Highland Park (Michigan)
| Highland park | |
|---|---|
 Highland Park (red) within Wayne County and the US state of Michigan
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| Basic data | |
| Foundation : | 1889, 1918 |
| State : | United States |
| State : | Michigan |
| County : | Wayne County |
| Coordinates : | 42 ° 24 ′ N , 83 ° 6 ′ W |
| Time zone : | Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 ) |
| Residents : | 11,776 (as of 2010) |
| Population density : | 1,531.3 inhabitants per km 2 |
| Area : | 7.70 km 2 (approx. 3 mi 2 ) of which 7.69 km 2 (approx. 3 mi 2 ) is land |
| Height : | 194 m |
| Postal code : | 48203 |
| Area code : | +1 313 |
| FIPS : | 26-38180 |
| GNIS ID : | 0628251 |
| Website : | highlandparkcity.org |
| Mayor : | Hubert Yopp |
Highland Park is a city (city) in Wayne County in the US -Bundesstaat Michigan . It is located around nine kilometers north of downtown Detroit , is 2.97 square miles (7.70 km²) and had (2010) 11,776 inhabitants, 93.5% of them black .
The city once combined a significant part of the automotive industry based in the region and was one of the richest communities in the region. As a result of the economic structural change in the second half of the 20th century, the city experienced a decade of decline. It has lost three quarters of its population since 1950 and with a poverty rate of (2015) an estimated 49.3% is the poorest municipality in the Detroit region. Because of these circumstances, which reflect the situation of Detroit concentrated in a small area, the city was referred to in literature as "Detroit of Detroit".
Position and extent
The city is located in the middle of the closed settlement area of the metropolitan area Detroit and is surrounded on all four sides by Detroit. The only exception is an approximately 400 meter long border section to the city of Hamtramck in the east, with which Highland Park together forms an enclave within Detroit. The urban area extends for a length of around three kilometers along Woodward Avenue, one of Detroit's historic arterial roads, on both sides 1.25 kilometers deep inland. In particular, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (Detroit- Pontiac - Milwaukee ) and Interstate 75 limit the city to the east. Furthermore, the Davison Freeway divides the city area into a northern and southern half. Parallel to this and at some distance, the former Detroit Terminal Railroad ring line runs through the north of the city.
Economy and Infrastructure
The once important industrial areas mostly extend in an L-shaped corridor along the railway lines north and east around the city center. Many businesses, especially along the former Ringbahn, lie fallow or have fallen into ruins . In the south-eastern area, on the other hand, there is still some industrial activity. The most important branch is still the auto industry; Major employers here are the automotive suppliers Magna International , Johnson Controls and Valeo . The largest employer (2000) is the dialog marketing company Budco / Dialog Direct, which is represented by its headquarters.
The residential areas, on the other hand, are concentrated in the south, west and the far north. As in Detroit, these are also largely characterized by emigration, poverty and decline. The development is dilapidated and heavily thinned; sometimes there are only individual houses in the landscape.
In the last statistical estimate in 2015, Highland Park had a population of 11,102, more than 35,000 fewer than in 1950. The median household income was $ 17,250, only 32% of the US average. The unemployment rate was 32 percent and the poverty rate 49.3 percent. This makes the economic situation even worse than in Detroit.
| United States | Detroit | Highland park | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population 1950 | 151,325,798 Ew. | 1,849,568 Ew. | 46,393 Ew. |
| Population 2015 | 316,525,021 Ew. | 677,116 Ew. | 11,102 Ew. |
| Changes in % | + 109.2% | -63.4% | -76.1% |
| Proportion of blacks (2010) | 12.6% | 82.7% | 93.5% |
| Poverty rate (2015) | 15.5% | 40.3% | 49.3% |
| Median household income (2015) | $ 53,889 | $ 25,764 | $ 17,250 |
| Unemployment (2015) | 8.3% | 24.9% | 32.0% |
| Median value of owner-occupied properties (2015) | $ 178,600 | $ 42,300 | $ 36,000 |
The city itself is heavily indebted (2011) with 58 million dollars. Highland Park owes $ 4 million to utilities alone and $ 17 million to Detroit Waterworks for sewage disposal. At the same time, the public infrastructure, which mostly dates from the 1920s and 1930s, is largely ailing. The local waterworks no longer works, there was no police station between 2001 and 2012, and the once respected public schools had to be refurbished.
history
The history of Highland Parks is closely tied to the development of Detroit. In 1805, the US federal government sold those lands, among other things, to finance the reconstruction of Detroit after the city fire of 1805. After several unsuccessful attempts to build a settlement, a certain William H. Stevens from Colorado finally succeeded in 1889. At the turn of the century there were 427 inhabitants.
In 1908, Henry Ford bought a large lot in Highland Park for his new automobile plant, which was to be used for the production of his " Model T ". The plant started operations in 1910. The introduction of the new type of assembly line production a few years later enabled enormous quantities at very low prices for the conditions at the time, which greatly boosted sales. In eight years, Ford had 36,000 employees on site. The population increased accordingly to (1920) 46,499 inhabitants. At the same time, a large part of the public infrastructure was created, namely the waterworks, secondary schools, a hospital, the city hall and a tram line to Detroit.
But the boom was short-lived at first. In 1926, Ford moved to Dearborn, west of Detroit, because the local factory had become too small. However , at the same time , a competitor, Chrysler , had built a second large plant nearby, which was to be the city's largest employer for 65 years.
In 1918 Highland Park was the city (city) rise. In doing so, the municipality successfully fought against the threat of incorporation into Detroit and the associated outflow of local tax revenues. However, these days this measure has the disadvantage that the city has to bear its social problems and its high public deficits alone and cannot pass them on to larger regional authorities.
The cityscape changed in the 1950s and 1960s. As a result of the federal home subsidy and the construction of the interstate highways , extensive new development areas emerged on the outer edges of the metropolitan area, while Highland Park, with its now aging building stock, became increasingly unattractive as a residential location. As a result, the established, originally mostly white, resident population increasingly moved to the new suburbs, while immigrants from the southern United States, predominantly black, moved into the urban area.
At the same time, the local automotive industry was increasingly lost as an economic mainstay. Ford gave up its last on-site manufacturing facility in 1973, and when Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1979, Highland Park lost millions of tax dollars. When the company moved its research and development center in 1991 and a year later also its corporate headquarters to Auburn Hills , around 30 kilometers to the north , the city lost 40 percent of its jobs and 25 percent of its tax revenue. Although the city received a total of $ 44 million in compensation and new businesses could be settled, the city did not recover from this bloodletting. In 2001 the city was finally placed under compulsory administration for eight years due to its desolate budget situation, and in 2012 also the school district, which had been autonomous until then. In the course of the austerity measures that have now started, large parts of the street lighting have been dismantled and all secondary schools have been closed.
Web links
- City of Highland Park Comprehensive Master Plan 2001. (PDF) City of Highland Park, 2008.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Mark Binelli: Detroit City is the Place to Be . Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York 2012, ISBN 978-0-8050-9229-5 , pp. 183 .
- ↑ a b City of Highland Park Comprehensive Master Plan 2001. (PDF) (No longer available online.) City of Highland Park, 2008, p. 30 , archived from the original on October 10, 2015 ; accessed on March 18, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Source: United States Census Bureau
- ↑ a b c Corey Williams: Unable to pay bill, Mich. city turns off lights. (No longer available online.) Associated Press (AP) November 3, 2011, archived from the original on March 20, 2017 ; accessed on March 17, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Steve Pardo and Candice Williams: Detroit sues Highland Park for $ 17M in unpaid sewer bills. (No longer available online.) Detroit News, Nov. 23, 2013, archived from the original on Dec. 1, 2013 ; accessed on March 17, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Aaron Foley: From state-of-the-art to state takeover: The rise and fall of Highland Park Public Schools. February 2, 2012, accessed March 18, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d e f City of Highland Park Comprehensive Master Plan 2001. (PDF) (No longer available online.) City of Highland Park, 2008, pp. 4–12 , archived from the original on October 10, 2015 ; accessed on March 18, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Mark Binelli: Detroit City is the Place to Be . Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York 2012, ISBN 978-0-8050-9229-5 , pp. 182 .
- ^ Warren Brown: Chrysler Moving Headquarters To Suburb of Detroit by 1995. The Washington Post, September 9, 1992, pp. F.01 , accessed March 16, 2017 .
- ^ Daniel Bethencourt: Highland Park parents seek options as high school shuts. (No longer available online.) Detroit Free Press, June 9, 2015, archived from the original on July 2, 2015 ; accessed on March 18, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
