The humbling of Detroit North

摘要

For almost a century the fate and fortune of Windsor, Ontario, have been intertwined with those of Detroit, Michigan. General Motors (gm), Ford and Chrysler made cars on both sides of the Detroit River, sending parts and vehicles back and forth at will. Windsorites worked in the car plants, loyally bought the cars, followed American sports teams, and thought nothing of driving over the Ambassador Bridge or popping through the Detroit-Windsor tunnel for a night on the town.rnSo the collapse into bankruptcy of gm and Chrysler has brought Windsor down along with Detroit. A blue-collar city of 273,000 people, Windsor now has the highest jobless rate in Canada (14.4%) and faces an uncertain future. Its decline is visible on Ouellette Avenue, the main commercial artery. On some blocks, more shops have shut down than are still open. The brightest sign on the street announces the grand opening of Dollarama, a deep discount store. On the riverside promenade the headquarters of Chrysler Canada, opened with much hoopla in 2002, stands partly empty, a "For Rent" sign on the plate-glass window of its showroom. Truck traffic between Windsor and Detroit-the busiest crossing-point on the Canadian border-fell by a third in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2008.