Detroit enclave city built on auto industry struggles under $20M water debt
A small enclave of Detroit is considering municipal bankruptcy to help rid itself of a decades-old water debt that has grown to about $20 million and threatens to swamp the already financially struggling city
By COREY WILLIAMS
Published - May 19, 2023, 01:36 AM ET
Last Updated - Jun 21, 2023, 06:03 PM EDT
HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) — Kevin Houston scanned the Michigan street where his fixer-upper and older homes bridge gaps between the vacant, overgrown lots and abandoned, ramshackle houses, boarded-up businesses and potholed streets of Highland Park.
But no one would confuse the neighborhood for a park.
“It’s not a bad place to live,” Houston said. “It’s not the best.”
The community, just under 3 square miles (7.8 square kilometers) and nearly surrounded by Detroit, is a shell of its auto baron past, when manufacturing boomed and money flowed. Over 50,000 people lived there in 1930. Homes — elegant and spacious — rivaled some of those built in Detroit.
