content: As a resident of the metro Detroit area for the first 30 years of my life who finally fled last year, I write this review with a bit of nostalgic sorrow. What happened to Detroit - formerly the fourth most populous city in the U.S. and once considered the "Paris of the Midwest" - is nothing short of a very sad, sad tale.The Origins of the Urban Crisis does an excellent job at going all the way back to examine the causal factors, with a decidedly un-biased eye. The sad reality is that there's more than enough blame to go around on all sides, and the book details this without stooping to broad-sweeping generalizations; instead, it presents the facts & supporting arguments for your review.I will warn that it's a bit over-whelming in that one constantly asks themself "what could have prevented that" and "would X have worked" as they read tale of riot after riot, and injustice after injustice.