The median price of a house sold in the city of Detroit has fallen to a staggering $7,500, the Chicago Tribune reports. And the bad news simply piles on top of that frightening statistic:
If the Obama administration is looking for a city to test new ideas for chronic urban problems, it can look to Detroit, a northern New Orleans without the French Quarter. While bedrock poverty in the Crescent City was violently laid bare by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Detroit has been quietly slipping into social and economic crisis for 40 years. One-third of the population lives in poverty, and almost 50 percent of children are in poverty, according to data from the Detroit-Area Community Indicators System. Median household income has dropped 24 percent since 2000, according to the Census Bureau.
New York bond-rating houses this month lowered the city’s bond rating to junk status, a lowly assessment shared by New Orleans and few others.
When you can buy a house for less than you can buy even the cheapest car, Detroit has reached the point where it is a virtual third world city in the middle of a first world country.