Roads to nowhere: how infrastructure built on American inequality
Its a little after 3pm in Detroits 8 Mile neighbourhood, and the cicadas are buzzing loudly in the trees. Children weave down the pavements on bicycles, while a pickup basketball game gets under way in a nearby park. The sky is a deep blue with only a hint of an approaching thunderstorm in other words, a muggy, typical summer Sunday in Michigans largest city.
8 Mile, as the locals call it, is far from the much-touted economic renaissance taking place in Detroits centre. Tax delinquency and debt are still major issues, as they are in most places in the city. Crime and blight exist side by side with carefully trimmed hedgerows and mowed lawns, a patchwork that changes from block to block. In many ways it resembles every other blighted neighbourhood in the city but with one significant difference. Hidden behind the oak-lined streets is an insidious piece of history that most Detroiters, let alone Americans, dont even know exists: a half mile-long, 5ft tall concrete barrier that locals simply call the wall.
Growing up, we didnt know what that wall was for, says Teresa Moon, president of the 8 Mile Community Organization. It used to be a rite of passage to walk on top of the wall, like a balancing beam. You know, just kids having fun, that kind of thing. It was only later when I found out what it was for, and when I realised the audacity that they had to build it.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/21/roads-nowhere-infrastructure-american-inequality