Hipsters Revitalizing Downtown Detroit? (Wayne, Brooklyn: real estate, crime, neighborhoods)

[lentzr]

Today's NYTimes had an interesting article. It claimed that young professionals are moving into Downtown Detroit in significant numbers. While most of Detroit lost population (along with the city as a whole) in the past decade, Downtown's population is growing significantly. The article even suggested that downtown Detroit has a lack of housing for the hipsters and young professionals. Is this trend the beginning to a revitalization of Detroit that will one day spread to other neighborhoods? Or will it in the end prove to be insignificant? Discuss.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/fa...y.html?_r=1&hp

[RingWalk]

The NYTimes is notorious for publishing these kind of articles. They did a similar one a few weeks ago about a new great black migration from NY state south but when you looked at the actual figures, it wasn't really that convincing.

That Detroit has increased its level of college grads under the age of 35 over the last decade--the only hard stat in the article--is not that surprising. During the early to mid-90s the city was at its worst in terms of cultural life, if not crime, because there were fewer people left to prey on. There was absolutely nothing to do down there.

It started getting revitalized a little from the mid-late 90s on. The economy was really strong in general, people were building big housing projects, etc. It also started to become "cool" to live in Detroit.

Hopefully the hipsters keep coming, but for instance the caption saying it's the TriBeCa of the Midwest...doubtful.

Detroit is going to have a much, much harder time than places like Brooklyn or neighborhoods in Chicago because it doesn't have a huge vibrant downtown to feed off of.

What do all the hipsters do when they get there?

[TaylorRothschild]

Yeah that's the word for the past few years, artisans and young creative types coming in droves to motown. It's becoming the Paris of Lake Erie, in fact it's only rivals nationwide for this type of progressive movement are Camden, NJ and Youngstown, OH.

So what if it's the nation's #2 most dangerous city. As long as you stay in the "Green Zone" and triple lock all entries, you'll find Detroit to be a real spring of creativity and enlightenment. At least, that's what the poor suckers who recently moved there keep telling us!

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by RingWalk

The NYTimes is notorious for publishing these kind of articles. They did a similar one a few weeks ago about a new great black migration from NY state south but when you looked at the actual figures, it wasn't really that convincing.

That Detroit has increased its level of college grads under the age of 35 over the last decade--the only hard stat in the article--is not that surprising. During the early to mid-90s the city was at its worst in terms of cultural life, if not crime, because there were fewer people left to prey on. There was absolutely nothing to do down there.

It started getting revitalized a little from the mid-late 90s on. The economy was really strong in general, people were building big housing projects, etc. It also started to become "cool" to live in Detroit.

Hopefully the hipsters keep coming, but for instance the caption saying it's the TriBeCa of the Midwest...doubtful.

Detroit is going to have a much, much harder time than places like Brooklyn or neighborhoods in Chicago because it doesn't have a huge vibrant downtown to feed off of.

What do all the hipsters do when they get there?

Good question. One advantage a city like Detroit has, is that, its major cultural institutions are part of a neighborhood fabric of midtown. The Detroit Institute of Art is directly across the street from Wayne state, with the College of Creative Studies right behind, with smaller museum/gallery/institutions like the MOCAD or Scarab Club just down the street. South of the cultural center in Midtown is the huge hospital complex, where one could easily walk to if they work there. and on the west side of woodward is more residential, where there has been lots of revitalization and rebuilding.

Its interesting that you noted that crime is at lowest. That precisely it. As areas have become more desolate/abandoned, it feels safer, to reinvest in.

If you look at a city like Chicago, its dazzling, there are more cultural institutions and museums, they are cut off physically in some cases my lake shore drive (museum campus), and those who are actively in the arts can't afford to live near any cultural institition (Chicagos mus of cont. art) is in Streeterville. No starving artists living there.

Also, entrepreneurs have less competition in a city like Detroit. Thats also significant. If one is creative and entrepreneurial, and not looking for very steady corporate work, you might more successful in Detroit.

Even though you don't have a huge vibrant downtown, you do have a suburban county with tons of money (Oakland) with people who would love to embrace their city once again, if it became more appealing. And these hipsters and do-it-yourself types are doing just that.

[RingWalk]

The problem with articles like that though is they really are taken out of context. As I've posted before, for most people who have never been to Detroit, a simple drive down Jefferson or Woodward would be shocking. Huge swaths of the city do not even look like it is in America, and not in a good way. They are only now getting the first grocery stores in the entire city. That is mind boggling to think about.

There seems to be a lot of exciting projects going on though, and I know Dan Gilbert is buying up real estate like crazy, so it definitely seems to be moving in a positive direction.

But this is all in the context of that on a scale of 1-10, it's at a 2, maybe.

You also have to understand that people who have lived in the area have been hearing this exact same song and dance for more than 30 years, since the 80s at least.

However Bing and Snyder seem to be on the right page, they are making the city much more business friendly apparently, and I have little doubt that downtown Detroit will look much better in 20 years than it does now.

[ForStarters]

Downtown Detroit and the surrounding neighborhoods are being revitalized. They have seen population growth and definitely significant business growth. A lot of it is young people. However, it is not just "hipsters." It is really a collection of people ranging from long-time Detroiters, business leaders, investors, community leaders, and lots of people in-between. Hipsters receive a lot of the attention because they are unique. They are leading creative and urban renewal through entrepreneurship and grass-roots community building. They are establishing social networks and businesses that thrive as true communities. Some guy starts a bike shop, another girl starts a bakery, a few friends renovate some housing, a newcomer opens a coffee shop, a designer sells her clothes, somebody farms some produce, the next person buys some of that produce and sells it to the other people, eventually people start opening restaurants to cater to the people in the community. It just continues to build on itself. When outsiders see that the water is warm, they jump in. Eventually, the mainstream community sees opportunity and it gets involved. It is the story of many urban areas, but Detroit is different because of how far the city has fallen. The resurrection of Detroit as an advanced, vibrant world city will be spectacular. You can bet on that.

Detroit is real place of development and commerce. I love New York City; it is the center of the universe for many reasons. And, while New York has finance and media, among other things, Detroit has industry and technology. There is raw creativity in Detroit as well as a deep reservoir of knowledge and people who know how to build things. When you go to New York, you see the fast-paced world of finance, advertising, and media whizzing by you, making deals, and influencing the world. I envision Detroit as place just as fast, but instead of finance, advertising, and media, Detroit will be a place of engineering, technology, and innovation. Engineers running down the street with digital blueprints for the next great idea. That's where I hope this new Detroit is trending. Instead of being "the center of the universe," Detroit can be "the architect of it." We have the potential.

[RingWalk]

It's true but you have to see it in context, which is it's going to take Detroit another few decades just to get back to 1/10 of where it was in even 1980.

"Revitalized" is really the wrong word, because all of those young people moving in will not stay and have their families there. They don't do it in Chicago, for the most part, and they won't do it in Detroit.

Detroit is basically fighting to have a viable downtown and a transient young population like Chicago and a lot of people in NY.

You can go to streets that in the 1970s, 20 years after white flight, were OK still, and now they are literally close to uninhabitable.

The downtown will look better and there will be more to do. A Detroit attractive to the middle class with good schools, etc., is not even close to on the horizon.

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by RingWalk

It's true but you have to see it in context, which is it's going to take Detroit another few decades just to get back to 1/10 of where it was in even 1980.

"Revitalized" is really the wrong word, because all of those young people moving in will not stay and have their families there. They don't do it in Chicago, for the most part, and they won't do it in Detroit.

Detroit is basically fighting to have a viable downtown and a transient young population like Chicago and a lot of people in NY.

You can go to streets that in the 1970s, 20 years after white flight, were OK still, and now they are literally close to uninhabitable.

The downtown will look better and there will be more to do. A Detroit attractive to the middle class with good schools, etc., is not even close to on the horizon.

I agree with this.

It's about time we get some realistic comments on this forum.

Fact of the matter is the city as a whole is relatively crap and downtown has a long way to go before it ever resembles a typical american downtown. And as long as the national economy is in the crapper that will only further slow down any revitalization efforts and accelerate the decline.

[FindingZen]

Detroit sees rise in white residents after 60 years

(And no, it's not the ethnicity that's important in this link...)

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by Tone509

Detroit sees rise in white residents after 60 years

(And no, it's not the ethnicity that's important in this link...)

As a percentage the white population fell 2% (from 12% in 2000 to 10% in 2010). The black population increased 1%. Though I highly suspect the increased percentage in black came partially from the decreased percentage in whites and partially from new births.

The most notable increase was with the Hispanic population, which increased from 5% to 6%. Everything else remained steady.

In fact, per my calculations, the white population fell further from 116,599 in 2000 to 75,600 in 2010, a decrease of nearly 41,000.

So, do you have proof that Detroit saw a rise in white residents?

EDIT: Sorry, I see you weren't the OP of that thread, but I would like to see the proof from the person who made the thread or the person who supported the thread that Detroit's white population grew.

EDIT #2: Never mind, I see those numbers are based off the 2009 census ESTIMATES, the official 2010 census count says different.