.4% of the market.[275] In 2010, General Motors ranked second worldwide with 8.5 million vehicles produced.[276] In 2011, GM returned to the first place with 9.025 million units sold worldwide, corresponding to 11.9% market share of the global motor vehicle industry. In 2010, vehicle sales in China by GM rose 28.8% to a record 2,351,610 units.[277] The top two markets in 2011 were China, with 2,547,203 units, and the United States, with 2,503,820 vehicles sold. The Chevrolet brand was the main contributor to GM performance, with 4.76 million vehicles sold around the world in 2011, a global sales record.[278] Based on global sales in 2012, General Motors was ranked among the world's largest automakers.[279] In May 2012, GM recorded an 18.4% market share in the U.S. with stock imported.[280] Annual worldwide sales volume reached 10 million vehicles in 2016.[281][282][283] Sales in India for April 2016 – March 2017 declined to 25,823 units from 32,540 the previous year and market share contracted from 1.17% to 0.85% for the same period. However, exports surged 89% during the same period to 70,969 units. GMTC-I, GM's technical center in Bangalore, India continued in operation. Weak product line-up and below par service quality were the reasons for the poor showing by GM in India that year.[284][285] Global Volt/Ampera family sales totalled about 177,000 units from its inception in December 2010 through 2018.[286] including over 10,000 Opel/Vauxhall Amperas sold in Europe up to December 2015.[287][288] The Volt family of vehicles ranked as the world's all-time top-selling plug-in hybrid as of September 2018, and it is also the third best selling plug-in electric car in history after the Nissan Leaf (375,000) and the Tesla Model S (253,000), as of October 2018.[286] The Chevrolet Volt is also the U.S. all-time top-selling plug-in electric car with 148,556 units delivered through October 2018.[289][290] GM worldwide 2008 vehicle sales[291] (thousands) Rank in GM Location Vehicle sales Market share (%) 1 United States 2,981 22.1% 2 China 1,095 12.0% 3 Brazil 549 19.5% 4 United Kingdom 384 15.4% 5 Canada 359 21.4% 6 Russia 338 11.1% 7 Germany 300 8.8% 8 Mexico 212 19.8% 9 Australia 133 13.1% 10 South Korea 117 9.7% 11 France 114 4.4% 12 Spain 107 7.8% 13 Argentina 95 15.5% 14 Venezuela 91 33.3% 15 Colombia 80 36.3% 16 India 66 3.3% Year U.S. sales (vehicles) Chg/yr. 1998[292] 4,603,991 1999 5,017,150 Increase9.0% 2000[293] 4,953,163 Decrease1.3% 2001 4,904,015 Decrease1.0% 2002 4,858,705 Decrease0.9% 2003 4,756,403 Decrease2.1% 2004[294] 4,707,416 Decrease1.0% 2005 4,517,730 Decrease4.0% 2006[295] 4,124,645 Decrease8.7% 2007[296] 3,866,620 Decrease6.3% 2008[297] 2,980,688 Decrease22.9% 2009[298] 2,084,492 Decrease30.1% 2010[299] 2,215,227 Increase6.3% 2011[300] 2,503,820 Increase13.7% 2012 2,595,717 Increase3.7% 2013[301] 2,786,078 Increase7.3% 2014[302] 2,935,008 Increase5.3% 2015[303] 3,082,366 Increase5.0% 2016 3,042,773 Decrease1.3% 2017 3,002,241 Decrease1.3% 2018 2,954,037 Decrease1.5% 2019[304] 2,887,046 Decrease2.3% 2020[305] 2,547,339 Decrease11.8% 2021[306] 2,218,228 Decrease12.9% 2022[306] 2,274,088 Increase2.5% GM worldwide 2019 vehicle sales[307] Location Total sales Year-On-Year change Year-On-Year change (%) GM North America 3,367,374 (122,740) (3.5) GM Europe 3,590 (266) (6.9) GM South America 668,842 (21,355) (3.1) GM International 584,520 28,033 5.0 China 3,093,604 (551,440) (15.1) Total 7,717,930 (667,768) (8.0) Management Current board of directors Notable members of the board of directors of the company are as follows:[2] Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors Joseph Ashton, former Vice President of the International Union at United Automobile Workers Linda Gooden, former Vice President of Information Systems and Global Solutions at Lockheed Martin Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis Jane Mendillo, former President and CEO at Harvard Management Company Michael Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff James Mulva, former CEO, President, and Chairman at ConocoPhillips Patricia Russo, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Thomas Schoewe, former CFO of Wal-Mart Stores Theodore Solso, former CEO and Chairman of Cummins Carol Stephenson, former dean at Ivey Business School Devin Wenig, former President and CEO of eBay Chairmen of the Board of General Motors Thomas Neal—November 19, 1912 – November 16, 1915 Pierre S. du Pont—November 16, 1915 – February 7, 1929 Lammot du Pont II—February 7, 1929 – May 3, 1937 Alfred P. Sloan Jr.—May 3, 1937 – April 2, 1956 Albert Bradley—April 2, 1956 – August 31, 1958 Frederic G. Donner—September 1, 1958 – October 31, 1967 James M. Roche—November 1, 1967 – December 31, 1971 Richard C. Gerstenberg—January 1, 1972 – November 30, 1974 Thomas A. Murphy—December 1, 1974 – December 31, 1980 Roger B. Smith—January 1, 1981 – July 31, 1990 Robert C. Stempel—August 1, 1990 – November 1, 1992 John G. Smale—November 2, 1992 – December 31, 1995 John F. Smith Jr.—January 1, 1996 – April 30, 2003 Rick Wagoner—May 1, 2003 – March 30, 2009 Kent Kresa—March 30, 2009 – July 10, 2009 Edward Whitacre Jr.—July 10, 2009 – December 31, 2010 Daniel Akerson—December 31, 2010 – January 15, 2014 Tim Solso—January 15, 2014 – January 4, 2016 Mary Barra—January 4, 2016 – Present Chief Executive Officers of General Motors Chief Executive Officers of General Motors Alfred P. Sloan Jr.—May 10, 1923 – June 3, 1946 Charles Erwin Wilson—June 3, 1946 – January 26, 1953 Harlow H. Curtice—February 2, 1953 – August 31, 1958 James M. Roche—November 1, 1967 – December 31, 1971 Richard C. Gerstenberg—January 1, 1972 – November 30, 1974 Thomas A. Murphy—December 1, 1974 – December 31, 1980 Roger B. Smith—January 1, 1981 – July 31, 1990 Robert C. Stempel—August 1, 1990 – November 1, 1992 John F. Smith Jr.—November 2, 1992 – May 31, 2000 Rick Wagoner—June 1, 2000 – March 30, 2009 Frederick Henderson—March 30, 2009 – December 1, 2009 Edward Whitacre Jr.—December 1, 2009 – September 1, 2010 Daniel Akerson—September 1, 2010 – January 15, 2014 Mary Barra—January 15, 2014 – Present Philanthropy GM publishes an annual Social Impact Report detailing its contributions to charity; in 2020 it provided nearly $35 million in funding to 357 U.S.-based non-profits as well as in-kind assets (primarily donations of vehicles) to non-profits valued at more than $9.8 million.[308][309] From 1976 until 2017, philanthropic activity was carried out via the General Motors Foundation, a 501(c)(3) foundation.[310] General Motors has a close relationship with the Nature Conservancy and has fundraised for and donated cash and vehicles to the charity.[311] In 1996, GM commissioned five designer-original vehicles, sold in a silent auction for Concept: Cure, to benefit the Nina Hyde Center for breast cancer research, founded by Ralph Lauren. The program involved five designers, each lending their artistic talents to customize five different vehicles. Nicole Miller, Richard Tyler, Anna Sui, Todd Oldham, and Mark Eisen were tasked with transforming a Cadillac STS, Buick Riviera, GMC Yukon, Oldsmobile Bravada and Chevrolet Camaro Z28, respectively. The cars were then auctioned with the proceeds presented to the Nina Hyde Center at the Greater LA Auto Show in 1997.[312][313][314][315] Since 1997, GM has been a source of funding for Safe Kids Worldwide's "Safe Kids Buckle Up" program, an initiative to ensure child automobile safety through education and inspection.[316][317] Labor conflicts Flint sit-down strike Main article: Flint sit-down strike Young striker off sentry duty sleeping on the assembly line of auto seats The 1936–1937 Flint sit-down strike against General Motors changed the United Automobile Workers (UAW) from a collection of isolated local unions on the fringes of the industry into a major labor union and led to the unionization of the domestic United States automobile industry. After the first convention of UAW in 1936, the union decided that it could not survive by piecemeal organizing campaigns at smaller plants, as it had in the past, but that it could organize the automobile industry only by going after its biggest and most powerful employer, General Motors Corporation, focusing on GM's production complex in Flint, Michigan. Organizing in Flint was a difficult and dangerous plan. GM controlled city politics in Flint and kept a close eye on outsiders. According to Wyndham Mortimer, the UAW officer put in charge of the organizing campaign in Flint, he received a death threat by an anonymous caller when he visited Flint in 1936. GM also maintained an extensive network of spies throughout its plants. This forced UAW members to keep the names of new members secret and meeting workers at their homes. As the UAW studied its target, it discovered that GM had only two factories that produced the dies from which car body components were stamped: one in Flint that produced the parts for Buicks, Pontiacs, and Oldsmobiles, and another in Cleveland that produced Chevrolet parts. National Guardsmen with machine guns overlooking Chevrolet factories number nine and number four While the UAW called for a sit-down strike in Flint, the police, armed with guns and tear gas, attempted to enter the Fisher Body 2 plant on January 11, 1937. The strikers inside the plant pelted them with hinges, bottles, and bolts. At the time, Vice President John Nance Garner supported federal intervention to break up the Flint Strike, but this idea was rejected by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The president urged GM to distinguish a union so the plants could re-open. The strike ended after 44 days. That development forced GM to bargain with the union. John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers and founder and leader of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, spoke for the UAW in those negotiations; UAW President Homer Martin was sent on a speaking tour to keep him out of the way. GM's representatives refused to be in the same room as the UAW, so Governor Frank Murphy acted as a courier and intermediary between the two groups. Governor Murphy sent in the U.S. National Guard not to evict the strikers but rather to protect them from the police and corporate strike-breakers. The two parties finally reached an agreement on February 11, 1937, on a one-page agreement that recognized the UAW as the exclusive bargaining representative for GM's employees, who were union members for the next six months.[318] Tool and die strike of 1939 Main article: Tool and die strike of 1939 The tool and die strike of 1939, also known as the "strategy strike", was an ultimately successful attempt by the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) to be recognized as the sole representative for General Motors workers. In addition to representation rights, the UAW, working jointly with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), sought to resolve existing grievances of skilled workers. United Auto Workers (UAW) strike of 1945–1946 Main article: United Auto Workers (UAW) strike of 1945–1946 From November 21, 1945, until March 13, 1946, (113 days) CIO's United Automobile Workers (UAW), organized "320,000 hourly workers" to form a US-wide strike against the General Motors Corporation, workers used the tactic of the sit down strike.[319] It was "the longest strike against a major manufacturer" that the UAW had yet seen, and it was also "the longest national GM strike in its history".[319] As director of the UAW's General Motors Department (coordinator of union relations with GM),[320] Walter Reuther suggested to his colleagues the idea of striking the GM manufacturing plants with a 'one-at-a-time' strategy, which was "intended to maximize pressure on the target company".[319] Reuther also put forth the demands of the strikers: a 30 percent increase in wages and a hold on product prices. However, the strike ended with the dissatisfaction of Walter Reuther and the UAW, and the workers received only a 17.5-percent increase in wages. 2007 General Motors strike Main article: 2007 General Motors strike The 2007 General Motors strike was a strike from September 24 to 26, 2007, by the United Auto Workers (UAW) against General Motors. On September 24, 2007, General Motors workers represented by the United Auto Workers union went on strike against the company. The first US-wide strike against GM since 1970 was expected to idle 59 plants and facilities for an indefinite period of time. Talks broke down after more than 20 straight days of bargaining failed to produce a new contract. Major issues that proved to be stumbling blocks for an agreement included wages, benefits, job security and investments in US facilities.[321][322][323] Two car assembly plants in Oshawa, Ontario and a transmission facility in Windsor closed on September 25. However, on September 26, a tentative agreement was reached, and the strike's end was announced by UAW officials in a news conference at 4 a.m.[324] By the following day, all GM workers in both countries were back to work. 2019 General Motors strike Main article: 2019 General Motors strike On the morning of September 15, 2019, after talks broke down to renew their contract, which expired earlier that day, the United Auto Workers announced that GM employees would begin striking at 11:59 PM.[325] This strike shut down operations in nine states, including 33 manufacturing plants and 22 parts distribution warehouses.[326] After 40 days, on October 25, 2019, the "longest strike by autoworkers in a decade" and the longest against GM since 1970 came to an end when United Auto Workers members voted to approve a new contract with GM. The strike cost GM more than $2 billion, while members of the labor union were reduced to a salary of $275 a week in strike pay.[327] Controversies Streetcar conspiracy Main article: General Motors streetcar conspiracy Between 1938 and 1950, GM allegedly deliberately monopolized the sale of buses and supplies to National City Lines (NCL) and its subsidiaries, in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, intending to dismantle streetcar systems in many cities in the United States and make buses, sold by GM, the dominant form of public transport. Ralph Nader and the Corvair 1961–63 Corvair swing-axle rear suspension Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader, published in 1965, is a book accusing car manufacturers of being slow to introduce safety features and reluctant to spend money on improving safety. It relates to the first models of the Chevrolet Corvair (1960–1964) that had a swing axle suspension design that was prone to 'tuck under' in certain circumstances. To compensate for the removal of a front stabilizer bar (anti-roll bar) as a cost-cutting measure, Corvairs required tire pressures that were outside of the tire manufacturer's recommended tolerances. The Corvair relied on an unusually high front to rear pressure differential (15 psi front, 26 psi rear, when cold; 18 psi and 30 psi hot), and if one inflated the tires equally, as was standard practice for all other cars at the time, the result was dangerous over-steer.[328] In early March 1966, several media outlets, including The New Republic and The New York Times, alleged that GM had tried to discredit Ralph Nader, hiring private detectives to tap his phones and investigate his past, and hiring prostitutes to trap him in compromising situations.[329][330] Nader sued the company for invasion of privacy and settled the case for $425,000. Nader's lawsuit against GM was ultimately decided by the New York Court of Appeals, whose opinion in the case expanded tort law to cover "overzealous surveillance".[331] Nader used the proceeds from the lawsuit to start the pro-consumer Center for Study of Responsive Law. A 1972 safety commission report conducted by Texas A&M University concluded that the 1960–1963 Corvair possessed no greater potential for loss of control than its contemporary competitors in extreme situations.[332] The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a press release in 1972 describing the findings of NHTSA testing from the previous year. NHTSA conducted a series of comparative tests in 1971 studying the handling of the 1963 Corvair and four contemporary cars — a Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant, Volkswagen Beetle, and Renault Dauphine — along with a second-generation Corvair (with its completely redesigned, independent rear suspension). The 143-page report reviewed NHTSA's extreme-condition handling tests, national crash-involvement data for the cars in the test as well as General Motors' internal documentation regarding the Corvair's handling.[333] NHTSA went on to contract an independent advisory panel of engineers to review the tests. This review panel concluded that 'the 1960–63 Corvair compares favorably with contemporary vehicles used in the tests ... the handling and stability performance of the 1960–63 Corvair does not result in an abnormal potential for loss of control or rollover, and it is at least as good as the performance of some contemporary vehicles both foreign and domestic'. Former GM executive John DeLorean asserted, in his book On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors, that Nader's criticisms were valid.[334] Journalist David E. Davis noted that despite Nader's claim that swing-axle rear suspension were dangerous, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen all used similar swing-axle concepts during that era.[335] Apartheid In 2002, GM (along with other multinational corporations) was sued by a group of South Africans represented by the Khulumani Support Group.[336] The plaintiffs alleged that the company provided vehicles to the South African security forces during the Apartheid. The company settled with the plaintiffs in 2012, agreeing to pay a sum of up to $1.5 million.[337] Ignition switch recall Main article: General Motors ignition switch recalls In May 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fined the company $35 million for failing to recall cars with faulty ignition switches for a decade, despite knowing there was a problem with the switches. General Motors paid compensation for 124 deaths linked to the faulty switches.[338] The $35 million fine was the maximum the regulator could impose.[339] The total cost of the recall was estimated to be $1.5 billion.[152] As well as the Cobalts, the switches of concern had been installed in many other cars, such as the Pontiac G5, the Saturn Ion, the Chevrolet HHR, the Saturn Sky, and Pontiac Solstice. The recall involved about 2.6 million GM cars worldwide.[340] Xinjiang region In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including General Motors, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang.[341] See also flag United States portal flag Michigan portal Cars portal Companies portal Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers ASOTRECOL Crucible Industries EcoCAR General Motors Hy-wire General Motors Proving Grounds General Motors Technical Center GM people GM vehicles by brand List of automobile manufacturers of the United States List of GM engines List of General Motors factories List of GM platforms List of GM transmissions United States Council for Automotive Research VIA Motors Freon Global Climate Coalition Ethyl Corporation Durant Motors Detroit (/dɪˈtrɔɪt/ dih-TROYT, locally also /ˈdiːtrɔɪt/)[6] is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the most populous U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 census,[7] making it the 27th-most populous city in the United States. The metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area, and the 14th-largest metropolitan area in the nation. Regarded as a cultural center,[8][9] Detroit is known for its contributions to music, art, architecture and design, in addition to its historical automotive background. Time named Detroit as one of the fifty World's Greatest Places of 2022 to explore.[10] Detroit is a port on the Detroit River, one of the four major straits that connect the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The City of Detroit anchors the third-largest regional economy in the Midwest, behind Chicago and Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and the 16th-largest in the United States.[11] Detroit is best known as the center of the U.S. automobile industry, and the "Big Three" auto manufacturers General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis North America (Chrysler) are all headquartered in Metro Detroit.[12] As of 2007, the Detroit metropolitan area is the number one exporting region among 310 defined metropolitan areas in the United States.[13] The Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among the most important hub airports in the United States. Detroit and its neighboring Canadian city Windsor are connected through a highway tunnel, railway tunnel, and the Ambassador Bridge, which is the second-busiest international crossing in North America, after San Diego–Tijuana.[14] Both cities will soon be connected by a new bridge currently under construction, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which will provide a complete freeway-to-freeway link. The new bridge is expected to be open by 2024.[15] In 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and Alphonse de Tonty founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, the future city of Detroit. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, it became an important industrial hub at the center of the Great Lakes region. The city's population became the fourth-largest in the nation in 1920, after only New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia, with the expansion of the auto industry in the early 20th century.[16] As Detroit's industrialization took off, the Detroit River became the busiest commercial hub in the world. The strait carried over 65 million tons of shipping commerce through Detroit to locations all over the world each year; the freight throughput was more than three times that of New York and about four times that of London. By the 1940s, the city's population remained the fourth-largest in the country. However, due to industrial restructuring, the loss of jobs in the auto industry, and rapid suburbanization, among other reasons, Detroit entered a state of urban decay and lost considerable population from the late 20th century to the present. Since reaching a peak of 1.85 million at the 1950 census, Detroit's population has declined by more than 65 percent.[7] In 2013, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, which it successfully exited in December 2014, when the city government regained control of Detroit's finances.[17] Detroit's diverse culture has had both local and international influence, particularly in music, with the city giving rise to the genres of Motown and techno, and playing an important role in the development of jazz, hip-hop, rock, and punk. The rapid growth of Detroit in its boom years resulted in a globally unique stock of architectural monuments and historic places. Since the 2000s, conservation efforts have managed to save many architectural pieces and achieved several large-scale revitalizations, including the restoration of several historic theaters and entertainment venues, high-rise renovations, new sports stadiums, and a riverfront revitalization project. More recently, the population of Downtown Detroit, Midtown Detroit, and various other neighborhoods have increased.[citation needed] An increasingly popular tourist destination, Detroit receives 16 million visitors per year.[18] In 2015, Detroit was named a "City of Design" by UNESCO, the first U.S. city to receive that designation.[19] Toponymy Detroit is named after the Detroit River, connecting Lake Huron with Lake Erie. The city's name comes from the French word détroit meaning 'strait' as the city was situated on a narrow passage of water linking two lakes. The river was known as “le détroit du Lac Érié," among the French, which meant 'the strait of Lake Erie'.[20][21] The current indigenous name given to the present area as resided by the Council of Three Fires is ᐧᐋᐧᐃᔮᑖᓄᓐ Waawiyaataanong.[22] History Main article: History of Detroit For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Detroit. Early settlement Historical affiliations  Kingdom of France 1701–1760  Kingdom of Great Britain 1760–1783  United States 1783-1812  United Kingdom 1812–1813  United States 1813–present Paleo-Indian people inhabited areas near Detroit as early as 11,000 years ago including the culture referred to as the Mound-builders.[23] By the 17th century, the region was inhabited by Huron, Odawa, Potawatomi and Iroquois peoples.[24] The area is known by the Anishinaabe people as Waawiiyaataanong, translating to 'where the water curves around'.[25] The first Europeans did not penetrate into the region and reach the straits of Detroit until French missionaries and traders worked their way around the League of the Iroquois, with whom they were at war and other Iroquoian tribes in the 1630s.[26] The Huron and Neutral peoples held the north side of Lake Erie until the 1650s, when the Iroquois pushed both and the Erie people away from the lake and its beaver-rich feeder streams in the Beaver Wars of 1649–1655.[26] By the 1670s, the war-weakened Iroquois laid claim to as far south as the Ohio River valley in northern Kentucky as hunting grounds,[26] and had absorbed many other Iroquoian peoples after defeating them in war.[26] For the next hundred years, virtually no British or French action was contemplated without consultation with the Iroquois or consideration of their likely response.[26] When the French and Indian War evicted the Kingdom of France from Canada, it removed one barrier to American colonists migrating west.[27] British negotiations with the Iroquois would both prove critical and lead to a Crown policy limiting settlements below the Great Lakes and west of the Alleghenies. Many colonial American would-be migrants resented this restraint and became supporters of the American Revolution. The 1778 raids and resultant 1779 decisive Sullivan Expedition reopened the Ohio Country to westward emigration, which began almost immediately. By 1800 white settlers were pouring westwards.[28] Later settlement Topographical plan of the Town of Detroit and Fort Lernoult showing major streets, gardens, fortifications, military comple­xes, and public buildings (John Jacob Ulrich Rivardi, ca. 1800) The city was named by French colonists, referring to the Detroit River (French: le détroit du lac Érié, meaning the strait of Lake Erie), linking Lake Huron and Lake Erie; in the historical context, the strait included the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River.[29][30] On July 24, 1701, the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, with his lieutenant Alphonse de Tonty and along with more than a hundred other settlers, began constructing a small fort on the north bank of the Detroit River. Cadillac would later name the settlement Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit,[31] after Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, Minister of Marine under Louis XIV.[32] A church was soon founded here, and the parish was known as Sainte Anne de Détroit. France offered free land to colonists to attract families to Detroit; when it reached a population of 800 in 1765, this was the largest European settlement between Montreal and New Orleans, both also French settlements, in the former colonies of New France and La Louisiane, respectively.[33] By 1773, after the addition of Anglo-American settlers, the population of Detroit was 1,400. By 1778, its population reached 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in what was known as the Province of Quebec since the British takeover of French colonies following their victory in the Seven Years' War.[34] The region's economy was based on the lucrative fur trade, in which numerous Native American people had important roles as trappers and traders. Today the flag of Detroit reflects its French colonial heritage. Descendants of the earliest French and French-Canadian settlers formed a cohesive community, who gradually were superseded as the dominant population after more Anglo-American settlers arrived in the early 19th century with American westward migration. Living along the shores of Lake St. Clair and south to Monroe and downriver suburbs, the ethnic French Canadians of Detroit, also known as Muskrat French in reference to the fur trade, remain a subculture in the region in the 21st century.[35][36] During the French and Indian War (1754–63), the North American front of the Seven Years' War between Britain and France, British troops gained control of the settlement in 1760 and shortened its name to Detroit. Several regional Native American tribes, such as the Potowatomi, Ojibwe and Huron, launched Pontiac's War in 1763, and laid siege to Fort Detroit, but failed to capture it. In defeat, France ceded its territory in North America east of the Mississippi to Britain following the war.[37] Following the American Revolutionary War and the establishment of the United States as an independent country, Britain ceded Detroit along with other territories in the area under the Jay Treaty (1796), which established the northern border with its colony of Canada.[38] The Great Fire of 1805 destroyed most of the Detroit settlement, which had primarily buildings made of wood. One stone fort, a river warehouse, and brick chimneys of former wooden homes were the sole structures to survive.[39] Of the 600 Detroit residents in this area, none died in the fire.[40] 19th century From top: Woodward Avenue shopping district in 1865; The City of Detroit (from Canada Shore), 1872, by A. C. Warren; the Belle Isle Park in 1891 From 1805 to 1847, Detroit was the capital of Michigan as a territory and as a state. William Hull, the United States commander at Detroit surrendered without a fight to British troops and their Native American allies during the War of 1812 in the siege of Detroit, believing his forces were vastly outnumbered. The Battle of Frenchtown (January 18–23, 1813) was part of a U.S. effort to retake the city, and U.S. troops suffered their highest fatalities of any battle in the war. This battle is commemorated at River Raisin National Battlefield Park south of Detroit in Monroe County. Detroit was recaptured by the United States later that year.[41] The settlement was incorporated as a city in 1815.[42] As the city expanded, a geometric street plan developed by Augustus B. Woodward was followed, featuring grand boulevards as in Paris.[43] Prior to the American Civil War, the city's access to the Canada–US border made it a key stop for refugee slaves gaining freedom in the North along the Underground Railroad. Many went across the Detroit River to Canada to escape pursuit by slave catchers.[44][42] An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 African-American refugees settled in Canada.[45] George DeBaptiste was considered to be the "president" of the Detroit Underground Railroad, William Lambert the "vice president" or "secretary", and Laura Haviland the "superintendent".[46] Numerous men from Detroit volunteered to fight for the Union during the American Civil War, including the 24th Michigan Infantry Regiment. It was part of the legendary Iron Brigade, which fought with distinction and suffered 82% casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. When the First Volunteer Infantry Regiment arrived to fortify Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, "Thank God for Michigan!" George Armstrong Custer led the Michigan Brigade during the Civil War and called them the "Wolverines".[47] During the late 19th century, wealthy industry and shipping magnates commissioned the design and construction of several Gilded Age mansions east and west of the current downtown, along the major avenues of the Woodward plan. Most notable among them was the David Whitney House at 4421 Woodward Avenue, and the grand avenue became a favored address for mansions. During this period, some referred to Detroit as the "Paris of the West" for its architecture, grand avenues in the Paris style, and for Washington Boulevard, recently electrified by Thomas Edison.[42] The city had grown steadily from the 1830s with the rise of shipping, shipbuilding, and manufacturing industries. Strategically located along the Great Lakes waterway, Detroit emerged as a major port and transportation hub.[citation needed] In 1896, a thriving carriage trade prompted Henry Ford to build his first automobile in a rented workshop on Mack Avenue. During this growth period, Detroit expanded its borders by annexing all or part of several surrounding villages and townships.[48] 20th century From top: Cadillac Square and Wayne County Building (1902); Cadillac Square (1910s); corner of Michigan Avenue and Griswold Street (circa 1920) In 1903, Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company. Ford's manufacturing—and those of automotive pioneers William C. Durant, the Dodge Brothers, Packard, and Walter Chrysler—established Detroit's status in the early 20th century as the world's automotive capital.[42] The growth of the auto industry was reflected by changes in businesses throughout the Midwest and nation, with the development of garages to service vehicles and gas stations, as well as factories for parts and tires.[citation needed] In 1907, the Detroit River carried 67,292,504 tons of shipping commerce through Detroit to locations all over the world. For comparison, London shipped 18,727,230 tons, and New York shipped 20,390,953 tons. The river was dubbed "the Greatest Commercial Artery on Earth" by The Detroit News in 1908. With the rapid growth of industrial workers in the auto factories, labor unions such as the American Federation of Labor and the United Auto Workers fought to organize workers to gain them better working conditions and wages. They initiated strikes and other tactics in support of improvements such as the 8-hour day/40-hour work week, increased wages, greater benefits, and improved working conditions. The labor activism during those years increased the influence of union leaders in the city such as Jimmy Hoffa of the Teamsters and Walter Reuther of the Autoworkers.[49] Due to the booming auto industry, Detroit became the fourth-largest city in the nation in 1920, following New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia.[50] The prohibition of alcohol from 1920 to 1933 resulted in the Detroit River becoming a major conduit for smuggling of illegal Canadian spirits.[16] Detroit, like many places in the United States, developed racial conflict and discrimination in the 20th century following the rapid demographic changes as hundreds of thousands of new workers were attracted to the industrial city; in a short period, it became the fourth-largest city in the nation. The Great Migration brought rural blacks from the South; they were outnumbered by southern whites who also migrated to the city. Immigration brought southern and eastern Europeans of Catholic and Jewish faith; these new groups competed with native-born whites for jobs and housing in the booming city.[citation needed] Detroit was one of the major Midwest cities that was a site for the dramatic urban revival of the Ku Klux Klan beginning in 1915. "By the 1920s the city had become a stronghold of the KKK", whose members primarily opposed Catholic and Jewish immigrants, but also practiced discrimination against Black Americans.[51] Even after the decline of the KKK in the late 1920s, the Black Legion, a secret vigilante group, was active in the Detroit area in the 1930s. One-third of its estimated 20,000 to 30,000 members in Michigan were based in the city. It was defeated after numerous prosecutions following the kidnapping and murder in 1936 of Charles Poole, a Catholic organizer with the federal Works Progress Administration. Some 49 men of the Black Legion were convicted of numerous crimes, with many sentenced to life in prison for murder.[52] In the 1940s the world's "first urban depressed freeway" ever built, the Davison,[53] was constructed in Detroit. During World War II, the government encouraged retooling of the American automobile industry in support of the Allied powers, leading to Detroit's key role in the American Arsenal of Democracy.[54] Jobs expanded so rapidly due to the defense buildup in World War II that 400,000 people migrated to the city from 1941 to 1943, including 50,000 blacks in the second wave of the Great Migration, and 350,000 whites, many of them from the South. Whites, including ethnic Europeans, feared black competition for jobs and scarce housing. The federal government prohibited discrimination in defense work, but when in June 1943 Packard promoted three black people to work next to whites on its assembly lines, 25,000 white workers walked off the job.[55] The 1943 Detroit race riot took place in June, three weeks after the Packard plant protest, beginning with an altercation at Belle Isle. Blacks suffered 25 deaths (of a total of 34), three-quarters of 600 wounded, and most of the losses due to property damage. Rioters moved through the city, and young whites traveled across town to attack more settled blacks in their neighborhood of Paradise Valley.[56][57] The skyline of Detroit on June 6, 1929 Postwar era Industrial mergers in the 1950s, especially in the automobile sector, increased oligopoly in the American auto industry. Detroit manufacturers such as Packard and Hudson merged into other companies and eventually disappeared. At its peak population of 1,849,568, in the 1950 Census, the city was the fifth-largest in the United States, after New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.[58] From top: Aerial photo of Detroit (1932); Detroit at its population peak in the mid-20th century. Looking south down Woodward Avenue from the Maccabees Building with the city's skyline in the distance. In this postwar era, the auto industry continued to create opportunities for many African Americans from the South, who continued with their Great Migration to Detroit and other northern and western cities to escape the strict Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination policies of the South. Postwar Detroit was a prosperous industrial center of mass production. The auto industry comprised about 60% of all industry in the city, allowing space for a plethora of separate booming businesses including stove making, brewing, furniture building, oil refineries, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and more. The expansion of jobs created unique opportunities for black Americans, who saw novel high employment rates: there was a 103% increase in the number of blacks employed in postwar Detroit. Black Americans who immigrated to northern industrial cities from the south still faced intense racial discrimination in the employment sector. Racial discrimination kept the workforce and better jobs predominantly white, while many black Detroiters held lower-paying factory jobs. Despite changes in demographics as the city's black population expanded, Detroit's police force, fire department, and other city jobs continued to be held by predominantly white residents. This created an unbalanced racial power dynamic.[59] Unequal opportunities in employment resulted in unequal housing opportunities for the majority of the black community: with overall lower incomes and facing the backlash of discriminatory housing policies, the black community was limited to lower cost, lower quality housing in the city. The surge in Detroit's black population with the Great Migration augmented the strain on housing scarcity. The liveable areas available to the black community were limited, and as a result, families often crowded together in unsanitary, unsafe, and illegal quarters. Such discrimination became increasingly evident in the policies of redlining implemented by banks and federal housing groups, which almost completely restricted the ability of blacks to improve their housing and encouraged white people to guard the racial divide that defined their neighborhoods. As a result, black people were often denied bank loans to obtain better housing, and interest rates and rents were unfairly inflated to prevent their moving into white neighborhoods. White residents and political leaders largely opposed the influx of black Detroiters to white neighborhoods, believing that their presence would lead to neighborhood deterioration (most predominantly black neighborhoods deteriorated due to local and federal governmental neglect). This perpetuated a cyclical exclusionary process that marginalized the agency of black Detroiters by trapping them in the unhealthiest, least safe areas of the city.[59] As in other major American cities in the postwar era, construction of a federally subsidized, extensive highway and freeway system around Detroit, and pent-up demand for new housing stimulated suburbanization; highways made commuting by car for higher-income residents easier. However, this construction had negative implications for many lower-income urban residents. Highways were constructed through and completely demolished neighborhoods of poor residents and black communities who had less political power to oppose them. The neighborhoods were mostly low income, considered blighted, or made up of older housing where investment had been lacking due to racial redlining, so the highways were presented as a kind of urban renewal. These neighborhoods (such as Black Bottom and Paradise Valley) were extremely important to the black communities of Detroit, providing spaces for independent black businesses and social/cultural organizations. Their destruction displaced residents with little consideration of the effects of breaking up functioning neighborhoods and businesses.[59] In 1956, Detroit's last heavily used electric streetcar line, which traveled along the length of Woodward Avenue, was removed and replaced with gas-powered buses. It was the last line of what had once been a 534-mile network of electric streetcars. In 1941, at peak times, a streetcar ran on Woodward Avenue every 60 seconds.[60][61] All of these changes in the area's transportation system favored low-density, auto-oriented development rather than high-density urban development. Industry also moved to the suburbs, seeking large plots of land for single-story factories. By the 21st century, the metro Detroit area had developed as one of the most sprawling job markets in the United States; combined with poor public transport, this resulted in many new jobs being beyond the reach of urban low-income workers.[62] An electric PCC streetcar in Detroit, 1953 In 1950, the city held about one-third of the state's population, anchored by its industries and workers. Over the next sixty years, the city's population declined to less than 10 percent of the state's population. During the same time period, the sprawling Detroit metropolitan area, which surrounds and includes the city, grew to contain more than half of Michigan's population.[42] The shift of population and jobs eroded Detroit's tax base.[citation needed] I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children, that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin ... I have a dream this evening that one day we will recognize the words of Jefferson that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have a dream ... —Martin Luther King Jr. (June 1963 Speech at the Great March on Detroit)[63] In June 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a major speech as part of a civil rights march in Detroit that foreshadowed his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C., two months later. While the civil rights movement gained significant federal civil rights laws in 1964 and 1965, longstanding inequities resulted in confrontations between the police and inner-city black youth who wanted change.[64] Longstanding tensions in Detroit culminated in the Twelfth Street riot in July 1967. Governor George W. Romney ordered the Michigan National Guard into Detroit, and President Johnson sent in U.S. Army troops. The result was 43 dead, 467 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed, mostly in black residential and business areas. Thousands of small businesses closed permanently or relocated to safer neighborhoods. The affected district lay in ruins for decades.[65] According to the Chicago Tribune, it was the 3rd most costly riot in the United States.[66] On August 18, 1970, the NAACP filed suit against Michigan state officials, including Governor William Milliken, charging de facto public school segregation. The NAACP argued that although schools were not legally segregated, the city of Detroit and its surrounding counties had enacted policies to maintain racial segregation in public schools. The NAACP also suggested a direct relationship between unfair housing practices and educational segregation, as the composition of students in the schools followed segregated neighborhoods.[67] The District Court held all levels of government accountable for the segregation in its ruling. The Sixth Circuit Court affirmed some of the decision, holding that it was the state's responsibility to integrate across the segregated metropolitan area.[68] The U.S. Supreme Court took up the case February 27, 1974.[67] The subsequent Milliken v. Bradley decision had nationwide influence. In a narrow decision, the US Supreme Court found schools were a subject of local control, and suburbs could not be forced to aid with the desegregation of the city's school district.[69] "Milliken was perhaps the greatest missed opportunity of that period", said Myron Orfield, professor of law at the University of Minnesota. "Had that gone the other way, it would have opened the door to fixing nearly all of Detroit's current problems."[70] John Mogk, a professor of law and an expert in urban planning at Wayne State University in Detroit, says, Everybody thinks that it was the riots [in 1967] that caused the white families to leave. Some people were leaving at that time but, really, it was after Milliken that you saw mass flight to the suburbs. If the case had gone the other way, it is likely that Detroit would not have experienced the steep decline in its tax base that has occurred since then.[70] 1970s and decline Main articles: History of Detroit § Decline of Detroit, and Detroit bankruptcy First Williams Block in 1915 (left) and 1989 (right). The former Packard Automotive Plant, closed since 1958 In November 1973, the city elected Coleman Young as its first black mayor. After taking office, Young emphasized increasing racial diversity in the police department, which was predominantly white.[71] Young also worked to improve Detroit's transportation system, but the tension between Young and his suburban counterparts over regional matters was problematic throughout his mayoral term. In 1976, the federal government offered $600 million for building a regional rapid transit system, under a single regional authority.[72] But the inability of Detroit and its suburban neighbors to solve conflicts over transit planning resulted in the region losing the majority of funding for rapid transit.[citation needed] Following the failure to reach a regional agreement over the larger system, the city moved forward with construction of the elevated downtown circulator portion of the system, which became known as the Detroit People Mover.[73] The gasoline crises of 1973 and 1979 also affected Detroit and the U.S. auto industry. Buyers chose smaller, more fuel-efficient cars made by foreign makers as the price of gas rose. Efforts to revive the city were stymied by the struggles of the auto industry, as their sales and market share declined. Automakers laid off thousands of employees and closed plants in the city, further eroding the tax base. To counteract this, the city used eminent domain to build two large new auto assembly plants in the city.[74] As mayor, Young sought to revive the city by seeking to increase investment in the city's declining downtown. The Renaissance Center, a mixed-use office and retail complex, opened in 1977. This group of skyscrapers was an attempt to keep businesses in downtown.[42][75][76] Young also gave city support to other large developments to attract middle and upper-class residents back to the city. Despite the Renaissance Center and other projects, the downtown area continued to lose businesses to the automobile-dependent suburbs. Major stores and hotels closed, and many large office buildings went vacant. Young was criticized for being too focused on downtown development and not doing enough to lower the city's high crime rate and improve city services to residents.[citation needed] High unemployment was compounded by middle-class flight to the suburbs, and some residents leaving the state to find work. The result for the city was a higher proportion of poor in its population, reduced tax base, depressed property values, abandoned buildings, abandoned neighborhoods, high crime rates, and a pronounced demographic imbalance.[citation needed] 1980s On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed near Detroit Metro airport, killing all but one of the 155 people on board, as well as two people on the ground.[77] 1990s & 2000s In 1993, Young retired as Detroit's longest-serving mayor, deciding not to seek a sixth term. That year the city elected Dennis Archer, a former Michigan Supreme Court justice. Archer prioritized downtown development and easing tensions with Detroit's suburban neighbors. A referendum to allow casino gambling in the city passed in 1996; several temporary casino facilities opened in 1999, and permanent downtown casinos with hotels opened in 2007–08.[78] Campus Martius, a reconfiguration of downtown's main intersection as a new park, was opened in 2004. The park has been cited as one of the best public spaces in the United States.[79][80][81] The city's riverfront on the Detroit River has been the focus of redevelopment, following successful examples of other older industrial cities. In 2001, the first portion of the International Riverfront was completed as a part of the city's 300th-anniversary celebration.[82] 2010s See also: Planning and development in Detroit In September 2008, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (who had served for six years) resigned following felony convictions. In 2013, Kilpatrick was convicted on 24 federal felony counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering,[83] and was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison.[84] The former mayor's activities cost the city an estimated $20 million.[85] The city's financial crisis resulted in Michigan taking over administrative control of its government.[86] The state governor declared a financial emergency in March 2013, appointing Kevyn Orr as emergency manager. On July 18, 2013, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy.[87] It was declared bankrupt by U.S. District Court on December 3, 2013, in light of the city's $18.5 billion debt and its inability to fully repay its thousands of creditors.[88] On November 7, 2014, the city's plan for exiting bankruptcy was approved. The following month, on December 11, the city officially exited bankruptcy. The plan allowed the city to eliminate $7 billion in debt and invest $1.7 billion into improved city services.[89] One way the city obtained this money was through the Detroit Institute of Arts. Holding over 60,000 pieces of art worth billions of dollars, some saw it as the key to funding this investment. The city came up with a plan to monetize the art and sell it leading to the DIA becoming a private organization. After months of legal battles, the city finally got hundreds of millions of dollars towards funding a new Detroit.[90] One of the largest post-bankruptcy efforts to improve city services has been to work to fix the city's broken street lighting system. At one time it was estimated that 40% of lights were not working, which resulted in public safety issues and abandonment of housing. The plan called for replacing outdated high-pressure sodium lights with 65,000 LED lights. Construction began in late 2014 and finished in December 2016; Detroit is the largest U.S. city with all LED street lighting.[91] Construction progress at Hudson's Site in 2021. In the 2010s, several initiatives were taken by Detroit's citizens and new residents to improve the cityscape by renovating and revitalizing neighborhoods. Such projects include volunteer renovation groups[92] and various urban gardening movements.[93] Miles of associated parks and landscaping have been completed in recent years. In 2011, the Port Authority Passenger Terminal opened, with the riverwalk connecting Hart Plaza to the Renaissance Center.[76] One symbol of the city's decades-long decline, the Michigan Central Station, was long vacant. The city renovated it with new windows, elevators and facilities, completing the work in December 2015.[94] In 2018, Ford Motor Company purchased the building and plans to use it for mobility testing with a potential return of train service.[95] Several other landmark buildings have been privately renovated and adapted as condominiums, hotels, offices, or for cultural uses. Detroit was mentioned as a city of renaissance and has reversed many of the trends of the prior decades.[96][97] The city has also seen a rise in gentrification.[98] In downtown, for example, the construction of Little Caesars Arena brought with it new, high class shops and restaurants up and down Woodward Avenue. Office tower and condominium construction has led to an influx of wealthy families, but also a displacement of long-time residents and culture.[99][100] Areas outside of downtown and other recently revived areas have an average household income of about 25% less than the gentrified areas, a gap that is continuing to grow.[101] Rents and cost of living in these gentrified areas rise every year, pushing minorities and the poor out, causing more and more racial disparity and separation in the city. In 2019, the cost of a one-bedroom loft in Rivertown reached $300,000, with a five-year sale price change of over 500% and average income rising by 18%.[102] 2020s Detroit filed a challenge with the Census Bureau about the count in 2020. The city believes there was a significant undercount of people.[103] Geography A Satellite image from Sentinel-2 taken in September 2021 of Detroit and its surrounding metropolitan area with Windsor across the river. Metropolitan area Detroit is the center of a three-county urban area (with a population of 3,734,090 within an area of 1,337 square miles (3,460 km2) according to the 2010 United States Census), six-county metropolitan statistical area (population of 4,296,250 in an area of 3,913 square miles [10,130 km2] as of the 2010 census), and a nine-county Combined Statistical Area (population of 5.3 million within 5,814 square miles [15,060 km2] as of 2010).[104][105][106] Topography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 142.87 square miles (370.03 km2), of which 138.75 square miles (359.36 km2) is land and 4.12 square miles (10.67 km2) is water.[107] Detroit is the principal city in Metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan. It is situated in the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region.[108] The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is the only international wildlife preserve in North America, and is uniquely located in the heart of a major metropolitan area. The Refuge includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along 48 miles (77 km) of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie shoreline.[109] The city slopes gently from the northwest to southeast on a till plain composed largely of glacial and lake clay. The most notable topographical feature in the city is the Detroit Moraine, a broad clay ridge on which the older portions of Detroit and Windsor are located, rising approximately 62 feet (19 m) above the river at its highest point.[110] The highest elevation in the city is directly north of Gorham Playground on the northwest side approximately three blocks south of 8 Mile Road, at a height of 675 to 680 feet (206 to 207 m).[111] Detroit's lowest elevation is along the Detroit River, at a surface height of 572 feet (174 m).[112] Belle Isle Park is a 982-acre (1.534 sq mi; 397 ha) island park in the Detroit River, between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. It is connected to the mainland by the MacArthur Bridge in Detroit. Belle Isle Park contains such attractions as the James Scott Memorial Fountain, the Belle Isle Conservatory, the Detroit Yacht Club on an adjacent island, a half-mile (800 m) beach, a golf course, a nature center, monuments, and gardens. Both the Detroit and Windsor skylines can be viewed at the island's Sunset Point.[113] Three road systems cross the city: the original French template, with avenues radiating from the waterfront, and true north–south roads based on the Northwest Ordinance township system. The city is north of Windsor, Ontario. Detroit is the only major city along the Canada–U.S. border in which one travels south in order to cross into Canada.[114] Detroit has four border crossings: the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel provide motor vehicle thoroughfares, with the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel providing railroad access to and from Canada. The fourth border crossing is the Detroit–Windsor Truck Ferry, near the Windsor Salt Mine and Zug Island. Near Zug Island, the southwest part of the city was developed over a 1,500-acre (610 ha) salt mine that is 1,100 feet (340 m) below the surface. The Detroit salt mine run by the Detroit Salt Company has over 100 miles (160 km) of roads within.[115][116] Climate Detroit, Michigan Climate chart (explanation) J F M A M J J A S O N D   2  3219   2  3521   2.3  4629   2.9  5939   3.4  7049   3.5  7960   3.4  8364   3  8163   3.3  7455   2.5  6243   2.8  4934   2.5  3624 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches Metric conversion Detroit and the rest of southeastern Michigan have a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa) which is influenced by the Great Lakes like other places in the state;[117][118][119] the city and close-in suburbs are part of USDA Hardiness zone 6b, while the more distant northern and western suburbs generally are included in zone 6a.[120] Winters are cold, with moderate snowfall and temperatures not rising above freezing on an average 44 days annually, while dropping to or below 0 °F (−18 °C) on an average 4.4 days a year; summers are warm to hot with temperatures exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) on 12 days.[121] The warm season runs from May to September. The monthly daily mean temperature ranges from 25.6 °F (−3.6 °C) in January to 73.6 °F (23.1 °C) in July. Official temperature extremes range from 105 °F (41 °C) on July 24, 1934, down to −21 °F (−29 °C) on January 21, 1984; the record low maximum is −4 °F (−20 °C) on January 19, 1994, while, conversely the record high minimum is 80 °F (27 °C) on August 1, 2006, the most recent of five occurrences.[121] A decade or two may pass between readings of 100 °F (38 °C) or higher, which last occurred July 17, 2012. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 20 thru April 22, allowing a growing season of 180 days.[121] Precipitation is moderate and somewhat evenly distributed throughout the year, although the warmer months such as May and June average more, averaging 33.5 inches (850 mm) annually, but historically ranging from 20.49 in (520 mm) in 1963 to 47.70 in (1,212 mm) in 2011.[121] Snowfall, which typically falls in measurable amounts between November 15 through April 4 (occasionally in October and very rarely in May),[121] averages 42.5 inches (108 cm) per season, although historically ranging from 11.5 in (29 cm) in 1881–82 to 94.9 in (241 cm) in 2013–14.[121] A thick snowpack is not often seen, with an average of only 27.5 days with 3 in (7.6 cm) or more of snow cover.[121] Thunderstorms are frequent in the Detroit area. These usually occur during spring and summer.[122] Climate data for Detroit (DTW), 1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1874–present[b] Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. See or edit raw graph data. Climate data for Detroit Cityscape See also: List of tallest buildings in Detroit Architecture Main article: Architecture of metropolitan Detroit Ally Detroit Center and the Michigan Labor Legacy Monument The Detroit Financial District viewed from across the Detroit River Seen in panorama, Detroit's waterfront shows a variety of architectural styles. The post modern Neo-Gothic spires of the One Detroit Center (1993) were designed to refer to the city's Art Deco skyscrapers. Together with the Renaissance Center, these buildings form a distinctive and recognizable skyline. Examples of the Art Deco style include the Guardian Building and Penobscot Building downtown, as well as the Fisher Building and Cadillac Place in the New Center area near Wayne State University. Among the city's prominent structures are United States' largest Fox Theatre, the Detroit Opera House, and the Detroit Institute of Arts, all built in the early 20th century.[127][128] While the Downtown and New Center areas contain high-rise buildings, the majority of the surrounding city consists of low-rise structures and single-family homes. Outside of the city's core, residential high-rises are found in upper-class neighborhoods such as the East Riverfront, extending toward Grosse Pointe, and the Palmer Park neighborhood just west of Woodward. The University Commons-Palmer Park district in northwest Detroit, near the University of Detroit Mercy and Marygrove College, anchors historic neighborhoods including Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, and the University District.[citation needed] Forty-two significant structures or sites are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Neighborhoods constructed prior to World War II feature the architecture of the times, with wood-frame and brick houses in the working-class neighborhoods, larger brick homes in middle-class neighborhoods, and ornate mansions in upper-class neighborhoods such as Brush Park, Woodbridge, Indian Village, Palmer Woods, Boston-Edison, and others.[citation needed] Some of the oldest neighborhoods are along the major Woodward and East Jefferson corridors, which formed spines of the city. Some newer residential construction may also be found along the Woodward corridor and in the far west and northeast. The oldest extant neighborhoods include West Canfield and Brush Park. There have been multi-million dollar restorations of existing homes and construction of new homes and condominiums here.[75][129] The city has one of the United States' largest surviving collections of late 19th- and early 20th-century buildings.[128] Architecturally significant churches and cathedrals in the city include St. Joseph's, Old St. Mary's, the Sweetest Heart of Mary, and the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.[127] The city has substantial activity in urban design, historic preservation, and architecture.[130] A number of downtown redevelopment projects—of which Campus Martius Park is one of the most notable—have revitalized parts of the city. Grand Circus Park and historic district is near the city's theater district; Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, and Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers.[127] Little Caesars Arena, a new home for the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Pistons, with attached residential, hotel, and retail use, opened on September 5, 2017.[131] The plans for the project call for mixed-use residential on the blocks surrounding the arena and the renovation of the vacant 14-story Eddystone Hotel. It will be a part of The District Detroit, a group of places owned by Olympia Entertainment Inc., including Comerica Park and the Detroit Opera House, among others.[citation needed] The Detroit International Riverfront includes a partially completed three-and-one-half-mile riverfront promenade with a combination of parks, residential buildings, and commercial areas. It extends from Hart Plaza to the MacArthur Bridge, which connects to Belle Isle Park, the largest island park in a U.S. city. The riverfront includes Tri-Centennial State Park and Harbor, Michigan's first urban state park. The second phase is a two-mile (3.2-kilometer) extension from Hart Plaza to the Ambassador Bridge for a total of five miles (8.0 kilometres) of parkway from bridge to bridge. Civic planners envision the pedestrian parks will stimulate residential redevelopment of riverfront properties condemned under eminent domain.[132] Other major parks include River Rouge (in the southwest side), the largest park in Detroit; Palmer (north of Highland Park) and Chene Park (on the east river downtown).[133] Neighborhoods Further information: Neighborhoods in Detroit The Cass Park Historic District in Midtown The Midtown Woodward Historic District New Center Detroit has a variety of neighborhood types. The revitalized Downtown, Midtown, Corktown, New Center areas feature many historic buildings and are high density, while further out, particularly in the northeast and on the fringes,[134] high vacancy levels are problematic, for which a number of solutions have been proposed. In 2007, Downtown Detroit was recognized as the best city neighborhood in which to retire among the United States' largest metro areas by CNNMoney editors.[135] Lafayette Park is a revitalized neighborhood on the city's east side, part of the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe residential district.[136] The 78-acre (32 ha) development was originally called the Gratiot Park. Planned by Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig Hilberseimer and Alfred Caldwell it includes a landscaped, 19-acre (7.7 ha) park with no through traffic, in which these and other low-rise apartment buildings are situated.[136] Immigrants have contributed to the city's neighborhood revitalization, especially in southwest Detroit.[137] Southwest Detroit has experienced a thriving economy in recent years, as evidenced by new housing, increased business openings and the recently opened Mexicantown International Welcome Center.[138] The city has numerous neighborhoods consisting of vacant properties resulting in low inhabited density in those areas, stretching city services and infrastructure. These neighborhoods are concentrated in the northeast and on the city's fringes.[134] A 2009 parcel survey found about a quarter of residential lots in the city to be undeveloped or vacant, and about 10% of the city's housing to be unoccupied.[134][139][140] The survey also reported that most (86%) of the city's homes are in good condition with a minority (9%) in fair condition needing only minor repairs.[139][140][141][142] To deal with vacancy issues, the city has begun demolishing the derelict houses, razing 3,000 of the total 10,000 in 2010,[143] but the resulting low density creates a strain on the city's infrastructure. To remedy this, a number of solutions have been proposed including resident relocation from more sparsely populated neighborhoods and converting unused space to urban agricultural use, including Hantz Woodlands, though the city expects to be in the planning stages for up to another two years.[144][145] Public funding and private investment have also been made with promises to rehabilitate neighborhoods. In April 2008, the city announced a $300-million stimulus plan to create jobs and revitalize neighborhoods, financed by city bonds and paid for by earmarking about 15% of the wagering tax.[144] The city's working plans for neighborhood revitalizations include 7-Mile/Livernois, Brightmoor, East English Village, Grand River/Greenfield, North End, and Osborn.[144] Private organizations have pledged substantial funding to the efforts.[146][147] Additionally, the city has cleared a 1,200-acre (490 ha) section of land for large-scale neighborhood construction, which the city is calling the Far Eastside Plan.[148] In 2011, Mayor Dave Bing announced a plan to categorize neighborhoods by their needs and prioritize the most needed services for those neighborhoods.[149] Demographics Population pyramid of Detroit in 2021 Historical population Census Pop. Note %± 1820 1,422 — 1830 2,222 56.3% 1840 9,102 309.6% 1850 21,019 130.9% 1860 45,619 117.0% 1870 79,577 74.4% 1880 116,340 46.2% 1890 205,876 77.0% 1900 285,704 38.8% 1910 465,766 63.0% 1920 993,678 113.3% 1930 1,568,662 57.9% 1940 1,623,452 3.5% 1950 1,849,568 13.9% 1960 1,670,144 −9.7% 1970 1,514,063 −9.3% 1980 1,203,368 −20.5% 1990 1,027,974 −14.6% 2000 951,270 −7.5% 2010 713,777 −25.0% 2020 639,111 −10.5% 2022 (est.) 620,376 [3] −2.9% U.S. Decennial Census[150] 2010–2020[7] See also: Demographic history of Detroit and Demographics of Metro Detroit In the 2020 United States Census, the city had 639,111 residents, ranking it the 27th most populous city in the United States.[151][152] Of the large shrinking cities in the United States, Detroit has had the most dramatic decline in the population of the past 70 years (down 1,210,457) and the second-largest percentage decline (down 65.4%). While the drop in Detroit's population has been ongoing since 1950, the most dramatic period was the significant 25% decline between the 2000 and 2010 Census.[152] Previously a major population center and site of worldwide automobile manufacturing, Detroit has suffered a long economic decline produced by numerous factors.[153][154][155] Like many industrial American cities, Detroit's peak population was in 1950, before postwar suburbanization took effect. The peak population was 1.85 million people.[152] Ethnic origins in Detroit Following suburbanization, industrial restructuring, and loss of jobs, by the 2010 census, the city had less than 40 percent of that number, with just over 700,000 residents. The city has declined in population in each census since 1950.[152][156] The population collapse has resulted in large numbers of abandoned homes and commercial buildings, and areas of the city hit hard by urban decay.[157][158][159][160][161] Detroit's 639,111 residents represent 269,445 households, and 162,924 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,144.3 people per square mile (1,986.2 people/km2). There were 349,170 housing units at an average density of 2,516.5 units per square mile (971.6 units/km2). Housing density has declined. The city has demolished thousands of Detroit's abandoned houses, planting some areas and in others allowing the growth of urban prairie. Of the 269,445 households, 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 21.5% were married couples living together, 31.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 39.5% were non-families, 34.0% were made up of individuals, and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59, and the average family size was 3.36. There was a wide distribution of age in the city, with 31.1% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males. Religion According to a 2014 study, 67% of the population of the city identified themselves as Christians, with 49% professing attendance at Protestant churches, and 16% professing Roman Catholic beliefs,[162][163] while 24% claim no religious affiliation. Other religions collectively make up about 8% of the population. Income and employment The loss of industrial and working-class jobs in the city has resulted in high rates of poverty and associated problems.[164] From 2000 to 2009, the city's estimated median household income fell from $29,526 to $26,098.[165] As of 2010, the mean income of Detroit is below the overall U.S. average by several thousand dollars. Of every three Detroit residents, one lives in poverty. Luke Bergmann, author of Getting Ghost: Two Young Lives and the Struggle for the Soul of an American City, said in 2010, "Detroit is now one of the poorest big cities in the country".[166] In the 2018 American Community Survey, median household income in the city was $31,283, compared with the median for Michigan of $56,697.[167] The median income for a family was $36,842, well below the state median of $72,036.[168] 33.4% of families had income at or below the federally defined poverty level. Out of the total population, 47.3% of those under the age of 18 and 21.0% of those 65 and older had income at or below the federally defined poverty line.[169] Oakland County in Metro Detroit, once rated amongst the wealthiest US counties per household, is no longer shown in the top 25 listing of Forbes magazine. But internal county statistical methods—based on measuring per capita income for counties with more than one million residents—show Oakland is still within the top 12[citation needed], slipping from the fourth-most affluent such county in the U.S. in 2004 to 11th-most affluent in 2009.[170][171][172] Detroit dominates Wayne County, which has an average household income of about $38,000, compared to Oakland County's $62,000.[173][174] Median income in Detroit (as of July 1, 2019)[175] Area Number of house- holds Median House- hold Income Per Capita Income Percent- age in poverty Detroit City 263,688 $30,894 (Increase) $18,621 (Increase) 35.0% (Positive decrease) Wayne County, MI 682,282 $47,301 $27,282 19.8% United States 120,756,048 $62,843 $34,103 11.4% Race and ethnicity See also: Ethnic groups in Metro Detroit Historical Racial Composition of the City of Detroit  Self-identified race 2020[176] 2010[177] 1990[178] 1970[178] 1950[178] 1940[178] 1930[178] 1920[178] 1910[178] White 14.7% 10.6% 21.6% 55.5% 83.6% 90.7% 92.2% 95.8% 98.7%  —Non-Hispanic 11% 7.8% 20.7% 54.0%[c] — 90.4% — — — Black or African American 77.7% 82.7% 75.7% 43.7% 16.2% 9.2% 7.7% 4.1% 1.2% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 8.0% 6.8% 2.8% 1.8%[c] — 0.3% — — — Asian 1.6% 1.1% 0.8% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% — Map of racial distribution in Detroit, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: ⬤ White ⬤ Black ⬤ Asian ⬤ Hispanic ⬤ Other Beginning with the rise of the automobile industry, Detroit's population increased more than sixfold during the first half of the 20th century as an influx of European, Middle Eastern (Lebanese, Assyrian/Chaldean), and Southern migrants brought their families to the city.[179] With this economic boom following World War I, the African American population grew from a mere 6,000 in 1910[180] to more than 120,000 by 1930.[181] This influx of thousands of African Americans in the 20th century became known as the Great Migration.[182] Perhaps one of the most overt examples of neighborhood discrimination occurred in 1925 when African American physician Ossian Sweet found his home surrounded by an angry mob of his hostile white neighbors violently protesting his new move into a traditionally white neighborhood. Sweet and ten of his family members and friends were put on trial for murder as one of the mob members throwing rocks at the newly purchased house was shot and killed by someone firing out of a second-floor window.[183] Many middle-class families experienced the same kind of hostility as they sought the security of homeownership and the potential for upward mobility.[citation needed] Detroit has a relatively large Mexican-American population. In the early 20th century, thousands of Mexicans came to Detroit to work in agricultural, automotive, and steel jobs. During the Mexican Repatriation of the 1930s many Mexicans in Detroit were willingly repatriated or forced to repatriate. By the 1940s much of the Mexican community began to settle what is now Mexicantown.[184] Greektown Historic District in Detroit After World War II, many people from Appalachia also settled in Detroit. Appalachians formed communities and their children acquired southern accents.[185] Many Lithuanians also settled in Detroit during the World War II era, especially on the city's Southwest side in the West Vernor area,[186] where the renovated Lithuanian Hall reopened in 2006.[187][188] By 1940, 80% of Detroit deeds contained restrictive covenants prohibiting African Americans from buying houses they could afford. These discriminatory tactics were successful as a majority of black people in Detroit resorted to living in all-black neighborhoods such as Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. At this time, white people still made up about 90.4% of the city's population.[178] From the 1940s to the 1970s a second wave of black people moved to Detroit in search of employment and with the desire to escape the Jim Crow laws enforcing segregation in the south.[189] However, they soon found themselves once again excluded from many opportunities in Detroit—through violence and policy perpetuating economic discrimination (e.g., redlining).[190] White residents attacked black homes: breaking windows, starting fires, and detonating bombs.[191][190] An especially grueling result of this increasing competition between black and white people was the Riot of 1943 that had violent ramifications.[192] This era of intolerance made it almost impossible for African Americans to be successful without access to proper housing or the economic stability to maintain their homes and the conditions of many neighborhoods began to decline. In 1948, the landmark Supreme Court case of Shelley v. Kraemer outlawed restrictive covenants and while racism in housing did not disappear, it allowed affluent black families to begin moving to traditionally white neighborhoods. Many white families with the financial ability moved to the suburbs of Detroit taking their jobs and tax dollars with them, as macrostructural processes such as "white flight" and "suburbanization" led to a complete population shift. The Detroit riot of 1967 is considered to be one of the greatest racial turning points in the history of the city. The ramifications of the uprising were widespread as there were many allegations of white police brutality towards Black Americans and over $36 million of insured property was lost. Discrimination and deindustrialization in tandem with racial tensions that had been intensifying in the previous years boiled over and led to an event considered to be the most damaging in Detroit's history.[193] The population of Latinos significantly increased in the 1990s due to immigration from Jalisco. By 2010 Detroit had 48,679 Hispanics, including 36,452 Mexicans: a 70% increase from 1990.[194] While African Americans previously[when?] comprised only 13% of Michigan's population, by 2010 they made up nearly 82% of Detroit's population. The next largest population groups were white people, at 10%, and Hispanics, at 6%.[195] In 2001, 103,000 Jews, or about 1.9% of the population, were living in the Detroit area, in both Detroit and Ann Arbor.[196] According to the 2010 census, segregation in Detroit has decreased in absolute and relative terms and in the first decade of the 21st century, about two-thirds of the total black population in the metropolitan area resided within the city limits of Detroit.[197][198] The number of integrated neighborhoods increased from 100 in 2000 to 204 in 2010. Detroit also moved down the ranking from number one most segregated city to number four.[199] A 2011 op-ed in The New York Times attributed the decreased segregation rating to the overall exodus from the city, cautioning that these areas may soon become more segregated. This pattern already happened in the 1970s, when apparent integration was a precursor to white flight and resegregation.[191] Over a 60-year period, white flight occurred in the city. According to an estimate of the Michigan Metropolitan Information Center, from 2008 to 2009 the percentage of non-Hispanic White residents increased from 8.4% to 13.3%. As the city has become more gentrified, some empty nesters and many young white people have moved into the city, increasing housing values and once again forcing African Americans to move.[200] With the gentrification, reinvestment will hopefully lead to economic growth and an increase in population. Despite revitalization efforts, Detroit remains one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States.[191][201] One of the implications of racial segregation, which correlates with class segregation, may correlate to overall worse health for some populations.[201][202] Asians and Asian Americans Chaldean Town, a historically Chaldean neighborhood in Detroit. As of 2002, of all of the municipalities in the Wayne County-Oakland County-Macomb County area, Detroit had the second-largest Asian population. As of that year, Detroit's percentage of Asians was 1%, far lower than the 13.3% of Troy.[203] By 2000 Troy had the largest Asian American population in the tri-county area, surpassing Detroit.[204] There are four areas in Detroit with significant Asian and Asian American populations. Northeast Detroit has a population of Hmong with a smaller group of Lao people. A portion of Detroit next to eastern Hamtramck includes Bangladeshi Americans, Indian Americans, and Pakistani Americans; nearly all of the Bangladeshi population in Detroit lives in that area. Many of those residents own small businesses or work in blue-collar jobs, and the population is mostly Muslim. The area north of Downtown Detroit, including the region around the Henry Ford Hospital, the Detroit Medical Center, and Wayne State University, has transient Asian national origin residents who are university students or hospital workers. Few of them have permanent residency after schooling ends. They are mostly Chinese and Indian but the population also includes Filipinos, Koreans, and Pakistanis. In Southwest Detroit and western Detroit there are smaller, scattered Asian communities including an area in the westside adjacent to Dearborn and Redford Township that has a mostly Indian Asian population, and a community of Vietnamese and Laotians in Southwest Detroit.[203] As of 2006, the city has one of the U.S.'s largest concentrations of Hmong Americans.[205] In 2006, the city had about 4,000 Hmong and other Asian immigrant families. Most Hmong live east of Coleman Young Airport near Osborn High School. Hmong immigrant families generally have lower incomes than those of suburban Asian families.[206] Economy See also: Economy of metropolitan Detroit and Planning and development in Detroit Top city employers Source: Crain's Detroit Business[207] Rank Company or organization # 1 Detroit Medical Center 11,497 2 City of Detroit 9,591 3 Quicken Loans 9,192 4 Henry Ford Health System 8,807 5 Detroit Public Schools 6,586 6 U.S. Government 6,308 7 Wayne State University 6,023 8 Chrysler 5,426 9 Blue Cross Blue Shield 5,415 10 General Motors 4,327 11 State of Michigan 3,911 12 DTE Energy 3,700 13 St. John Providence Health System 3,566 14 U.S. Postal Service 2,643 15 Wayne County 2,566 16 MGM Grand Detroit 2,551 17 MotorCity Casino 1,973 18 Compuware 1,912 19 Detroit Diesel 1,685 20 Greektown Casino 1,521 21 Comerica 1,194 22 Deloitte 942 23 Johnson Controls 760 24 PwC 756 25 Ally Financial 715 Several major corporations are based in the city, including three Fortune 500 companies. The most heavily represented sectors are manufacturing (particularly automotive), finance, technology, and health care. The most significant companies based in Detroit include General Motors, Quicken Loans, Ally Financial, Compuware, Shinola, American Axle, Little Caesars, DTE Energy, Lowe Campbell Ewald, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and Rossetti Architects.[citation needed] About 80,500 people work in downtown Detroit, comprising one-fifth of the city's employment base.[208][209] Aside from the numerous Detroit-based companies listed above, downtown contains large offices for Comerica, Chrysler, Fifth Third Bank, HP Enterprise, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and Ernst & Young. Ford Motor Company is in the adjacent city of Dearborn.[210] Thousands of more employees work in Midtown, north of the central business district. Midtown's anchors are the city's largest single employer Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University, and the Henry Ford Health System in New Center. Midtown is also home to watchmaker Shinola and an array of small and startup companies. New Center bases TechTown, a research and business incubator hub that is part of the WSU system.[211] Like downtown, Corktown Is experiencing growth with the new Ford Corktown Campus under development.[212][213] Midtown also has a fast-growing retailing and restaurant scene.[citation needed] The First National Building, a class-A office center within the Detroit Financial District. The Detroit River is one of the busiest straits in the world. Lake freighter MV American Courage passing the strait. A number of the city's downtown employers are relatively new, as there has been a marked trend of companies moving from satellite suburbs around Metropolitan Detroit into the downtown core.[214] Compuware completed its world headquarters in downtown in 2003. OnStar, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and HP Enterprise Services are at the Renaissance Center. PricewaterhouseCoopers Plaza offices are adjacent to Ford Field, and Ernst & Young completed its office building at One Kennedy Square in 2006. Perhaps most prominently, in 2010, Quicken Loans, one of the largest mortgage lenders, relocated its world headquarters and 4,000 employees to downtown Detroit, consolidating its suburban offices.[215] In July 2012, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office opened its Elijah J. McCoy Satellite Office in the Rivertown/Warehouse District as its first location outside Washington, D.C.'s metropolitan area.[216] In April 2014, the United States Department of Labor reported the city's unemployment rate at 14.5%.[217] Labor force distribution in Detroit by category:   Construction   Manufacturing   Trade, transportation, utilities   Information   Finance   Professional and business services   Education and health services   Leisure and hospitality   Other services   Government The city of Detroit and other public–private partnerships have attempted to catalyze the region's growth by facilitating the building and historical rehabilitation of residential high-rises in the downtown, creating a zone that offers many business tax incentives, creating recreational spaces such as the Detroit RiverWalk, Campus Martius Park, Dequindre Cut Greenway, and Green Alleys in Midtown. The city itself has cleared sections of land while retaining a number of historically significant vacant buildings in order to spur redevelopment;[218] even though it has struggled with finances, the city issued bonds in 2008 to provide funding for ongoing work to demolish blighted properties.[144] Two years earlier, downtown reported $1.3 billion in restorations and new developments which increased the number of construction jobs in the city.[75] In the decade prior to 2006, downtown gained more than $15 billion in new investment from private and public sectors.[219] Despite the city's recent financial issues, many developers remain unfazed by Detroit's problems.[220] Midtown is one of the most successful areas within Detroit to have a residential occupancy rate of 96%.[221] Numerous developments have been recently completed or are in various stages of construction. These include the $82 million reconstruction of downtown's David Whitney Building (now an Aloft Hotel and luxury residences), the Woodward Garden Block Development in Midtown, the residential conversion of the David Broderick Tower in downtown, the rehabilitation of the Book Cadillac Hotel (now a Westin and luxury condos) and Fort Shelby Hotel (now Doubletree) also in downtown, and various smaller projects.[222][75] Downtown's population of young professionals is growing and retail is expanding.[223][224] A study in 2007 found out that Downtown's new residents are predominantly young professionals (57% are ages 25 to 34, 45% have bachelor's degrees, and 34% have a master's or professional degree),[208][223][225] a trend which has hastened over the last decade. Since 2006, $9 billion has been invested in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods; $5.2 billion of which has come in 2013 and 2014.[226] Construction activity, particularly rehabilitation of historic downtown buildings, has increased markedly. The number of vacant downtown buildings has dropped from nearly 50 to around 13.[when?][227] On July 25, 2013, Meijer, a midwestern retail chain, opened its first supercenter store in Detroit;[228] this was a $20 million, 190,000-square-foot store in the northern portion of the city and it also is the centerpiece of a new $72 million shopping center named Gateway Marketplace.[229] On June 11, 2015, Meijer opened its second supercenter store in the city.[230] On June 26, 2019, JPMorgan Chase announced plans to invest $50 million more in affordable housing, job training and entrepreneurship by the end of 2022, growing its investment to $200 million.[231] Arts and culture Main article: Culture of Detroit March for Science Motor City Pride North American International Auto Show In the central portions of Detroit, the population of young professionals, artists, and other transplants is growing and retail is expanding.[223] This dynamic is luring additional new residents, and former residents returning from other cities, to the city's Downtown along with the revitalized Midtown and New Center areas.[208][223][225] A desire to be closer to the urban scene has also attracted some young professionals to reside in inner ring suburbs such as Ferndale and Royal Oak, Michigan.[232] Detroit's proximity to Windsor, Ontario, provides for views and nightlife, along with Ontario's minimum drinking age of 19.[233] A 2011 study by Walk Score recognized Detroit for its above average walkability among large U.S. cities.[234] About two-thirds of suburban residents occasionally dine and attend cultural events or take in professional games in the city of Detroit.[235] Nicknames Known as the world's automotive center,[236] "Detroit" is a metonym for that industry.[237] Detroit's auto industry, some of which was converted to wartime defense production, was an important element of the American "Arsenal of Democracy" supporting the Allied powers during World War II.[238] It is an important source of popular music legacies celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames, the Motor City and Motown.[239] Other nicknames arose in the 20th century, including City of Champions, beginning in the 1930s for its successes in individual and team sport;[240] The D; Hockeytown (a trademark owned by the city's NHL club, the Red Wings); Rock City (after the Kiss song "Detroit Rock City"); and The 313 (its telephone area code).[d][241] Music Main article: Music of Detroit "Motown Mansion" in Boston-Edison Historic District; former home of Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records Detroit Electronic Music Festival Detroit Institute of Music Education Live music has been a prominent feature of Detroit's nightlife since the late 1940s, bringing the city recognition under the nickname "Motown".[242] The metropolitan area has many nationally prominent live music venues. Concerts hosted by Live Nation perform throughout the Detroit area. Large concerts are held at DTE Energy Music Theatre. The city's theater venue circuit is the United States' second largest and hosts Broadway performances.[243][244] The city of Detroit has a rich musical heritage and has contributed to a number of different genres over the decades leading into the new millennium.[241] Important music events in the city include the Detroit International Jazz Festival, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, the Motor City Music Conference (MC2), the Urban Organic Music Conference, the Concert of Colors, and the hip-hop Summer Jamz festival.[241] In the 1940s, Detroit blues artist John Lee Hooker became a long-term resident in the city's southwest Delray neighborhood. Hooker, among other important blues musicians, migrated from his home in Mississippi, bringing the Delta blues to northern cities like Detroit. Hooker recorded for Fortune Records, the biggest pre-Motown blues/soul label. During the 1950s, the city became a center for jazz, with stars performing in the Black Bottom neighborhood.[42] Prominent emerging jazz musicians included trumpeter Donald Byrd, who attended Cass Tech and performed with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers early in his career, and saxophonist Pepper Adams, who enjoyed a solo career and accompanied Byrd on several albums. The Graystone International Jazz Museum documents jazz in Detroit.[245] Other prominent Motor City R&B stars in the 1950s and early 1960s were Nolan Strong, Andre Williams and Nathaniel Mayer – who all scored local and national hits on the Fortune Records label. According to Smokey Robinson, Strong was a primary influence on his voice as a teenager. The Fortune label, a family-operated label on Third Avenue in Detroit, was owned by the husband-and-wife team of Jack Brown and Devora Brown. Fortune, which also released country, gospel and rockabilly LPs and 45s, laid the groundwork for Motown, which became Detroit's most legendary record label.[246] Berry Gordy, Jr. founded Motown Records, which rose to prominence during the 1960s and early 1970s with acts such as Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Diana Ross & The Supremes, the Jackson 5, Martha and the Vandellas, The Spinners, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Marvelettes, The Elgins, The Monitors, The Velvelettes and Marvin Gaye. Artists were backed by in-house vocalists[247] The Andantes and The Funk Brothers, the Motown house band that was featured in Paul Justman's 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown, based on Allan Slutsky's book of the same name.[citation needed] The Motown Sound played an important role in the crossover appeal with popular music, since it was the first African American–owned record label to primarily feature African-American artists. Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles in 1972 to pursue film production, but the company has since returned to Detroit. Aretha Franklin, another Detroit R&B star, carried the Motown Sound; however, she did not record with Berry's Motown label.[241] Local artists and bands rose to prominence in the 1960s and '70s, including the MC5, Glenn Frey, The Stooges, Bob Seger, Amboy Dukes featuring Ted Nugent, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, Rare Earth, Alice Cooper, and Suzi Quatro. The group Kiss emphasized the city's connection with rock in the song "Detroit Rock City" and the movie produced in 1999. In the 1980s, Detroit was an important center of the hardcore punk rock underground with many nationally known bands coming out of the city and its suburbs, such as The Necros, The Meatmen, and Negative Approach.[246] In the 1990s and the new millennium, the city has produced a number of influential hip hop artists, including Eminem, the hip-hop artist with the highest cumulative sales, his rap group D12, hip-hop rapper and producer Royce da 5'9", hip-hop producer Denaun Porter, hip-hop producer J Dilla, rapper and musician Kid Rock and rappers Big Sean and Danny Brown. The band Sponge toured and produced music.[241][246] The city also has an active garage rock scene that has generated national attention with acts such as The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, The Detroit Cobras, The Dirtbombs, Electric Six, and The Hard Lessons.[241] Detroit is cited as the birthplace of techno music in the early 1980s.[248] The city also lends its name to an early and pioneering genre of electronic dance music, "Detroit techno". Featuring science fiction imagery and robotic themes, its futuristic style was greatly influenced by the geography of Detroit's urban decline and its industrial past.[42] Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, and Jeff Mills. The Detroit Electronic Music Festival, now known as Movement, occurs annually in late May on Memorial Day Weekend, and takes place in Hart Plaza. In the early years (2000–2002), this was a landmark event, boasting over a million estimated attendees annually, coming from all over the world to celebrate techno music in the city of its birth.[citation needed] Entertainment and performing arts Main article: Theatre in Detroit The Detroit Fox Theatre in Downtown Major theaters in Detroit include the Fox Theatre (5,174 seats), Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts (1,770 seats), the Gem Theatre (451 seats), Masonic Temple Theatre (4,404 seats), the Detroit Opera House (2,765 seats), the Fisher Theatre (2,089 seats), The Fillmore Detroit (2,200 seats), Saint Andrew's Hall, the Majestic Theater, and Orchestra Hall (2,286 seats), which hosts the renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The Nederlander Organization, the largest controller of Broadway productions in New York City, originated with the purchase of the Detroit Opera House in 1922 by the Nederlander family.[241] Motown Motion Picture Studios with 535,000 square feet (49,700 m2) produces movies in Detroit and the surrounding area based at the Pontiac Centerpoint Business Campus for a film industry expected to employ over 4,000 people in the metro area.[249] Tourism Main article: Tourism in metropolitan Detroit Detroit Institute of Arts Because of its unique culture, distinctive architecture, and revitalization and urban renewal efforts in the 21st century, Detroit has enjoyed increased prominence as a tourist destination in recent years. The New York Times listed Detroit as the ninth-best destination in its list of 52 Places to Go in 2017,[250] while travel guide publisher Lonely Planet named Detroit the second-best city in the world to visit in 2018.[251] Many of the area's prominent museums are in the historic cultural center neighborhood around Wayne State University and the College for Creative Studies. These museums include the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Historical Museum, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Science Center, as well as the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Other cultural highlights include Motown Historical Museum, the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant museum, the Pewabic Pottery studio and school, the Tuskegee Airmen Museum, Fort Wayne, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID), and the Belle Isle Conservatory.[citation needed] In 2010, the G.R. N'Namdi Gallery opened in a 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) complex in Midtown. Important history of America and the Detroit area are exhibited at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, the United States' largest indoor-outdoor museum complex.[252] The Detroit Historical Society provides information about tours of area churches, skyscrapers, and mansions. Inside Detroit, meanwhile, hosts tours, educational programming, and a downtown welcome center. Other sites of interest are the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak, the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle, and Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills.[127] The city's Greektown and three downtown casino resort hotels serve as part of an entertainment hub. The Eastern Market farmer's distribution center is the largest open-air flowerbed market in the United States and has more than 150 foods and specialty businesses.[253] On Saturdays, about 45,000 people shop the city's historic Eastern Market.[254] The Midtown and the New Center area are centered on Wayne State University and Henry Ford Hospital. Midtown has about 50,000 residents and attracts millions of visitors each year to its museums and cultural centers;[255] for example, the Detroit Festival of the Arts in Midtown draws about 350,000 people.[255] The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, birthplace of the Ford Model T and the world's oldest car factory building open to the public. Annual summer events include the Electronic Music Festival, International Jazz Festival, the Woodward Dream Cruise, the African World Festival, the country music Hoedown, Noel Night, and Dally in the Alley. Within downtown, Campus Martius Park hosts large events, including the annual Motown Winter Blast. As the world's traditional automotive center, the city hosts the North American International Auto Show. Held since 1924, America's Thanksgiving Parade is one of the nation's largest.[256] River Days, a five-day summer festival on the International Riverfront lead up to the Windsor–Detroit International Freedom Festival fireworks, which draw super sized-crowds ranging from hundreds of thousands to over three million people.[235][241][257] An important civic sculpture in Detroit is The Spirit of Detroit by Marshall Fredericks at the Coleman Young Municipal Center. The image is often used as a symbol of Detroit and the statue itself is occasionally dressed in sports jerseys to celebrate when a Detroit team is doing well.[258] A memorial to Joe Louis at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward Avenues was dedicated on October 1, 1986. The sculpture, commissioned by Sports Illustrated and executed by Robert Graham, is a 24-foot (7.3 m) long arm with a fisted hand suspended by a pyramidal framework. Artist Tyree Guyton created the controversial street art exhibit known as the Heidelberg Project in 1986, using found objects including cars, clothing and shoes found in the neighborhood near and on Heidelberg Street on the near East Side of Detroit.[241] Time named Detroit as one of the fifty World's Greatest Places of 2022 to explore.[10] Sports Further information: Sports in Detroit and U.S. cities with teams from four major sports Top: Comerica Park, home of the American League Detroit Tigers; middle: Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions; bottom: Little Caesars Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Pistons Detroit is one of 13 U.S. metropolitan areas that are home to professional teams representing the four major sports in North America. Since 2017, all of these teams play in the city limits of Detroit itself, a distinction shared with only three other U.S. cities. Detroit is the only U.S. city to have its four major sports teams play within its downtown district.[259] There are three active major sports venues in the city: Comerica Park (home of the Major League Baseball team Detroit Tigers), Ford Field (home of the NFL's Detroit Lions), and Little Caesars Arena (home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and the NBA's Detroit Pistons). A 1996 marketing campaign promoted the nickname "Hockeytown".[241] Cycling in Detroit on Woodward Avenue The Detroit Tigers have won four World Series titles (1935, 1945, 1968, and 1984). The Detroit Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups (1935–36, 1936–37, 1942–43, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2007–08) (the most by an American NHL franchise).[260] The Detroit Lions have won 4 NFL titles (1935, 1952, 1953, 1957) . The Detroit Pistons have won three NBA titles (1989, 1990, 2004).[241] With the Pistons' first of three NBA titles in 1989, the city of Detroit has won titles in all four of the major professional sports leagues. Two new downtown stadiums for the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions opened in 2000 and 2002, respectively, returning the Lions to the city proper.[261] In college sports, Detroit's central location within the Mid-American Conference has made it a frequent site for the league's championship events. While the MAC Basketball Tournament moved permanently to Cleveland starting in 2000, the MAC Football Championship Game has been played at Ford Field in Detroit since 2004, and annually attracts 25,000 to 30,000 fans. The University of Detroit Mercy has an NCAA Division I program, and Wayne State University has both NCAA Division I and II programs. The NCAA football Quick Lane Bowl is held at Ford Field each December.[citation needed] Detroit's professional soccer team is Detroit City FC. Founded in 2012 as a semi-professional soccer club, the team now plays professional soccer in the USL Championship (USLC). Nicknamed, Le Rouge, the club are two-time champions of NISA since joining in 2020. They play their home matches in Keyworth Stadium, which is located in the Detroit enclave of Hamtramck.[262] The city hosted the 2005 MLB All-Star Game, 2006 Super Bowl XL, both the 2006 and 2012 World Series, WrestleMania 23 in 2007, and the NCAA Final Four in April 2009. The city hosted the Detroit Indy Grand Prix on Belle Isle Park from 1989 to 2001, 2007 to 2008, and 2012 and beyond. In 2007, open-wheel racing returned to Belle Isle with both Indy Racing League and American Le Mans Series Racing.[263] From 1982 to 1988, Detroit held the Detroit Grand Prix, at the Detroit street circuit. Detroit is one of eight American cities to have won titles in all four major leagues (MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA), though of the eight it is the only one to have not won a Super Bowl title (all of the Lions' titles came prior to the start of the Super Bowl era). In the years following the mid-1930s, Detroit was referred to as the "City of Champions" after the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings captured the three major professional sports championships in existence at the time in a seven-month period of time (the Tigers won the World Series in October 1935; the Lions won the NFL championship in December 1935; the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in April 1936).[240] In 1932, Eddie "The Midnight Express" Tolan from Detroit won the 100- and 200-meter races and two gold medals at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Joe Louis won the heavyweight championship of the world in 1937. Detroit has made the most bids to host the Summer Olympics without ever being awarded the games, with seven unsuccessful bids for the 1944, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 summer games.[241] Government Further information: Government of Detroit and List of mayors of Detroit The Guardian Building serves as the headquarters of Wayne County The city is governed pursuant to the home rule Charter of the City of Detroit. The government of Detroit is run by a mayor, the nine-member Detroit City Council, the eleven-member Board of Police Commissioners, and a clerk. All of these officers are elected on a nonpartisan ballot, with the exception of four of the police commissioners, who are appointed by the mayor. Detroit has a "strong mayoral" system, with the mayor approving departmental appointments. The council approves budgets, but the mayor is not obligated to adhere to any earmarking. The city clerk supervises elections and is formally charged with the maintenance of municipal records. City ordinances and substantially large contracts must be approved by the council.[264][265] The Detroit City Code is the codification of Detroit's local ordinances. The city clerk supervises elections and is formally charged with the maintenance of municipal records. Municipal elections for mayor, city council and city clerk are held at four-year intervals, in the year after presidential elections.[265] Following a November 2009 referendum, seven council members will be elected from districts beginning in 2013 while two will continue to be elected at-large.[266] Detroit's courts are state-administered and elections are nonpartisan. The Probate Court for Wayne County is in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in downtown Detroit. The Circuit Court is across Gratiot Avenue in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, in downtown Detroit. The city is home to the Thirty-Sixth District Court, as well as the First District of the Michigan Court of Appeals and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The city provides law enforcement through the Detroit Police Department and emergency services through the Detroit Fire Department.[267][268] Politics Beginning with its incorporation in 1802, Detroit has had a total of 74 mayors. Detroit's last mayor from the Republican Party was Louis Miriani, who served from 1957 to 1962. In 1973, the city elected its first black mayor, Coleman Young. Despite development efforts, his combative style during his five terms in office was not well received by many suburban residents.[269] Mayor Dennis Archer, a former Michigan Supreme Court Justice, refocused the city's attention on redevelopment with a plan to permit three casinos downtown. By 2008, three major casino resort hotels established operations in the city.[270] In 2000, the city requested an investigation by the United States Justice Department into the Detroit Police Department which was concluded in 2003 over allegations regarding its use of force and civil rights violations. The city proceeded with a major reorganization of the Detroit Police Department.[271] In 2013, felony bribery charges were brought against seven building inspectors.[272] In 2016, further corruption charges were brought against 12 principals, a former school superintendent and supply vendor[273] for a $12 million kickback scheme.[274][275] However, law professor Peter Henning argues Detroit's corruption is not unusual for a city its size, especially when compared with Chicago.[276] Detroit is sometimes referred to as a sanctuary city because it has "anti-profiling ordinances that generally prohibit local police from asking about the immigration status of people who are not suspected of any crime".[277] The city in recent years has been a stronghold for the Democratic Party, with around 94% of votes in the city going to Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate in the 2020 Presidential election. Public finances Detroit's protracted decline has resulted in severe urban decay, with thousands of empty buildings around the city, referred to as greyfield. Some parts of Detroit are so sparsely populated the city has difficulty providing municipal services. The city has demolished abandoned homes and buildings, planting grass and trees, and considered removing street lighting from large portions of the city, in order to encourage the small population in certain areas to move to more populated areas.[157][158][159][160][161] Roughly half of the owners of Detroit's 305,000 properties failed to pay their 2011 tax bills, resulting in about $246 million in taxes and fees going uncollected, nearly half of which was due to Detroit. The rest of the money would have been earmarked for Wayne County, Detroit Public Schools, and the library system.[278] In March 2013, Governor Rick Snyder declared a financial emergency in the city, stating the city had a $327 million budget deficit and faced more than $14 billion in long-term debt. It has been making ends meet on a month-to-month basis with the help of bond money held in a state escrow account and has instituted mandatory unpaid days off for many city workers. Those troubles, along with underfunded city services, such as police and fire departments, and ineffective turnaround plans from Mayor Bing and the City Council[279] led the state of Michigan to appoint an emergency manager for Detroit on March 14, 2013. On June 14, 2013, Detroit defaulted on $2.5 billion of debt by withholding $39.7 million in interest payments, while Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr met with bondholders and other creditors in an attempt to restructure the city's $18.5 billion debt and avoid bankruptcy.[280] On July 18, 2013, the City of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.[281][282] It was declared bankrupt by U.S. judge Stephen Rhodes on December 3, with its $18.5 billion debt; he said in accepting the city's contention it is broke and negotiations with its thousands of creditors were infeasible.[88] The city levies an income tax of 2.4 percent on residents and 1.2 percent on nonresidents.[283] Education Colleges and universities See also: Colleges and universities in Metro Detroit College of Business Administration, University of Detroit Mercy Detroit is home to several institutions of higher learning including Wayne State University, a national research university with medical and law schools in the Midtown area offering hundreds of academic degrees and programs. The University of Detroit Mercy, in Northwest Detroit in the University District, is a prominent Roman Catholic co-educational university affiliated with the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The University of Detroit Mercy offers more than a hundred academic degrees and programs of study including business, dentistry, law, engineering, architecture, nursing and allied health professions. The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law is Downtown across from the Renaissance Center.[284] Grand Valley State University's Detroit Center host workshops, seminars, professional development, and other large gatherings in the building. Located in the heart of downtown next to Comerica Park and the Detroit Athletic Club, the center has become a key component for educational activity in the city.[285] DeRoy Auditorium at Wayne State University, by Minoru Yamasaki Sacred Heart Major Seminary, founded in 1919, is affiliated with Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome and offers pontifical degrees as well as civil undergraduate and graduate degrees. Sacred Heart Major Seminary offers a variety of academic programs for both clerical and lay students. Other institutions in the city include the College for Creative Studies and Wayne County Community College. Marygrove College was a Catholic institution formerly based in Detroit before it closed in 2019. In June 2009, the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine which is based in East Lansing opened a satellite campus at the Detroit Medical Center. The University of Michigan was established in 1817 in Detroit and later moved to Ann Arbor in 1837. Primary and secondary schools Further information: Educational inequality in Southeast Michigan As of 2016 many K-12 students in Detroit frequently change schools, with some children having been enrolled in seven schools before finishing their K-12 careers. There is a concentration of senior high schools and charter schools in the Downtown Detroit area, which had wealthier residents and more gentrification relative to other parts of Detroit: Downtown, northwest Detroit, and northeast Detroit have 1,894, 3,742, and 6,018 students of high school age each, respectively, while they have 11, three, and two high schools each, respectively.[286] As of 2016 because of the lack of public transportation and the lack of school bus services, many Detroit families have to rely on themselves to transport children to school.[286] Public schools and charter schools Western International High School Cass Technical High School With about 66,000 public school students (2011–12), the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) district is the largest school district in Michigan. Detroit has an additional 56,000 charter school students for a combined enrollment of about 122,000 students.[287][288] As of 2009 there are about as many students in charter schools as there are in district schools.[289] As of 2016 DPS continues to have the majority of the special education pupils. In addition, some Detroit students, as of 2016, attend public schools in other municipalities.[286] In 1999, the Michigan Legislature removed the locally elected board of education amid allegations of mismanagement and replaced it with a reform board appointed by the mayor and governor. The elected board of education was re-established following a city referendum in 2005. The first election of the new 11-member board of education occurred on November 8, 2005.[290] Due to growing Detroit charter schools enrollment as well as a continued exodus of population, the city planned to close many public schools.[287] State officials report a 68% graduation rate for Detroit's public schools adjusted for those who change schools.[291][292] Traditional public and charter school students in the city have performed poorly on standardized tests. c. 2009 and 2011, while Detroit traditional public schools scored a record low on national tests, the publicly funded charter schools did even worse than the traditional public schools.[293][294] As of 2016 there were 30,000 excess openings in Detroit traditional public and charter schools, bearing in mind the number of K-12-aged children in the city. In 2016, Kate Zernike of The New York Times stated school performance did not improve despite the proliferation of charters, describing the situation as "lots of choice, with no good choice".[286] Detroit public schools students scored the lowest on tests of reading and writing of all major cities in the United States in 2015. Among eighth-graders, only 27% showed basic proficiency in math and 44% in reading.[295] Nearly half of Detroit's adults are functionally illiterate.[296] Private schools Detroit is served by various private schools, as well as parochial Roman Catholic schools operated by the Archdiocese of Detroit. As of 2013 there are four Catholic grade schools and three Catholic high schools in the City of Detroit, with all of them in the city's west side.[297] The Archdiocese of Detroit lists a number of primary and secondary schools in the metro area as Catholic education has emigrated to the suburbs.[298][299] Of the three Catholic high schools in the city, two are operated by the Society of Jesus and the third is co-sponsored by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Congregation of St. Basil.[300][301] In the 1964–1965 school year there were about 110 Catholic grade schools in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park and 55 Catholic high schools in those three cities. The Catholic school population in Detroit has decreased due to the increase of charter schools, increasing tuition at Catholic schools, the small number of African-American Catholics, White Catholics moving to suburbs, and the decreased number of teaching nuns.[297] Media Main article: Media in Detroit Offices of the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News are the major daily newspapers, both broadsheet publications published together under a joint operating agreement called the Detroit Newspaper Partnership. Media philanthropy includes the Detroit Free Press high school journalism program and the Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund of Detroit.[302] In March 2009, the two newspapers reduced home delivery to three days a week, print reduced newsstand issues of the papers on non-delivery days and focus resources on Internet-based news delivery.[303] The Metro Times, founded in 1980, is a weekly publication, covering news, arts & entertainment.[304] Also founded in 1935 and based in Detroit, the Michigan Chronicle is one of the oldest and most respected African-American weekly newspapers in America, covering politics, entertainment, sports and community events.[305] The Detroit television market is the 11th largest in the United States;[306] according to estimates that do not include audiences in large areas of Ontario, Canada (Windsor and its surrounding area on broadcast and cable TV, as well as several other cable markets in Ontario, such as the city of Ottawa) which receive and watch Detroit television stations.[306] Detroit has the 11th largest radio market in the United States,[307] though this ranking does not take into account Canadian audiences.[307] Nearby Canadian stations such as Windsor's CKLW (whose jingles formerly proclaimed "CKLW-the Motor City") are popular in Detroit.[308] Crime Further information: Crime in Detroit and Detroit Police Department Detroit Crime rates* (2019) Violent crimes Homicide 41.4 Positive decrease Rape 143.4 Negative increase Robbery 353.3 Positive decrease Aggravated assault 1,425.8 Negative increase Total violent crime 1,965.3 Property crimes Burglary 1,027.1 Positive decrease Larceny-theft 2,235.5 Negative increase Motor vehicle theft 1,037.0 Negative increase Total property crime 4,299.7 Notes *Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population. Source: FBI 2019 UCR data Detroit has gained notoriety for its high amount of crime, having struggled with it for decades. The number of homicides in 1974 was 714.[309][310] Crime has since decreased and, in 2014, the murder rate was 43.4 per 100,000, lower than in St. Louis.[311] The city's downtown typically has lower crime than national and state averages.[312] According to a 2007 analysis, Detroit officials note about 65 to 70 percent of homicides in the city were drug related,[313] with the rate of unsolved murders roughly 70%.[164] Although the rate of violent crime dropped 11% in 2008,[314] violent crime in Detroit has not declined as much as the national average from 2007 to 2011.[315] The violent crime rate is one of the highest in the United States. Neighborhoodscout.com reported a crime rate of 62.18 per 1,000 residents for property crimes, and 16.73 per 1,000 for violent crimes (compared to national figures of 32 per 1,000 for property crimes and 5 per 1,000 for violent crime in 2008).[316] In 2012, crime in the city was among the reasons for more expensive car insurance.[317] About half of all murders in Michigan in 2015 occurred in Detroit.[318][319] Annual statistics released by the Detroit Police Department for 2016 indicate that while the city's overall crime rate declined that year, the murder rate rose from 2015.[320] In 2016 there were 302 homicides in Detroit, a 2.37% increase in the number of murder victims from the preceding year.[320] Areas of the city adjacent to the Detroit River are also patrolled by the United States Border Patrol.[321] Infrastructure The Detroit Public Library in 2018 Health systems Within the city of Detroit, there are over a dozen major hospitals, which include the Detroit Medical Center (DMC), Henry Ford Health System, St. John Health System, and the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. The DMC, a regional Level I trauma center, consists of Detroit Receiving Hospital and University Health Center, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Harper University Hospital, Hutzel Women's Hospital, Kresge Eye Institute, Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, Sinai-Grace Hospital, and the Karmanos Cancer Institute. The DMC has more than 2,000 licensed beds and 3,000 affiliated physicians. It is the largest private employer in the City of Detroit.[322] The center is staffed by physicians from the Wayne State University School of Medicine, the largest single-campus medical school in the United States, and the United States' fourth largest medical school overall.[322] Harper Hospital and Hutzel Women's Hospital Detroit Medical Center formally became a part of Vanguard Health Systems on December 30, 2010, as a for-profit corporation. Vanguard has agreed to invest nearly $1.5 B in the Detroit Medical Center complex, which will include $417 M to retire debts, at least $350 M in capital expenditures and an additional $500 M for new capital investment.[323][324] Vanguard has agreed to assume all debts and pension obligations.[323] The metro area has many other hospitals including William Beaumont Hospital, St. Joseph's, and University of Michigan Medical Center. In 2011, Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Health System substantially increased investments in medical research facilities and hospitals in the city's Midtown and New Center.[323][325] In 2012, two major construction projects were begun in New Center. The Henry Ford Health System started the first phase of a $500 million, 300-acre revitalization project, with the construction of a new $30 million, 275,000-square-foot, Medical Distribution Center for Cardinal Health, Inc.[326][327] and Wayne State University started construction on a new $93 million, 207,000-square-foot, Integrative Biosciences Center (IBio).[328][329] As many as 500 researchers and staff will work out of the IBio Center.[330] Transportation Main article: Transportation in metropolitan Detroit With its proximity to Canada and its facilities, ports, major highways, rail connections and international airports, Detroit is an important transportation hub. The city has three international border crossings, the Ambassador Bridge, Detroit–Windsor Tunnel and Michigan Central Railway Tunnel, linking Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. The Ambassador Bridge is the single busiest border crossing in North America, carrying 27% of the total trade between the U.S. and Canada.[331] On February 18, 2015, Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced Canada has agreed to pay the entire cost to build a $250 million U.S. Customs plaza adjacent to the planned new Detroit–Windsor bridge, now the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Canada had already planned to pay for 95% of the bridge, which will cost $2.1 billion, and is expected to open in 2024.[332] "This allows Canada and Michigan to move the project forward immediately to its next steps which include further design work and property acquisition on the U.S. side of the border", Raitt said in a statement issued after she spoke in the House of Commons. [333] Transit systems The Detroit People Mover (DPM) elevated railway in Bricktown See caption A QLine streetcar at Campus Martius station Mass transit in the region is provided by bus services. The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) provides service within city limits up to the outer edges of the city. From there, the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) provides service to the suburbs and the city regionally with local routes and SMART's FAST service. FAST is a new service provided by SMART which offers limited stops along major corridors throughout the Detroit metropolitan area connecting the suburbs to downtown. The new high-frequency service travels along three of Detroit's busiest corridors, Gratiot, Woodward, and Michigan, and only stops at designated FAST stops. Cross border service between the downtown areas of Windsor and Detroit is provided by Transit Windsor via the Tunnel Bus.[334] Amtrak Wolverine at Detroit station An elevated rail system known as the People Mover, completed in 1987, provides daily service around a 2.94-mile (4.73 km) loop downtown. The QLINE serves as a link between the Detroit People Mover and Detroit Amtrak station via Woodward Avenue.[335] The SEMCOG Commuter Rail line will extend from Detroit's New Center, connecting to Ann Arbor via Dearborn, Wayne, and Ypsilanti when it is opened.[336] The Regional Transit Authority (RTA) was established by an act of the Michigan legislature in December 2012 to oversee and coordinate all existing regional mass transit operations, and to develop new transit services in the region. The RTA's first project was the introduction of RelfeX, a limited-stop, cross-county bus service connecting downtown and midtown Detroit with Oakland county via Woodward avenue.[337] Amtrak provides service to Detroit, operating its Wolverine service between Chicago and Pontiac. The Amtrak station is in New Center north of downtown. The J. W. Westcott II, which delivers mail to lake freighters on the Detroit River, is a floating post office.[338] Car ownership The city of Detroit has a higher than average percentage of households without a car. In 2016, 24.7 percent of Detroit households lacked a car, much higher than the national average of 8.7. Detroit averaged 1.15 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.[339] Freight railroads Freight railroad operations in the city of Detroit are provided by Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, Conrail Shared Assets, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway, each of which have local yards within the city. Detroit is also served by the Delray Connecting Railroad and Detroit Connecting Railroad shortlines.[340] Airports Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), the principal airport serving Detroit, is located in nearby Romulus Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), the principal airport serving Detroit, is in nearby Romulus. DTW is a primary hub for Delta Air Lines (following its acquisition of Northwest Airlines), and a secondary hub for Spirit Airlines. The airport is connected to Downtown Detroit by the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) FAST Michigan route.[341] Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET), previously called Detroit City Airport, is on Detroit's northeast side; the airport now maintains only charter service and general aviation.[342] Willow Run Airport, in far-western Wayne County near Ypsilanti, is a general aviation and cargo airport.[343] Freeways Main article: Roads and freeways in metropolitan Detroit Metro Detroit has an extensive toll-free network of freeways administered by the Michigan Department of Transportation. Four major Interstate Highways surround the city. Detroit is connected via Interstate 75 (I-75) and I-96 to Kings Highway 401 and to major Southern Ontario cities such as London, Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area. I-75 (Chrysler and Fisher freeways) is the region's main north–south route, serving Flint, Pontiac, Troy, and Detroit, before continuing south (as the Detroit–Toledo and Seaway Freeways) to serve many of the communities along the shore of Lake Erie.[344] I-94 (Edsel Ford Freeway) runs east–west through Detroit and serves Ann Arbor to the west (where it continues to Chicago) and Port Huron to the northeast. The stretch of the I-94 freeway from Ypsilanti to Detroit was one of America's earlier limited-access highways. Henry Ford built it to link the factories at Willow Run and Dearborn during World War II. A portion was known as the Willow Run Expressway. The I-96 freeway runs northwest–southeast through Livingston, Oakland and Wayne counties and (as the Jeffries Freeway through Wayne County) has its eastern terminus in downtown Detroit.[344] I-275 runs north–south from I-75 in the south to the junction of I-96 and I-696 in the north, providing a bypass through the western suburbs of Detroit. I-375 is a short spur route in downtown Detroit, an extension of the Chrysler Freeway. I-696 (Reuther Freeway) runs east–west from the junction of I-96 and I-275, providing a route through the northern suburbs of Detroit. Taken together, I-275 and I-696 form a semicircle around Detroit. Michigan state highways designated with the letter M serve to connect major freeways.[344] Floating post office J.W. Westcott II on the Detroit River in front of the Ambassador Bridge Detroit has a floating post office, the J. W. Westcott II, which serves lake freighters along the Detroit River. Its ZIP Code is 48222.[345] The ZIP Code is used exclusively for the J. W. Westcott II, which makes is the only floating ZIP Code in the United States. It has a land-based office at 12 24th Street, just south of the Ambassador Bridge. The J.W. Westcott Company was established in 1874 by Captain John Ward Westcott as a maritime reporting agency to inform other vessels about port conditions,[346] and the J. W. Westcott II vessel began service in 1949 and is still in operation today.[347] Notable people For a more comprehensive list, see List of people from Detroit. Sister cities Detroit's sister cities include the following:[348] China Chongqing, China United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates Zambia Kitwe, Zambia Belarus Minsk, Belarus The Bahamas Nassau, Bahamas Japan Toyota, Japan[349] Italy Turin, Italy[350] See also USS Detroit, at least 6 ships Notes  Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.  Official records for Detroit were kept at downtown from January 1874 to December 1933, Detroit City Airport from February 1934 to March 1966, and at DTW since April 1966. For more information, see ThreadEx.  From 15% sample  Commemorated in the movie 8 Mile (2002).
  • Condition: Used
  • Year: 1965
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States

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