Snapshot of The D.

To those who’ve read this blog for a while, you will know that I have a weakness for the city of Detroit. It’s a sad weakness, really though. I have so many friends and classmates who are from the Wolverine State, and when you see how poorly the city is doing, how decrepit the Motor City has become, it stings.

So when you read stories like this, from the Chicago Tribune, you might just shake your head at the facts:

DETROIT — It may be tough to get financing for a new car these days, but in Detroit you can buy a house with a credit card.

The median price of a home sold in Detroit in December was $7,500, according to Realcomp, a listing service.

Not $75,000. Remove a zero—it's seven thousand five hundred dollars, substantially less than the lowest-price car on the new-car market.

but the numbers don’t do it justice (as much ‘justice’ as can be done to such an abysmal collapse). For those who’ve been there, you can’t forget what you see:

Would you pay $7,500 for either of the houses above? Would anyone, especially when there’s no hope for the future? No one see that city getting back to 3 million people with a revived suburbs and a vibrant core. The automakers are about to be finished off. So why buy a piece of crap and fix it up?

I found the above photo at the invaluable catalogue, Detroit Funk. It’s like a “Faces of Death” for a former Crown Jewel of America. Today?

I found this one there as well. It says it all: