|
03-15-2009, 02:27 PM
|
|
Obama 2008-2016!!!!!
Status:
"Trying to find garages in NYC for cheap!!!"
(set 3 days ago)
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: After College Brooklyn/Bronx/Queens NYC
358 posts, read 170,940 times
Reputation: 81
|
|
Do you think Grand Rapids will ever replace Detroit?
As Michigan's largest city? 
The population of Detroit is decreasing dramatically (which is sad because I love that city.) But Grand Rapids population is increasing inch by inch. I may not see it in my life time but I think Grand Rapids or another city may replace Detroit as Michigan's largest city!
What do you think? Also, suggest some cities that you think has a chance of replacing Detroit! |
|
03-15-2009, 02:47 PM
|
|
Senior Member
Status:
"Back in Michiagn for a bit"
(set 28 days ago)
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: A window seat, usually on the wing of a A320
568 posts, read 527,397 times
Reputation: 173
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by SWV
As Michigan's largest city?
The population of Detroit is decreasing dramatically (which is sad because I love that city.) But Grand Rapids population is increasing inch by inch. I may not see it in my life time but I think Grand Rapids or another city may replace Detroit as Michigan's largest city!
What do you think? Also, suggest some cities that you think has a chance of replacing Detroit! |
If it did it would take decades, remember Detroit's population is still almost 900,000 people. I smell some change in the air though, any city that has had the blows like Detroit would take long to recoup, but I think the tide is beginning to turn. Detroit, compared to other Michigan cities is ancient, lots of rich history, and culture, it simply has been attacked by the media...which is the crack cocaine of America. I honestly see Detroit beginning to change in the next 5 years, I do think it will be revived within the next 20. |
|
03-15-2009, 02:55 PM
|
|
Michigander in Exile
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Formerly from Michigan
2,584 posts, read 1,117,863 times
Reputation: 829
|
|
Well, GR has the abiliity, but I personally hope it doesn't get as big as Detroit. I like it about where it is. Just enough city, just enough countryside. I'm happy with it being Michigan's second city because I already think it's the best.  |
|
03-15-2009, 04:08 PM
|
|
The snow builds character
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Petoskey, MI
746 posts, read 504,677 times
Reputation: 475
|
|
No, absolutely not. Detroit was one of America's great cities once upon a time, and will be again. The segregation walls between the city and the suburbs must come down in order for it to happen, but I am more than confident that it will. Grand Rapids is a great town as well, and I enjoy spending time there, but it will never overtake Detroit as Michigan's premier city.
I've lived all over this country and I've endured the seemingly endless venom aimed at Detroit - much of it admittedly deserved - but I will never stop believing that my hometown and favorite city in the world can reinvent itself.  |
|
03-15-2009, 08:11 PM
|
|
Moderator
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
4,554 posts, read 3,286,145 times
Reputation: 932
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by mackinac81
Well, GR has the abiliity, but I personally hope it doesn't get as big as Detroit. I like it about where it is. Just enough city, just enough countryside. I'm happy with it being Michigan's second city because I already think it's the best. |
I agree, I hope not. If it became one big sprawlburb from Lowell to the lakeshore, it would be horrible. There's nothing good about endless stretches of I-696, 275, 94 and 75 lined by a bunch of ugly suburban style office buildings, nothing. If it grew more like European style cities (dense urban areas), than it'd be OK.
It would still take 50 years at the current rate. |
|
03-16-2009, 11:50 AM
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: East Grand Rapids, MI
621 posts, read 624,490 times
Reputation: 129
|
|
|
Two questions in one...
Grand Rapids City (200,000ppl, 45 square miles) vs. Detroit City (800,000ppl, 140 square miles)
This should never happen. It would either mean Grand Rapids had the density of Hong Kong, or Detroit would be a completely empty rotting corpse (it's already frighteningly empty... imagine if it shurnk that much). Neither scenario is good for the state of Michigan.
Grand Rapids Metro (700,000-1.2 million people depending on how you draw the boundaries) vs. Detroit Metro (4.7 million people)
This would require Grand Rapids to essentially turn into one giant sprawling suburbia from Lowell to Muskegon. That would be a disaster. Some of the state's best farmland is in this area. I would hate to see the loss of all those blueberries and apples (just for starters), not to mention the overall negative change in quality of life. Alternatively if Detroit shrank down to a size where GR could challenge it for metro population, Michigan would be in receivership and our public schools would all be shut down (or something equally tragic). There's no good way for metro Detroit to shed a couple million residents. Talk about a disaster!
So, that's my long way of saying "I sure hope Grand Rapids is never as big as Detroit."
|
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
|
|
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
Linear Mode
