There are many cities that are in bad shape and a few worse than Detroit and Baltimore. Many more will face the same disaster in the near future.
The problem isn’t that the black underclass population is large. That is one of the results of poor city government because the non-black workers and their families have left.
The problem dates back to the 1960’s when the hereditary elite in America disappeared for reasons explained in this blog. When the hereditary elite lost power, the formerly stable urban governments moved from politically balanced to pure Democrat. The urban powers that remained were the unions; the Democrat Party. Almost identical twins.
The Democrat Party and the unions, without the previous restraints, embarked on two paths. Deliberate expansion of city employment which meant expansion of the government unions. And the increase in government employee pay and pensions. Today urban government workers earn nearly 150% of what comparable market rate jobs offer.
Over time the only way to pay for these expanded government budgets is to raise taxes. That drives out businesses and workers who follow the businesses.
The only cities that can survive the Democrat-union vicious circle are ones that have growing new businesses. That is very few. With each down turn the situation gets worse. The 2008 financial downturn saw the Federal government give half a trillion dollars to city governments to bail them out.
The next time a bail out may not be available.