Detroit's City Population and Loss (Dexter: real estate, 2010, insurance)

[jjbradleynyc]

How is Detroit doing these days on maintaining and keeping its current population within the city?

How much further do people think the population will drop for the city of Detroit?

The current rotten economy is doing nothing to help most any city, really, to maintain people or jobs. Just a bad situation all-around.

I'd think Detroit, and other cities like Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, St Louis, etc., are also hard hit by job and continued population loss. I just hope the economy turns around in '09.

[Dexterguy]

Detroit's population loss is not at all because of this current national economy problem. It is because people continue to move out of the city and into the suburbs or some place else, like out of state.

Detroit's population problems started in the mid 1950's when many of its white residents began moving to the suburbs. Ever since the city has lost at least a million people. The city's highest population count was at 1.9 Million in 1950. In 2000 the city fell under a million people for the first time since 1920, at 951,270. In 2007, it is estimated that the city's population fell to 916,952.

With the way that Detroit is going and the current economy I would estimate that by 2010 Detroit's population will probably be at about 830,000 - 820,000 people. Detroit's downtown is slowly being revitalized, but it neighborhoods are fastly declining and are the worst that I have ever seen them.

In many aspects Detroit reminds me of Philadelphia, just at a smaller scale. The city's downtown is beautiful with some new develoments, but the neighboroods are still in decline and its population has been shrinking for decades.

[ocean2026]

In the last few days some companies have announced layoffs in the Detroit area. The Big Three Auto industry problems will exacerbate that. Add the national economic declien and Dexter's points about why people leave and the high taxes- there is nothing really positive to report.

[Bluefly]

Maybe we should stop valuing cities by how big they are and start valuing them by their quality of life.

For so long, it's been assumed that "bigger is better". When Detroit dropped below 1 million, people freaked out. Why? It'll happen in China once they stop producing computers and telephones, too.

I say use the space to redefine urban and quality of life, not just try to attract more people.

[dre71]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

How is Detroit doing these days on maintaining and keeping its current population within the city?

How much further do people think the population will drop for the city of Detroit?

The current rotten economy is doing nothing to help most any city, really, to maintain people or jobs. Just a bad situation all-around.

I'd think Detroit, and other cities like Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, St Louis, etc., are also hard hit by job and continued population loss. I just hope the economy turns around in '09.

Detroits not doing so good on keeping its population within the city. People don`t want to deal with the taxes, Insurance, bad schools, high crime, no services, unemployment etc.

I think the population by 2010 will be below 800000

Your right the current economic problems are making it worse everywhere. I personally dont think it will turn around in 2009 but I hope to God it does.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

How is Detroit doing these days on maintaining and keeping its current population within the city?

How much further do people think the population will drop for the city of Detroit?

The current rotten economy is doing nothing to help most any city, really, to maintain people or jobs. Just a bad situation all-around.

I'd think Detroit, and other cities like Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, St Louis, etc., are also hard hit by job and continued population loss. I just hope the economy turns around in '09.

As a Pittsburgher, I can tell you that we are actually gaining jobs and many of them are in sectors that require higher education more often than not. While we are losing people according to the census at least, I think it will reverse if we continue to get jobs and the rest of the country loses. We have seen some companies do layoffs, but there have been more just made than lost.

[jjbradleynyc]

Thanks for the responses--all very interesting.

If Detroit drops near 800k for the 2010 census, as many have predicted, what does Detroit do with the large tracts of vacant homes? I think they should try and bulldoze many and replant trees and let the areas turn into urban forest. Bulldozing vacant homes should be a huge priority--to keep out the criminal element so many of them invite. Of course, there's probably a ton of red tape involved in each vacant house.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

In the last few days some companies have announced layoffs in the Detroit area. The Big Three Auto industry problems will exacerbate that. Add the national economic declien and Dexter's points about why people leave and the high taxes- there is nothing really positive to report.

It is odd that people keep commenting ont he "high taxes" Michigan is not a high tax state. It is in the middle. Perhaps people who say this are just referring to the fact that taxes are higher than they once were.


Detroit certainly has outrageous taxes. But tha tis becuase they have a huge amount of infrastructure to support and a comparatively small population to tax.

[ocean2026]

Cold - umm when I tried that tax calculator for a house with a market value of $400k the tax was $23,000 if not homestead and $13k if it was. IN texas the tax would be about $3500 and Texans complain like hell about high real estate taxes. New Mexico is cheaper than Texas as is West Virginia. Where does that leave Detroit? Give us facts - I say it is among the worst for TX - Mass could be worse and Buffalo is similar but still better (lower).

[Bluefly]

1. I don't know why Detroit leadership doesn't spend 6 months studying Pittsburgh. Basically, they're the same city. One has succeeded in turning itself around, the other has failed. I don't really understand what excuses are left.

2. I'm not sure using Texans as a barometer of tax structure is very valuable. They'll complain about 1% tax and anyone who tries to use government to turn their sprawling, unzoned cities into something livable on a human scale.

3. There's been ideas of building a legitimate urban agriculture industry in Detroit (not just backyard gardens, but business-style). I agree, though, that it's time to focus resources and build quality green space in vacant areas of Detroit. Just look at Rock Creek Park in DC and Central Park in New York City. People thought Teddy Roosevelt and Frederick Law Olmstead were crazy, but they saw the massive urban expansion and the need for working class people to have access to open space long before it was a reality. Now the highest valued properties are those closest. I can tell you that the ability to have a massive forest out one side of your home and a vibrant, urban neighborhood out the other is a truly high quality of life.