History of Detroit

strictive covenants maintained by state action or inaction build black ghettos ... the task of equity is to provide a unitary system for the affected area where, as here, the State washes its hands of its own creations."

The gasoline crises of 1973 and 1979 also impacted Detroit and the U.S. auto industry as small cars from foreign makers made inroads.

In 1974, the city elected Coleman A Young to be its first African-American mayor.

Renaissance has been a common theme among city leaders, reinforced by the construction of the Renaissance Center in the late 1970s. This complex of skyscrapers, designed as a city within a city, together with other developments, slowed and eventually began to reverse the trend of businesses leaving Downtown Detroit by the late 1990s.

In 1980, Detroit hosted the Republican National Convention, which nominated Ronald Reagan to a successful bid for president of the United States.

During the 1980s, vacant and occupied structures were demolished to make way for new development and revitalization. Mayor Young and automobile executives controversially championed the use of eminent domain to build two large new auto assembly plants in the city: the General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Plant, also known as the "Poletown Plant", and the Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly Plant. Also, various large developments such as Riverfront Condominiums, the Millender Center Apartments, Harbortown, and 150 West Jefferson were built on or near the Detroit's waterfront.

In the 1990s, the city continued to see new developments centered in the Downtown, Midtown and New Center areas. One Detroit Center (1993) arose on