DETROIT — Once the very symbol of American industrial might, Detroit became the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy Thursday, its finances ravaged and its neighborhoods hollowed out by a long, slow decline in population and auto manufacturing.
The filing, which had been feared for months, put the city on an uncertain path that could mean laying off municipal employees, selling off assets, raising fees and scaling back basic services such as trash collection and snow plowing, which have already been slashed.
"Only one feasible path offers a way out," Gov. Rick Snyder said in a letter approving the move.
Kevin Orr, a bankruptcy expert hired by the state in March to stop Detroit's fiscal free-fall made the Chapter 9 filing Thursday in federal bankruptcy court.
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