Oxford School of Photography

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Forgotten Detroit – 100 Abandoned Houses

You may already know of the decline of Detroit, from a once vibrant industrial city it is now being abandoned by large numbers of the population which is leaving many house empty and falling into decay. This is a worrying story of post industrial decline and it must ask the question; where else and where next. This article discusses that decline if you are interested in learning more. But these pictures of houses, falling to decrepitude are a haunting site and more can be seen here where there is a link to the hundred images of the title.

In Detroit, the number of abandoned houses is around 12.000, encompassing an area of 138 square miles ! People are leaving Detroit and soon people will rename the city with the name : Forgotten Detroit ! The news this week that Detroit’s population plunged more than 25% to just 714,000 in the last decade shouldn’t be surprising. The city’s collapse is as well-documented as it is astonishing – the population peaked at nearly 2 million in the 1950s, driven in part by a post-World War II auto industry boom now long gone.

4 responses to “Forgotten Detroit – 100 Abandoned Houses

  1. THE RECOMMENDER BLOG March 25, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    Wow! Quite amazing. Another brilliant, insightful blog post.

  2. Pingback: Captured: The 85th Anniversary of U.S. Route 66 « Oxford School of Photography

  3. Pingback: ‘The Ruins of Detroit’ by Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre « Oxford School of Photography

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