Good post, Ivy. Well researched and articulated, as usual. I'll just add the why, where the decline of the Detroit Mafia is concerned.

My two cents: When you combine the General Attrition of Italian-Americans in the Detroit area, with the tremendous African-American population there; toss in the very prominent gang presence in the area, and you'll see that it's now impossible for a traditional Italian-American Mafia Family to survive there, let alone thrive.

Are there a few old timers left? Sure, you'll have that until they finally all die off. Are there a few delinquent kids, born in the '80s, who are too dumb to realize that the thing was almost over before they were born? Yeah, you have that too. Criminal minded guys like that are always gonna be pissed off about "missing the boat."

But if you'll open your eyes, you'll realize that it's not just Detroit. Hell, even the New York families, while clearly still the most powerful in the nation, are shadows of their former selves (save for the Genovese crew, those are some cagey old timers).