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Anyways, a lot of these stats don't say everything.
You could have population falling due to gentrification (without new construction) or due to the demolition of housing projects.
You could have housing units decreasing due to them being combined into larger units, or as a result of homes that were already vacant in 2000 becoming demolished.
You could have vacant housing increasing because those homes were never really suitable to live in, and the residents can finally afford to move somewhere better.
And if a few homes are being renovated, that's better than if none are, but the houses that aren't being renovated are declining in quality due to getting worn out. So for a neighbourhood to be improving, not only do you need to have homes being renovated, but the improvements have to exceed the decline in the housing stock that isn't being renovated.
Also, I think people often don't distinguish that well between the rate at which an area is improving or declining but rather focus on the state it is in. If a neighbourhood goes from good to mediocre, it might be declining faster than one that goes from very bad to slightly worse still.
And I don't think Detroit needs amazing schools as a prerequisite to even begin improving. It's just not realistic to expect families with children to move from the suburbs into the city in significant numbers at this point. However, they also don't make up a majority of households anymore. And Detroit proper is only a relatively small part of the metro area. If you can start attracting young adults without children and empty nesters (young adults are more likely for now since they seem less negative about Detroit), that can potentially lead to substantial growth and improvements.
The next step is to retain people longer than Detroit did in the past. With adults having children later, and sometimes not at all, demographic changes are in Detroit's favour. And the longer they live in Detroit, the more likely they are to become attached to the community and make greater sacrifices to stay. And also the more Detroit improves the more they are willing to sacrifice to stay.
Maybe in the past, there would have been less holding people back from moving away, young couples might move as soon as their first child is born, maybe even before. If you can get them to stay a little longer, maybe until their first kid reaches grade 1, that will lead to more growth, more improvements to the community, giving them more reason to stay, and also more time to become attached to their community. So you've got a positive feedback going. Eventually the elementary schools start to improve as the more dedicated residents are willing to put in the effort to overcome the issues with elementary schools and improve them. And then residents that are slightly less attached to their community decide to keep their kids in Detroit elementary schools too and the elementary schools become decent, even though the high schools might still be crap. But eventually, the positive feedback cycle will lead to the improvement of high schools too, which is basically the last stage and at that point you might actually have families moving in from the suburbs, even middle class families that can't afford private schools.
So basically good high schools are going to be the last stage in improving Detroit. That doesn't mean the city shouldn't invest in schools and education instead of just relying on residents and demographic changes to do that. Investing in schools can help move the process along. But if high schools suck, that hardly means the situation is hopeless. The day Detroit has good high schools is not the day it starts improving. The day it has good high schools is the day it's done improving because it's already made it.
Detroit needs to retain it's better* residents, which can be white suburban 20 somethings moving into Midtown, honest service sector workers, blacks rising out of poverty and into the middle class (have been mostly moving further out and eventually into the suburbs in the last decades) etc. So you want to look at what gets the best bang for your buck in terms of retaining residents, bringing in new ones, and also for businesses, bringing them in, retaining them, creating new ones, and growing them. I'm relatively optimistic that Detroit's leadership Mike Duggan understands this and you are seeing the core of the city improving. The average neighbourhood further out looks like it might be declining less rapidly than a few years ago too, although we'll see if that's a short or long term trend.
*Better as in more tax revenue and positive influence vs requiring a lot of services, providing low tax revenue and having a negative influence relative
The current Renaissance in Detroit is attributable to Dan Gilbert, and that's about it.
A lot of the talk about revitalization comes from younger generations, which don't realize that the people 10, 20, 30 years before them were talking about the same thing.
That is fine: youth should be hopeful.
But there is also a certain narcissism and ignorance at play.
A lot of the neighborhoods people talk about were nothing to shake a stick at in the 90s, but were still by many metrics far better than they are now, including marquee neighborhoods like Indian Village, the Palmers, and Rosedale Park.
I'm interested in learning more about changes going on in Detroit. I was wondering what are some of the up and coming neighborhoods in the city?
Detroit (proper) is the 18th largest US city and the 4th largest city in the Midwest. Wayne County, which Detroit is the city seat, is the 16th populated County in United States with 17th highest density among the 100 most populated US counties. Detroit Metropolitan area holds 5.3 million people and is the 12th most populated Metro in United States. Currently, Detroit (proper) has a density in par with St. Louis and is denser than thirteen of the twenty largest cities in United States.
Detroit was among the top ten largest US cities 1910-2010 and was the 4th largest US city 1920-1940. The city was reduced to 5th place in 1950 by Los Angeles but held that position until 1980 when it was reduced to 6th place. Twenty years later (2000) it was reduced to 10th place and in 2010, Detroit had left the top ten but is still considered to be a major city. Detroit has 170 high-rises buildings which make them the 17th highest city in United States. Detroit has also the third highest skyline in the Midwest after Chicago and Minneapolis. As a major city, Detroit has an elevated driver-less train that covered the downtown area with 2.2 million riders a year. In 2016, Detroit will have a 20 station light-rail covering Midtown. As a major city, Detroit is also the home of universities, libraries, art museums, historical buildings, cathedrals, major hospitals, a stadium and juridical institutions and more.
So what makes Detroit one of the scariest cities in not only United States but in the late-modern Western civilization? Detroit has gone from 1,849,568 in 1950 to 681,090 in 2013. Under 2010-2013 Detroit lost 32,687 people. In 1910 about 99 percent of the Detroitian population was white. One hundred years later, that number was reduced to 11 percent (Census: 2010). White flight began after the 1943 race riots. After the second race riots in 1967 the white population dropped from 70 percent (1960) to 55 percent (1970) within a decade. Most of them fled to the suburbs which have seen growth until very recently. The election of African-American Mayor Coleman Young in 1974 settled it for most working and middle class whites. Still, the medium income in Detroit was among the highest in the country by 1970 but it dropped significantly under the Young-years. By the early 1990s most middle class African-Americans had left the city for the very white suburbs which was followed ten years later by another exodus of Asian-Americans to the suburbs. The only ethnic group in Detroit, which is still growing is Hispanics.
Just as in South Africa people are leaving not only for government mismanagement and corruption but also because of crime. Detroit tops the crime statistics with the highest ratio of violent crime, murder and aggravated assault. Recently a white working-class man from suburbs struck a twelve year old boy by accident with his car. Instead of leave the scene the man left the car to tend to the boy who had broke his leg. He was instantly attacked by a mob of racist black youth that beat him into a coma. An African-American nurse saved him using her gun to make the attackers. Detroit has an illiteracy rate of 47 percent and consequently the unemployment rate in Detroit is 18 percent. Even if decent jobs were brought to Detroit, a significantly large percentage of the population would not be able take them. Detroit has fought blight since the 1970s but because of mismanagement and corruption it has been an unintended matter until very recently when mayor, Mike Duggan was elected. The blight stem from the fact that a great number of the people of Detroit cannot afford to pay their property taxes and water bills and subsequently leave there homes. Others just leave their homes when they cannot find a buyer. Currently, around 25 percent of the properties in Detroit are deserted. Currently, the city of Detroit owns 85,000 buildings and they believe at least 5000 properties are inhabited by squatters.
Property prices are close to bottom. Looking at key real-estate broking-sites like Zillow and Realtor you find that around 2400 homes (apartments and houses) are for sale. The statistics is clear. Only 10 properties have an asking price for 500,000 dollar, 120 have an asking-price above 100,000 dollar and 270 properties have an asking-price set at 50,000 dollar or above. Of the 2400 homes about 1500 are listed below 20,000 dollar. In 2014 the median sales price (for all property-types) was 40,000 dollar. In 2002-2007 there was an extensive trade with cheap housing. Many gutted houses were sold for a small profit to uninformed and poor investors. At the zenith in 2006 around 5000 properties were sold. In 2014 only 200 houses has been sold. The average listing price and numbers of listings is constantly going down but the price per square feet has been stabilized.
Although, the poverty rate for individuals is 37 percent and for families 33 percent in Detroit there are still a middle class. Most of them work for the city or Wayne County. There are also a bunch of hipsters and young college-educated that cannot afford more affluent suburbs or just seek a life in the city. They live in Downtown, Midtown, Historic Indian Village, Sherwood Forest, Boston-Edison District, Joseph-Berry subdivision, Rivertown, Woodbridge, Brush Park, Elmwood Park, Eastern Market, Lafayette, University Park, Mexican-town, Greek-town and a few other neighborhoods. Even in these areas crime, blight and poverty is high. Even though Downtown is relatively safe it is filled with homeless so although you may not be robbed you have to see it. For an adult it may not be a problem but is such place good for children?
A few neighborhoods have in part been gentrified meaning higher rents and stable property prices. Currently the most popular purchases of homes are Indian Village, Grandmont-Rosedale, Morningside, Sherwood Park, North Rosedale Park, Midtown, Joseph Barry Subdivision, Palmer Woods, Oakman Blvd, Jefferson Chalmers and Marina District. There are only a handful of good public schools in the city and a few private schools. Even in the best neighborhood in Detroit you still have to live with terrible schools. There is little chance that middle or working class families will return to Detroit. There is little future for Detroit if crime is not fought against, blight rapidly removed, liberalism is detached from the public school system and investment brought to infrastructure, parks and roads. I think security and an unforgiving policy against homeless (they should be sent to shelters outside of the city limit), criminals (Zero tolerance for even the slightest offense) and others that disturb the order is the first step.
Until recently, property values had been falling in Palmer Woods and about 20 houses sat vacant.
But prices have edged up and the number of vacancies is down to a handful of houses, typically those in need of substantial work.
Kenan Bakirci, a Realtor who specializes in historic Detroit homes, said the turnaround in Palmer Woods has been particularly noticeable in the past four or so months.
“We’ve seen an incredible surge in demand to the point where pretty much everything is a sale pending — there’s very little inventory left,” he said.
The current Renaissance in Detroit is attributable to Dan Gilbert, and that's about it.
A lot of the talk about revitalization comes from younger generations, which don't realize that the people 10, 20, 30 years before them were talking about the same thing.
That is fine: youth should be hopeful.
But there is also a certain narcissism and ignorance at play.
A lot of the neighborhoods people talk about were nothing to shake a stick at in the 90s, but were still by many metrics far better than they are now, including marquee neighborhoods like Indian Village, the Palmers, and Rosedale Park.
People started to leave Detroit in the 1940 and the only thing that kept the city alive was good paying manufacturing jobs and they were gone in the end of 1970 and at that point the city was dead. Those jobs are not coming back to United States and in particular not Detroit. In fact, factories started to leave Detroit in the 1950 because of high crime, bad schools, bad services and high taxes. This is what you get when you allow Democrats to run a town for 52 years. Democrats do mighty well when they run low-crime, wealthy and growing cities which can house their waste of resources and people. Liberals always go: Oh, I’m sorry I had to send your job to China so that you lost your income, house, self-esteem and wife and children but here is a bunch of food-stamps, subsidized drugs, social-housing, college loans and gay-marriage (!) to make you happy.
People started to leave Detroit in the 1940 and the only thing that kept the city alive was good paying manufacturing jobs and they were gone in the end of 1970 and at that point the city was dead. Those jobs are not coming back to United States and in particular not Detroit. In fact, factories started to leave Detroit in the 1950 because of high crime, bad schools, bad services and high taxes. This is what you get when you allow Democrats to run a town for 52 years. Democrats do mighty well when they run low-crime, wealthy and growing cities which can house their waste of resources and people. Liberals always go: Oh, I’m sorry I had to send your job to China so that you lost your income, house, self-esteem and wife and children but here is a bunch of food-stamps, subsidized drugs, social-housing, college loans and gay-marriage (!) to make you happy.
You see no contradiction in the bolded above? Once more a dittohead trying to derail the conversation from "up and coming neighborhoods"?
Starting in the 1950s, high crime and "liberals" in Detroit drove factories from America to the third world - really?
A childishly simplistic and disjointed Roger Ailes talking point dutifully parroted yet again - amazing.
What's the contradiction? If you owned a factory in Detroit and were plagued with vandalism, uneducated workers, lack of city services, and high taxes, do you think you would be able to compete with an Asian company making the same product?
The contradiction is the fact that those conditions didn't exist in the Detroit of 1950. In fact, from 1950 to 1962, Detroit had two Republican mayors.
Whatever crime that existed was mostly concentrated in ghetto african american neighborhoods near downtown which even then wasn't anywhere near high.
The city wasn't even completely built out yet at that point so to say that people were already leaving the city due to high taxes is complete farce.
Everything that poster has said is completely nonfactual.
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