CHICAGO: Detroit yesterday became the largest city in US history to file for bankruptcy protection, court documents showed.
Once the fourth largest US city, Detroit has seen its population shrink by more than half, from 1.8 million in 1950 to 685,000 today, as crime, flight to the suburbs and the hollowing out of the auto industry have eaten away at its foundations.
“The citizens of Detroit need and deserve a clear road out of the cycle of ever-decreasing services,” Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said in a letter accompanying the court filing. “The only feasible path to a stable and solid Detroit is to file for bankruptcy protection.”
Detroit stopped making payments on some of its $18.5bn of debt and obligations last month.
Snyder appointed an emergency manager earlier this year to restructure Detroit’s finances. There are 78,000 abandoned buildings scattered across the city, and 40 percent of the streetlights don’t work.
AFP
