Vito Valdez spends part of his time in El Paso, Texas, and part in Detroit, where he teaches and paints. His family, like many Mexicans, came here to work in the auto industry decades ago.

Michigan, the national leader in recession, depends on an auto industry that will never be as big as it was. So how does the Detroit area diversify? Who's hiring, or investing in something new?

For over a century Detroit and the car industry have been practically synonymous in America. The success of the Ford Model t helped a modest port town grow into America’s fourth-biggest city.