How many "yuppies" have actually moved to Detroit the past couple of years?

[ABetterDetroit]

Some folks just can't abide that the heart and core of Detroit is rebounding vigorously. They flat out hate Detroit [I have strong suspicions as to why] and it enrages them to see it succeed.

Young people wanting to escape the stifling boredom of their comfortable suburban settings for gritty urban living and culture completely flummoxes them and brings out the deepest of THEIR insecurities. They can't understand how someone would trade some security to preserve one's sanity and be able to grow.

They refuse to accept realities, demand statistics [never providing any themselves], insult those who disagree with them and, of course, rarely venture to find out anything for themselves.

They are scared and think everyone else should be, especially their children who are embarrassed by them and can't wait to get away from them.

Haters on Internet forums are interesting, even tho irritating at times. I would be fascinated to read a study that had real hard info on their psychological makeup. The most hard core haters are obviously not normal in that department. Has it ever been discussed before here that one of the worst on this board has many aliases and constantly stirs the same pots in exactly the same ways over and over and over? A strange existence for a human being.

[sumas]

Some folks just can't abide that the heart and core of Detroit is rebounding vigorously. They flat out hate Detroit [I have strong suspicions as to why] and it enrages them to see it succeed.

Young people wanting to escape the stifling boredom of their comfortable suburban settings for gritty urban living and culture completely flummoxes them and brings out the deepest of THEIR insecurities. They can't understand how someone would trade some security to preserve one's sanity and be able to grow.

They refuse to accept realities, demand statistics [never providing any themselves], insult those who disagree with them and, of course, rarely venture to find out anything for themselves.

They are scared and think everyone else should be, especially their children who are embarrassed by them and can't wait to get away from them.

Certainly can agree with above comments. Not afraid to say racism is an issue which is a two way sword. We do take hits being white and still Detroit. I get over it. So many young folk moving in and do get a bit hurt they want no advice but that is just youth thinking they have all the answers. The energy they bring makes up for any slight I may feel. Our new community garden demonstrates their energy and integrity. I am pleased to see a new vibrancy.

[mwilbert]

There isn't any reliable population data gathered in Detroit intra-census, and even less so when you are talking about subdivisions of the city and demographic subsets of the overall population. For instance, I just looked to see what might be available post-2010 from the ACS. Aside the fact the the currently released ACS data isn't recent enough to really be useful, I also found that at the level of a census tract, which is what you would need to look at to understand changes downtown, things like the number of people with a particular level of educational attainment in a census tract tend to have statistical errors comparable to or bigger than the value itself, which makes the data pretty much useless for purposes of looking at changes in subgroup population between two periods.

However, the argument that many people are making in this thread is completely valid. There isn't any way that rents in greater downtown could be rising the way they are in the face of increased housing supply without there being some influx of people who can pay those rents. Conceivably [[but not at all probably) those people could not be residents at all, but people renting apartments while attending school or businesses renting apartments for use by employees visiting from elsewhere or suburbanites who want a pied-a-terre. We don't know. If we assume they are actual residents, we still don't know if they are yuppies or some other kind of people who can afford the rent.

So the answer to the original question is no, because the data doesn't exist. We know something is happening, but it can only be quantified very inexactly. We will know a lot more after the data from the 2020 Census is collected and released, because then a serious attempt will be made to figure out exactly who is living where. Also, over a longer period of time, whatever trends are in place will have longer to operate, so the effect of whatever migration there is should be easier to spot. Until then, it is pretty much guesswork.

[old guy]

I talked to a guy in Toledo and he said somewhere between 56 and 61. I'm somewhat skeptical but he's reasonably up on these things. I trust him because his handle is e.p.1.

[DetroitPlanner]

Since yuppies are known for boat shoes, I am fairly certain that the Somalian Pirates keep them away from Detroit. Alex P Keaton is afraid of Somalians. Tom and Margo are too.

[renf]

I have listed below the counts of Detroit residents age 25 to 34 with four year college degrees
from the 1990 and 2000 censuses and from the American Community Surveys since 2005. These data have moderately large standard errors but they hardly suggest a substantial movement of young highly educated people to Detroit, at least through 2012.

Year Residents of Detroit 25 to 34 with 4 year degree
1990 16,400
2000 16,600
2005 12,100
2006 11,300
2007 11,200
2008 10,700
2009 13,800
2010 10,500
2011 10,500
2012 11,200

[mwilbert]

I have listed below the counts of Detroit residents age 25 to 34 with four year college degrees
from the 1990 and 2000 censuses and from the American Community Surveys since 2005. These data have moderately large standard errors but they hardly suggest a substantial movement of young highly educated people to Detroit, at least through 2012.

Year Residents of Detroit 25 to 34 with 4 year degree
1990 16,400
2000 16,600
2005 12,100
2006 11,300
2007 11,200
2008 10,700
2009 13,800
2010 10,500
2011 10,500
2012 11,200

Just from looking at the 2009 number you know the errors here have to be huge. Recall that the total population of greater downtown [[the 7.2) was only about 30K in 2010. You just aren't going to be able to see any plausible number of net in-migrants in these numbers--you'd have to have had more than several thousand, and there isn't any place for that many more people to live, yet. Which is the main reason the rents are rising.

If you think there might be lots of yuppies moving into other neighborhoods, then depending on whether we think the data is reasonably accurate, maybe this contradicts that, but I don't think either of those things.

[BankruptcyGuy]

It's not retirees moving downtown [[yet).

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/...ing-in-droves/

Anyone looking for data to prove/disprove the residential inflow downtown need look no further than:

downtown multifamily occupancy [[over 97%)
average per square foot rental rate [[nearly $2/sf, which is a huge number)
number of new/rehabilitated units coming on line [[thousands)

This has not ever happened in my lifetime, and it's wonderful.

[sumas]

I don't know about ,"well said". I live in a little known but very connected community. I am certainly not naive about blight but to trash all Detroit certainly sucks.

Our neighborhood provides seating.. so many disabled, seniors and just walking folk who rely on buses. All benign folk are welcome!

Strange dude shows up so we watched as did other area people. I did call police after I was approached for a smoke and asked if we have a neighborhood watch. I said yes but we have something better, nosey neighbors.He complimented my home too. Very creepy. I called 911. Another neighbor approached him saying he was an off duty officer. He moved up the street and another neighbor caught the sucker on his porch looking through his windows. Pushed him along. Cops came and spotted him at the corner gas station don't know the story from that point. Police response was excellent given I reported it as a non emergency.

We had a great description and provided that to police. They are doing their job with the help of good neighbors.

[Detroit500]

More folks are moving into. These immediate areas. Will they stay when they have kids? Maybe. Who knows. But for right now, let's just be grateful they are coming at all.

[Jason]

Subsidies are needed because the region's and the city's rental rates [[something determined by markets, etc.) aren't high enough to pay for the construction [[something determined by the price of physical materials and labor which are independent of rental rates). The $2.00 per square foot number that you're always hearing is supposed to be about the number that is needed to support new construction without the kinds of subsidies we've been seeing so far.

Rents are rising probably as fast as they can. These things take time. A one bedroom that only cost 600 or 700 a month a few years ago now costs over a thousand a month.

Another aspect is financing. Banks/developers/investors look for comparable developments nearby when figuring out loan stuff, but in the past Detroit didn't have any. But after one project is successful, it's something that can be looked at, and then they say "that worked. we can do it too and it's safe to go a little bigger".

For both of these situations there's a sort of positive feedback loop. But each cycle of the loop takes time. Buildings take a few years from planning to construction. Rents are only raised once a year and will only be raised so much at a time.


But to say that this process isn't happening... You just have to not be paying very much attention to things. There's been a stream of new renovations at a faster pace than even just a few years ago. There are more small renovations than you can keep track of, and there's a handful of midrises which should start construction in not too long.

Just because there aren't dozens of 90 story skyscrapers being built doesn't mean that people aren't moving into downtown at a rapid pace. Demand has simply grown faster than what the market can accommodate, and the market is moving as fast as it can.

[Eber Brock Ward]

i actually think truly thriving cities might be cheaper, other than SF and NY and DC.

http://www.apartmentfinder.com/Texas...use-Apartments

weird dynamic. glad i got into detroit while it was still a pretty good bargain.