By Oralandar Brand-Williams

The latest mantra on the lips of folks in Michigan and Motor City is, once again, “The last one out please turn out the lights.”

It’s a familiar refrain heard from residents wondering if there is any relief in sight from the economic storms that have devastated the area. But for Darrell Stewart, a Detroit native and longtime city resident, he says he’s staying put, for now.

Stewart, a photographer and city worker, says he’s got too much invested in his historic home and his life in Michigan to go any where else. “There are some problems with the city’s politics, but I can’t move because what would I do with my home?” said Stewart.

His dilemma is common to many Metro Detroiters: They can’t pull up roots because Michigan’s anemic economy makes selling their homes next to impossible.

Dave Bing

Michigan and Detroit are in the struggle for survival, but residents like Stewart and others say they are hunkering down to ride out the economic tsunami that has the troubled region in its grip. The city that put the world on wheels is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, making it the epicenter of the economic meltdown in America. A jobless rate of 16 percent, a public school system rated one of the worst in the nation and a declining population are just a few of the problems plaguing Detroit, once known for its high-paid factory jobs and solid middle class lifestyle that came with them.

Residents are putting their hopes for the city’s future into former Pistons star-turned-businessman Dave Bing, who became the city’s new mayor following a special election May 5 to lead the beleaguered city through December.

Detroit’s devastation is compounded by the latest economic woes the city is facing due to the anemic state of the domestic auto industry. Detroit’s three automakers, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are experiencing their worst losses in decades. In 2008, the industry lost 33,000 factory jobs bringing a total loss of 270,000 UAW jobs since 2001. In 1992, General Motors had 304,000 hourly jobs; by 2010 the automakers is expected to only have 40,000 line jobs left, according to UAW figures.

The problem plaguing the industry is what David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, calls an “automotive depression. But,” he adds, “the long term is looking very good.”

On April 24, Ford posted a $1.4 billion loss. That bad news was compounded by reports of Chrysler’s, and then General Motors’ bankruptcy filings and GM’s announcement that it would be closing more plants in Michigan and around the country.

The jobless rate for the state of Michigan continues to climb. Last month, the state’s jobless rate jumped to its highest level since July of 1983. In late June General Motors announced it was laying off 4,000 workers among its white collar ranks.

But state officials are undaunted by the persistent downward spin of the state’s economy. In April, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced 7,700 new jobs would be created in 14 job-creating projects, including four advanced-battery manufacturing programs. They’re also eyeing new opportunities in the high-tech, “green” sector and medical fields, says Bridget Beckman, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a state office. “We’re focused on the high-tech sector and alternative energy,” said Beckman. “There is a synergy between manufacturing skills and automotive expertise.”

Rather than waiting for the state’s turnaround, some people are leaving town looking for work. The high unemployment rate has created a mass exodus of people from Michigan. Each day and average of 126 people pack up and leave the state. From July 2006 to July 2007 Michigan lost 30,000 people. That number rose to 46,000 for the same period between 2007 and last year, according to an economic report from Michigan State University.

Rosalyn Turner is among those pulling up stakes.

The Detroit resident returned home five years ago after living in France for 15 years, only to come back to the worsening economy at home. Turner, an attorney who also has degrees in education and business, took various small-paying jobs to stay afloat. She has decided to become a school teacher and is leaving Detroit for a teaching fellowship program in Maryland.

“I thought with three degrees and Detroit being involved in the global economy, that I’d be able to find a job,” said Turner. “You’d think this would be the place where (three degrees) would be valuable.”

One of the casualties of the severe downturn in the automotive industry is the black middle class. Blacks make up 13 percent of the workers in the automotive manufacturing jobs. The jobs have paid well and have allowed blacks to buy their own piece of the American Dream and solidly entrench themselves in the country’s middle class.

“You had generations of kids going to college because granddad or mom had a job in the factory,” said Mike Smith, director of the Walter Reuther Labor Library at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Home ownership among blacks in the city is beginning to decline because of the high foreclosure rates, partly brought on by high unemployment.

Thomas Summers, a General Motors worker and UAW Local 22 vice president says his membership is very worried about the prospect of a GM bankruptcy.

“They’re calling everyday asking about a bankruptcy,” said Summers. “They want to know what’s going to happen to their health benefits.”

Summers said he is dealing with the fact that he might be laid off in the coming months but that he is scaling back his expenses and keeping his fingers crossed. He, like many autoworkers afraid of being displaced, is contemplating going back to school if he loses his automotive job permanently.

Most experts agree that a GM bankruptcy would have devastating effects on black families especially.

“African-Americans are twenty percent more concentrated in the auto industry so what happens to the auto industry will have a disproportionate impact on African Americans,” said Don Grimes, an economist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

But, despite all of the bad news confronting the city and the U.S. automotive industry, residents like Darrell Stewart say they feel hopeful about Detroit’s future as a thriving metropolis despite that it has fallen from its Top Ten spot in the ranking of U.S. cities. Detroit is now the 11th largest city in the country.

Stewart, a freelance photographer and city worker, says the future may look bleak for the city, but he said he believes the city will rebound from its hard times. A past president of the Boston-Edison Historic area homeowners association, Stewart said Detroiters must come together block by block to deal with issues hurting the city such as crime, poverty and joblessness.

“The neighborhoods have to start binding together,” said Stewart. “There’s always been a lot of attention placed on the downtown area but you have to build from downtown out to the neighborhoods.”

Both residents and pundits alike agree Detroit is at a crossroads. Some say the city has many needs but that new leadership and stimulus money from Washington to clean up Detroit’s aging infrastructure is a start in the right direction.

But despite the bad news, Detroit has seen a few glimmers of hope in the past three years. In 2006 the city received high marks for hosting Super Bowl XL. And this March, the NCAA Final Four Men’s basketball tournament was held at Ford Field, bringing an estimated 145, 000 people to the city and about $30 million into the city’s economy during the three-day event.

Newly-opened hotels like the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel and the Doubletree Fort Shelby Hotel have brightened up the city’s skyline and given a small boost to the local economy.

Some Metro Detroiters hoped the opening of three casinos would transform Detroit into an entertainment destination. But that hasn’t happened.

Due to generous tax incentives, state and city officials are now pinning their hopes on a Hollywood production boom. There has been a flurry of film moviemaking from Hollywood producers and directors. Last year, actor/director Clint Eastwood filmed parts of his movie, “Gran Torino” in Highland Park, an enclave of Detroit. Hollywood director Michael Bay shot many scenes for the movie “Transformers” in downtown Detroit and in the city’s aging, abandoned train station.

In her February State of the State Address, Granholm announced plans for an $86 million digital animation and visual effects studio that will be built on the former site of the MGM Grand Casino. A $70 million film studio will be built in a former Pontiac plant in Pontiac, Michigan, 35 minutes north of Detroit.

In April, plans were announced for $146 million media and film production studio in Allen Park, a suburb of Detroit.

Smith, like others, remains optimistic that Detroit and the automotive industry will remain relevant to the city’s survival and future.

“I like this city and I like it a lot,” said Smith. “Detroit has severe problems and severe structural problems, but there’s something dynamic about Detroit you just don’t see anywhere else.”

Smith predicts Detroit will see a turnaround in the coming years. He says the area’s automotive industry will survive but it will transform.

“The car business will be smaller but it will be solid,” predicted Smith. “It’s going to be a smaller industry. (Metro Detroit) is still the technical center for the automotive industry.”

The future automotive jobs will be more technical and will require mental mettle, said Smith.

“Education and skills will have to be emphasized,” Smith said. “A lot of these jobs aren’t going to be unskilled labor.”

Oralandar Brand-Williams covers religion and general assignment news for The Detroit News. She has also reported on crime, education, race relations and civil rights issues. She is a former producer and assignment editor at WWJ News radio and WDIV-TV in Detroit. Her articles have also appeared in USA Today, Real Simple magazine and other newspapers across the country.