Surviving Detroit 01
A pit-bull mix dog barks at a stranger in a Delray neighborhood in Detroit. Pit bulls are common in the city; they are feared for their jaw strength and admired for intelligence. Dogs are kept for protection from thieves and burglars although they don't always work, a nearby resident complained that burglars twice shot and killed his dogs when he was away from home. Delray used to be a predominantly Hungarian and Polish neighborhood. Now mainly blacks and Mexicans inhabit the remaining houses. It's one of the most polluted areas in Michigan due to high concentration of highly polluting industry that encroached on the residential area of Detroit in recent decades when many residents moved out and factories shut down. The dog barks on the porch of Walter, whose wife is Polish. Walter, 74, moved from Kentucky to Detroit in 1950s looking for work. Since then he moved back to Kentucky twice when work dried up in Detroit. After his marriage in Kentucky fell apart, he moved for the last time back to Detroit in 1990. Walter stayed put in the neighborhood despite the exodus of most of his Hungarian American and Polish American neighbors to the suburbs. He is busy untangling a power cord for leaf mulching machine. Monday, November 1, 2010. Marcin Szczepanski
