Isn't there something like 40k empty homes? I've heard too that some areas don't have any street lights and the cops won't go there.
Population has declined from over 1,850,000 in 1950 to 701,000 in 2013, a loss of over 60%. Of that number, 1,400,000 of the 1,600,000 white people in Detroit after WWII have fled.
Unemployment ranks No. 1 in the 50 most populous cities in the U.S. at 23.1%
70,000 abandoned buildings, 31,000 empty houses, 90,000 vacant lots.
The Detroit News reported that over half of Detroit property owners didn't pay property taxes in 2012, resulting in a loss of $131 million or 12% of the city's general budget.
A 2012 Forbes report named Detroit as the most dangerous city in the United States for the fourth year in a row.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_Detroit#UnemploymentFor an even more stark presentation, I urge you read Charlie LeDuff's book
Detroit: An American Autopsy.
http://www.amazon.com/Detroit-American-Autopsy-Charlie-LeDuff/dp/1594205345/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375993658&sr=8-1&keywords=charlie+leduff