US city Detroit has gone bust !
The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington says public services are in a state of near collapse
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23369573
- Population has shrunk from a peak of 2 million in the 1950s to 713,000 today
- Highest violent crime rate of any major US city, with 15,245 reported incidents in 2011
- Some 78,000 abandoned and blighted buildings
- 40% of street lights do not work
- Only a third of the city's ambulances are in service
- Just 53% of owners paid their 2011 property taxes