Slow writing progress...

...in a quick overview. (Click on left or right hand sided pictures for detailed fotos)

Absolutely essential...

...was the usage of some resources and equipment listed here.

•  The online dictionary of leo.org as it provides loads of synonyms, when you look up a single german word. Also idomatic expressions are available, enabling a more sophisticated style of writing (not claiming that my style is sophisticated, but without the translator, the work would have gotten awful, at least the variation of language ;)).

•  Another important tool used was the hard-disk translator from babylon.com, also giving the meaning of a English/German word by the stroke of a key. I recommend this program to everyone, as it is quite fast, relyable and provides hundreds, no thousands of different dictionaries available online or through download; for instance, you can translate from English into Russian or from French to Dutch.

•  Probably one of the most important things: I used StarOffice (or the nearly identical but freely distributed openoffice, freely distributed!) in order to write and layout great parts of the text. This was very crucial factor, as it eased the work unimaginably. One can use templates for paragraphs, create listings as the table of contents in no time, just to name two reasons. But the most important fact is that it never crashed my PC during the three weeks of extensive writing work. The "other" word processor from that big company everyone knows about crashed after 10 minutes when I was trying to do the most simple tasks. This made the decision to transfer from the Microsoft product to another text editor quite easy (for those who paid attention: YES, I used still Microsoft Word for the grammer check).

•  Also kind of useful was the employment of a dual-head display at my computer (see here). For all non-technic geeks out there: with this equipment, you can use two monitors while working on one computer. For example, you can look up a german word in the translator of leo.org on one screen, while simultaneously write in the word processor on the other.

•   Another very important point: the library as a source of uncounted books. See, I am really not a denier of the Internet or other computer-related stuff. But in the Internet, most of the time, you just find very insufficient information about any topic you have to write more than 10 pages. Therefor I lent about 17 books at our local library (the rest of the books given in the bibliography were bought at amazon.com). It is really unbelievable how much books are available through interlibrary loan! Even about, well let's say, unpopular topics in Germany, like the one of the development of the City of Detroit, you find quite an impressing number of books related to the subject.

•   This point normally should be mentioned at first, as it is the most important one (but you always preserve the best for the end, don't you?): the aid of real human beings, as there are:
  > My parents for paying the electricity bill and backing me up.
  > My teacher, Mr. Heller, for giving me precise annotations regarding my work.
  
  > And last, but definitely not least: the uncountable encouraging, kind, helpful responses, opinions and statements of so many people from the States. Each single feedback absolutely excited me, your help finalized my work in some way! This week is definitely one of the most thrilling ones in my entire life.
  Thank you ( in alphabetical order): Aeb, Bob Allen, The Aram, Atl_runner, Lowell Boileau, brand500 (kinopravda - Maxpraxis), Brasziz, Brian, Bvos, Carptrash, Christine, Dag, Mary Jo David, Cheryl Denman, R. Sue Dodea, Vic Doucette, Dougw, Fho, Goat, Anthony Hiller, Richard Hinks, Roger Imerman, Itsjeff, Jeff (Jelk), Jeff Jones, Jim, jt1, Jeff Katz, kazooexplorer, Michael Körner, Einar 'Carptrash' Einarsson Kvaran, Lurkerer, Marcnbyr, Peter McNally, MikeM, Mind_field, Jason Myers | Myers, Paul, rockstarchitect, Michael Rosar, SAN, Steve, UrbanTiki, Karen Van Antwerp, A. Grimace Virden, Frances Warren, Zoot and all those I have forgotten. And once again: Thanks *G*.
  

The books...

...I have used are enlisted here. If available, linked to amazon.com

• Carlson, L.H., Highland Park oder die Zukunft der Stadt, Berlin, Aufbau Verlag, 1994 - A German one but not that informative - rather portraying some 'typical' Detroiters.

• Catanese, A.J., The politics of planning and development, Beverly Hills, SAGE Publications, 1984

• Cohen, I., Echoes of Detroit: A 300-Year History, Haslett, City Vision Publishing, 2001 Bought at amazon.com. If you are interested in sports history of Detroit mainly, go ahead and buy this one.

• Darden, J.T., Hill, R.C., Thomas, J., Thomas R., Detroit – Race and Uneven Development, Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 1987 Good book about the 'uneven development' and the racial issues, though a bit old.

• Duncan, O.D., Social change in a metropolitan community, New York, Russell Sage Foundation, 1974 You may call that book outdated, though it contains basic information about developing a metropolitan area

• Farley, R., Danziger, S., Holzer H.J., Detroit divided, New York, Russell Sage Foundation, 2002 Actually a detailed analysis of a survey, but containing very informative charts and conclusions.

• Gavrilovich, P., McGraw, B., The Detroit Almanac, Detroit, Detroit Free Press, 2001 Bought at amazon.com. A must have for everyone coming from/to Detroit. Contains plenty of informations, is written in a very entertaining style and you just enjoy browsing this book.

• Georgakas, D., Surkin, M., Detroit: I do mind dying. – A study in urban revolution, London, Redwords, 1998, updated edition Popular book, though not very much related to my topic. Employees are in the center of attraction.

• Hartigan, J., Racial situations: class predicaments of whiteness in Detroit, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1999 Reads somehow like a novel, depicting daily life of stereotypes like 'hillbillies'.

• Henrickson, W.W., Detroit perspectives: crossroads and turning points, Detroit, Wayne State University Press,1991 This one is more or less a collection of poetry and essays related to the whole history of Detroit. For my issue not that important.

• Hill, E.J., Gallagher, J., AIA Detroit – The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture, Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 2003 Bought it at amazon.com, portraying several buildings of Detriot. In my opinion, the pictures are not that good and a lot too small. Though some interesting points get mentioned.

• Kannan, N.P., Downsizing Detroit, New York, Praeger Publishers, 1982 Old book about the economic transformation of Detroit. At least I could extract some basic economic progression.

• Sinclair, R., Thompson, B., Metropolitan Detroit: An Anatomy of Social Change, Cambridge(Massachusetts), Ballinger Publishing Company, 1977 An old one, too. Did not concentrate on it.

• Mason, P.L., African Americans, labor and society organizing for a new agenda, Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 2001 Not that related to my topic.

• Mathewson, K., Financing the metropolis, New York, Praeger Publishers, 1980 Old, maybe outdated, not the easiest to read but also giving you basic information about the involvements of 'financing the metropolis' Detroit.

• Maynard, M., The End of Detroit – how the Big Three lost their grip on the American car market, New York, Currency Book, 2003 Up to date, used it a lot. Unfortunately, the portrays of the imports are too long, the ones of the Big Three too short. Actually, you cannot use it for macro-view reflections.

• Meiklejohn, S.T., Wages, race and space: lessons from employers in Detroit’s auto industry, New York, Garland Publishing, 2000 Also not that related to my topic.

• Sugrue, T.J., The origins of the urban crisis: Race and inequality in postwar Detroit, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1996 Sugrue argues that the 'origins of the urban crisis' in Detroit emerged in the two decades after WWII. He may be right, but he concentrates too much on the past.

• Thomas, J., Redevelopment and race – Planning a Finer City in Postwar Detroit, Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997 Good book, sometimes hard to read. Includes the contemplation of racial and city planning issues. Exhaustively!

• Thompson, H.A., Whose Detroit? : politics, labor, and race in a modern American city, New York, Cornell University Press, 2001 Race, unions and employer-employee relationship; read just parts of it.

• Wolman, H.L., Agius, E.J., National urban policy: problems and prospects, Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1996 Not directely related to Detroit, though some important facts can be read. Just read a small part of this one.