The Straight Detroit : America's Premier Legacy City

The Straight Detroit: America's Premiere Legacy City gives readers a variety of in-depth perspectives on this great American city and the economic, social, political, and cultural considerations that have shaped and continue to shape it. 

This carefully curated anthology includes rigorous works covering topics such as the experiences of early settlers and Native Americans, the racial tensions that resulted from disparate ethnic communities pouring from the South into a gainful employment-rich city, and severe housing shortages faced by newcomers. This focus on newcomers and their experiences in Detroit is a running theme throughout the anthology, which also broadly explores the early history of the city, its industrial decline, race relations, urban planning and administration, community development, and the city’s future, among other selected topics. 

The Straight Detroit features relevant, contemporary, and penetrating scholarship from a wide-ranging set of authors writing in diverse academic and cultural disciplines. Equal parts textbook, historical exploration, critical examination, and testament of love for the city and its people, it is ideal for courses in urban studies, history, or sociology.

Jeffrey T. Horner is senior lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Wayne State University. His course offerings include introduction to urban studies, cities and regions, and urban studies research. He has also developed and instructed specialized graduate courses on Detroit. His writing has appeared in the Journal of the American Planning Association, the Journal of Housing Research, Newsweek, MacLean’s, and CityLab. He has authored study guides, expert reports, and memoranda for local and national organizations including the City of Detroit Planning Department and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has contributed to national and international media stories on Detroit, including NPR, Al Jazeera, and the BBC.