Your wrong, there isn't much difference between Detroit and most other major cities I've visited at all.
Detroit is just a lot smaller, after the riots everyone moved out of the city to the suburbs. The city is a decaying shell of what it used to be. It's a haven for criminals from the surrounding metropolitan area because of the abandonment of homes and small police force. That's part of the reason the per capita crime rate is so high, the crime is usually brought to Detroit from the surrounding suburbs.
You don't have to worry about random acts of violence as much as you think if your minding your own business.
Detroit may be broke, but our hockey team and baseball team will fuck you up.