I think we need to make the distinction between tourism and immigration [[that might not be the right word, but you get my drift).

As a tourist area, Metro Detroit sucks. There isn't a large tourist draw here. However you can also say this about many other regions of the USA.

We don't have enough population to be considered a major Metropolitan area with a "core city/downtown" structure. Again, there are only a handful of cities in the USA that remotely qualify for this status.

So basically, we are like about 95% of the USA - not a whole lot to offer right? So why would anyone move here? Simple - for a job. I have met many people from out of the country that live here because of a job. The ones I've met tend to largely live in the suburbs. Why? Not because they like it any better or worse than downtown, but because it's CLOSE TO WHERE THEY WORK. Simple as that

As an aside, most of these folks [[at least the younger set) tends to be really adventurous and likes to explore, and they love hanging out downtown. But again, if their job isn't close to the city, they're not going to live in the city.