Why is new housing in Detroit rarely multi-family residential?

**maverick1** · April-01-12, 07:29 PM

I've lurked here for a while have finally decided to come out my shell. lol. Maybe it's just me but most of the new housing I see in Detroit are single-family homes. From what I understand about the individual median income and family median income of the residents of Detroit the building of new single-family homes seems out of place. New multi-family residential buildings such as apartments, row houses, etc. make more sense. Am I wrong for thinking this? Is there a reason why new single-family homes are built over apartments in Detroit?

GUSHI · April-01-12, 08:28 PM

Single family homes don't really make sense to me, even though I live in one right now, I remember when I was younger we lived in a duplex in detroit, my uncle downstairs w his family and us upstairs, duplexs make more sense due to having a source for rental income to help pay your Mortgage, I think people enjoyed being close to family members more then, if I was to relocate to a different state I would look for a duplex, in my case my parents have a 20 year age difference and if something was to happen to my father I would not wanna put my mother in a nursing home, either a duplex or a home w a in-law suite/finished basement w separate entrances, in my furture.

**Novine** · April-01-12, 09:13 PM

Are you talking about within Detroit city limits?

**mikefmich** · April-01-12, 09:18 PM

In this day & age? On some fronts, I would imagine the city is praying to fill up space.

SteveJ · April-01-12, 09:22 PM

I don't think Detroit is building any low income single family homes...

**DetroitPlanner** · April-01-12, 09:32 PM

I'd disagree, from the Fort Shelby to Herman Gardens its almost exclusively multifamily.
http://www.semcog.org/Data/Apps/permits.report.cfm

**Zacha341** · April-01-12, 09:44 PM

Welcome to Detroityes maverick1!

**professorscott** · April-01-12, 10:43 PM

In Detroit we build single family homes because land is inexpensive. Big apartment buildings make sense when land is precious, which it's not around here, or when you want to create dense, walkable, transit-friendly neighborhoods, which has never been a priority in southeast Michigan.

**detroitsgwenivere** · April-01-12, 11:01 PM

Hello Maverick!

I must say that in all the years Ive spoken to young Detroiters about their plans for the future, never once did I hear them say they dreamed about living in anything other than a single family home, besides a luxury penthouse or loft maybe. It appears to me that the young people associate duplexes and high rises with low income [[i.e. projects). I know that the older generations, including my folks, have generally associated owning a SF home with privacy and freedom.

I know if I buy a home, it's not going to be some overpriced condo where you get half the material cost of a SF, shoddy quality [[have you seen the crumbled stairs on those Brush Park Crosswinds Condos?), and the bible thick book of by-laws that comes with it.

**Hypestyles** · April-01-12, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by professorscott

In Detroit we build single family homes because land is inexpensive. Big apartment buildings make sense when land is precious, which it's not around here, or when you want to create dense, walkable, transit-friendly neighborhoods, which has never been a priority in southeast Michigan.

I want it to be a priority... but it's still not

**CLAUDE G** · April-02-12, 02:43 AM

Originally Posted by professorscott

In Detroit we build single family homes because land is inexpensive. Big apartment buildings make sense when land is precious, which it's not around here, or when you want to create dense, walkable, transit-friendly neighborhoods, which has never been a priority in southeast Michigan.

Exactly....

**Detroitnerd** · April-02-12, 07:47 AM

I imagine it also has to do with single-family homes being more profitable for the contractors. Or also the fact that our mentality and skill-set have been confined to single-family homes for so long that its what contractors, zoning boards, governments, et al. know.

**maverick1** · April-02-12, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by Novine

Are you talking about within Detroit city limits?

Yes within Detroit city limits.

**maverick1** · April-02-12, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

I'd disagree, from the Fort Shelby to Herman Gardens its almost exclusively multifamily.
http://www.semcog.org/Data/Apps/permits.report.cfm

I'm wrong. My perception is not reality. So maybe it just looks that way. I don't see high-rise apartments or short apartments being buillt. I will say most of the most of the multi-families I've seen built are usually townhouses which still doesn't seem like it fits the demographics.

**maverick1** · April-02-12, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by detroitsgwenivere

Hello Maverick!

I must say that in all the years Ive spoken to young Detroiters about their plans for the future, never once did I hear them say they dreamed about living in anything other than a single family home, besides a luxury penthouse or loft maybe. It appears to me that the young people associate duplexes and high rises with low income [[i.e. projects). I know that the older generations, including my folks, have generally associated owning a SF home with privacy and freedom.

I know if I buy a home, it's not going to be some overpriced condo where you get half the material cost of a SF, shoddy quality [[have you seen the crumbled stairs on those Brush Park Crosswinds Condos?), and the bible thick book of by-laws that comes with it.

Thank you for welcoming me. I own and live in a home in Detroit. But I find that amongst my friends that want an apartment in the city outside of downtown their options are limited. You have more options as far as renting a house in Detroit than you have to renting an apartment. I believe 70%-80% of residential property in Detroit are single family homes.

**Detroitnerd** · April-02-12, 10:43 AM

Well, when you're talking about existing construction, yeah. The city of Detroit is exceptional among American cities for its preponderance of single-family homes. It has to do with the way the city exploded after the invention of the automobile, and the earning power of autoworkers. Of course, now, it is something of a handicap, as apartments are more affordable, less work and closer to the action, and the existing homes can be dinky and way off the beaten path.

**Hermod** · April-02-12, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

I want it to be a priority... but it's still not

Economics 101: "A want or desire does not equal an economic demand on the market."

In other words, "lets see the color of your money."

**p69rrh51** · April-02-12, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

I want it to be a priority... but it's still not

We did have that with the pre WWII neighborhoods along with very good transit although even then they were mostly single family homes. Then the freeways were built the trolleys eliminated and cheap land in the suburbs which led to the spawl we have now. I doubt that will ever be a priorty. There are a few areas of metro Detroit where you can find something similar to what you are looking for.

**Detroitnerd** · April-02-12, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

Economics 101: "A want or desire does not equal an economic demand on the market."

In other words, "lets see the color of your money."

Oh, yes. I'll build my transit system with my own money.

Right after you pay for your freeway...

**Wesley Mouch** · April-02-12, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

I imagine it also has to do with single-family homes being more profitable for the contractors. Or also the fact that our mentality and skill-set have been confined to single-family homes for so long that its what contractors, zoning boards, governments, et al. know.

Not so much out skill-set, although that's true. Mostly our desire-set. A single-family home is the 'American Dream'.

The most perverse example of our collective delusion is the 'affordable housing' initiative. We dream of single-family homes for our less fortunate. So we subsidize it. Instead, we should have been encouraging smaller and more dense housing.

**Novine** · April-02-12, 11:02 AM

You can run a residential building permit report from SEMCOG. It's a mixed report from Detroit. Depending on the year, single family new construction has been higher than multi-family. As others have noted, there's so much vacant land in Detroit, there's no economic push for apartments that you see in more urbanized area where you can't make the economics work for anything but high density housing.

http://www.semcog.org/Data/Apps/permits.cfm

**Detroitnerd** · April-02-12, 11:08 AM

Well, there have been some years when total building permits for Detroit were in the double digits. And the city keeps pouring money into subsidizing demolitions, so it's not as dire as it seems from the map.

**Pam** · April-02-12, 11:46 AM

Maverick, check out the Palmer Park thread for a discussion of rehab of old apartment buildings.

**EastsideAl** · April-02-12, 12:43 PM

Maverick, are you from this area originally? I think you may not be seeing a key element in our local history and culture.

Traditionally Detroit has always been a "city of homes." Street after street of single family homes, or 2 family "flats" were built in several boom waves from the late 19th century to the 1950s.

This was THE city in the U.S. where owning a house was not a luxury and working class people could own their own homes, which was one of the area's major attractions to those who came here. Manual laborers with little formal education, like my grandparents, came from all over the country, and the world, to get a decent-paying job that allowed them to buy a reasonably low-cost house here in Detroit.

Aside from a few concentrations like the Cass Corridor and Palmer Park, apartments never gained much of a foothold around here as places for people, and particularly families, to live permanently. Certainly the idea of condos, while they do exist in this area, has never been a major driver in this housing market. And for many poor and working class Detroiters the high-rise housing projects - which are all pretty much gone now - gave high-density apartment living a very bad reputation. In addition, a lot of the apartment buildings out in the neighborhoods became havens for the drug trade, which only added to their poor image.

Due to this housing history, much of the city is zoned for individual homes, and has been for a long time. Given the poor reputation of apartment buildings, I would think some neighborhoods would fight any zoning change to higher density housing.

But I would imagine that the main reason that single family houses are being built is because experience, etc. shows that that's what people in this market want [[and the land is cheap enough to allow them to be built). In short, they are what sells. If you're a born and bred Detroiter like I am, chances are you grew up in a house and always think of families as living in houses. Even if you didn't grow up in one, I would think that most Detroiters think of owning their own house, or at least being able to rent a house, as one of the markers of some measure of success and stability for their families.

**maverick1** · April-02-12, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by EastsideAl

Maverick, are you from this area originally? I think you may not be seeing a key element in our local history and culture.

Traditionally Detroit has always been a "city of homes." Street after street of single family homes, or 2 family "flats" were built in several boom waves from the late 19th century to the 1950s.

This was THE city in the U.S. where owning a house was not a luxury and working class people could own their own homes, which was one of the area's major attractions to those who came here. Manual laborers with little formal education, like my grandparents, came from all over the country, and the world, to get a decent-paying job that allowed them to buy a reasonably low-cost house here in Detroit.

Aside from a few concentrations like the Cass Corridor and Palmer Park, apartments never gained much of a foothold around here as places for people, and particularly families, to live permanently. Certainly the idea of condos, while they do exist in this area, has never been a major driver in this housing market. And for many poor and working class Detroiters the high-rise housing projects - which are all pretty much gone now - gave high-density apartment living a very bad reputation. In addition, a lot of the apartment buildings out in the neighborhoods became havens for the drug trade, which only added to their poor image.

Due to this housing history, much of the city is zoned for individual homes, and has been for a long time. Given the poor reputation of apartment buildings, I would think some neighborhoods would fight any zoning change to higher density housing.

But I would imagine that the main reason that single family houses are being built is because experience, etc. shows that that's what people in this market want [[and the land is cheap enough to allow them to be built). In short, they are what sells. If you're a born and bred Detroiter like I am, chances are you grew up in a house and always think of families as living in houses. Even if you didn't grow up in one, I would think that most Detroiters think of owning their own house, or at least being able to rent a house, as one of the markers of some measure of success and stability for their families.

I am from this area originally. I understand the history. I'm basically referencing the homes I've seen built within the last 20-30 years. I don't understand why the few homes that were built in Detroit were single family when there is a glut of those type of homes to begin with. Apartments, brownstones, flats, etc. seem to make more sense considering how the demographics and economics of the city were changing.