A Fascinating Split Screen Montage That Juxtaposes the Past 100 Years of Detroit With the Current Day

The New Yorker has put together a fascinating, if not slightly solemn split screen montage of footage from the past 100 years of Detroit, starting from when it was a bustling city of automotive invention, construction, glamour and wealth, juxtaposed against footage from the current day. As the years went by, the shiny veneer of the city began to appear lackluster and rumpled. The things that were once new are now old and crumbling. Over the past century, many of the jobs moved out of town and the automotive businesses suffered great financial losses. But for this “comeback city”, the words of the Detroit City Flag have never rung more true, “We hope for better things; it shall arise from the ashes”. (Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus).

A split-screen tour highlights the iconic landmarks and auto-manufacturing industry of the Motor City, once the fourth largest city in America with its wealth of stable jobs on the Ford, Chrysler, and G.M. assembly lines.