Descriptions of Places

Now, I'm no stranger to the progress and decline of American industry and its effects on the landscapes and communities of our nation, but really Detroit is on a whole other level. That metro area is dominated by manufacturing in a way I haven't seen elsewhere. Even in the main downtown, with its tall commercial buildings and cool early 20th century architecture, the factories make their presence known, visible in the immediate surroundings from upper floors and parking decks, and encountered by walking a short distance outside the commercial area. Of course many of these industrial complexes, especially in the inner city, are abandoned and falling apart. But throughout the metro area, the living power and influence of industry is evident in countless examples. How tempting it is to suggest that if manufacturing left this place once and for all, it would have no reason to exist. The region's geography is also simpler than most metro areas. A city on a river m