Asian-Americans settle in Metro Detroit enclaves
Micki Steele / The Detroit News
Upen Saparia followed his brother from India to Michigan 10 years ago after a brief stop in Canada, and since then, the computer contractor has never been out of work or worried about losing his job.
"I like everything, except winter, everything in Michigan," said Saparia, 38, of Rochester Hills, who also owns a full-service Indian grocery store in Troy. "The people are great, and it's the land of opportunity."
The economic downturn of the past decade may have brought unemployment and plummeting housing values to some Metro Detroiters, but Asian-Americans see nothing but opportunity here.
The combined Asian-American population in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties grew 37 percent between 2000 and 2010 — from 100,792 to 138,075, according to U.S. census figures released last month.
The rise slightly outpaced the Hispanic population, which rose by nearly one-third from 118,641 to 156,275 in the tri-county area.
Nearly half of the area's Asian-Americans live in Oakland County, where almost 23 percent of residents are black, Asian or Hispanic. These numbers reflect the region's increasing diversity.
"Everybody comes because of the auto industry — that was the sum of it at the beginning," said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, a public policy think tank. "And immigrants are creating a third of the high-tech businesses and they're located in Oakland County."
Many of the communities that have seen significant Asian growth offer a diverse populace, good schools, low crime rates and jobs.
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