Detroit Now & Then: Decay

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Edmonton and Grand River, 1967 and 2013

Though Detroit's population had peaked by the 1950's, the 1967 riot accelerated the "white flight" of middle class white families out of the city and into the suburbs. With fewer residents to support them, business started to fail, leading to a surplus of vacant buildings. Some parts of the city that were damaged in the 1967 riots didn't recover. This block of commercial buildings along Grand River Boulevard was abandoned and later demolished in the 1980's.