Detroit surrounds it, but Highland Park is its own city — with its own mayor, its own story, and a history many have forgotten.

It's the birthplace of Ford's moving assembly line and Chrysler Corporation. At its peak, nearly 53,000 people lived here in a town they called the City of Trees. Today, fewer than 9,000 remain. WDET reporters have been listening to the people who stayed.

WDET News Director Jerome Vaughn joins host Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss this reporting as a part of the ongoing series Crossing the Lines.