Authors: Maria Arquero de Alarcon & Larissa Larsen
Although the North American economy is considered post-industrial in character, pockets of heavy industry remain. Located at the confluence of the Detroit River and River Rouge, southwest Detroit is an amalgam of residential housing, ongoing industrial activity, and expanding transportation infrastructure. Some of the most deteriorated pockets of residential housing exist within the neighborhood of Delray. Historical accounts of this neighborhood in the early 1900s provide a glimpse of an active, mixed-use Hungarian enclave whose residents were attracted by the employment opportunities of the nearby industrial manufacturing facilities. Gone is the promise once present for neighborhood residents of economic advancement through industrial labor, and much economic activity has left. However, a proposal to locate the American side of a second international bridge in Delray returned public attention to this area. This urban landscape is a striking example of how global economic advancements can occur simultaneously amidst local decline.