Finding their way to San Jose: Detroit is down, San Jose is up: what their fortunes tell us about life in America in the 21st century.

• Author: Zack, Ian
• Position: NATIONAL

Maps and population statistics can tell us a lot about where a country is headed, both literally and figuratively. Take the U.S. Census Bureau's latest findings on American cities: They show that for the first time since 1900, Detroit is not on the list of the Top 10 most populous U.S. cities. In its place is San Jose, Calif.

Although those two cities are separated, as of last summer, by a mere 4,324 people, their new places in the pecking order speak volumes about three broad trends that have been reshaping America in the last 50 years: the decline of the manufacturing economy; the migration of Americans to the South and West; and the growth of suburbs at the expense of cities.

Detroit is in many ways the poster child for the decline of America's manufacturing centers. As the longtime hub of the U.S. auto business, the Motor City's fortunes have fallen along with those of its namesake industry.

The "Big Three" U.S. automakers--General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler (which is now owned by a German conglomerate)--have closed plants and laid off tens of thousands of workers in the past few years.

The factory closings and huge job losses have been devastating for Detroit, which was the nation's fourth-largest city 50 years ago. The city cannot collect enough tax revenue to pay its bills, forcing it to close schools and lay off city workers. Those cutbacks in turn cause others to flee the city.

"It's part of a pattern for the heavily industrialized cities," says Dana Johnson, an economist in Detroit. "There's been an ongoing dynamic here of people, middle-class people in Detroit, fleeing the city looking for better schools, better lifestyles, better services."

MOVING OVERSEAS

Detroit is hardly alone. After World War II, the U.S. was the world's leading manufacturer. Cars, televisions, toys, and clothing made in America were exported around the world, and the well-paid, unionized factory workers who made them formed the backbone of a rising middle class.

In the last three decades, the U.S. economy has shifted. Companies have moved factories--especially those in the Northeast and Midwest--overseas to take advantage of lower wages in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

With plants closing down, it's not surprising that of the 10 cities with the largest population declines between 2000 and 2004, seven were in the Midwest. (New York remained the nation's biggest city, with 8.1 million people, followed by Los Angeles, at 3.8 million.)

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