Map of White Flight

[dtowncitylover]

I wondering if there were any maps of following the migration of whites from the city to the suburbs. Think of those immigration maps of arrows with numbers coming from Europe and Central/American showing the amount of immigrants coming to the US. Or I also remember a map of the slave trade and the amount of Africans that were taken and where they were sent.

I know for the most part it had to do with geography; the Poles and Italians of the East side moved up into Macomb County, while the Jews of the West side moved up into Oak Park and Southfield. But did people move based on where their neighbors move?

On a micro scale, my grandparents moved from Harlow St. on the west side to Royal Oak because they needed more house for their growing family. It would be interesting to follow their neighbors who moved out. Did they go to Royal Oak? Or to Southfield? Or to the Ferndale? Etc... So it would be interesting to map out full neighborhoods and the different suburbs these residents moved to for whatever reason.

Hopefully this makes sense...

[Gistok]

Well a very interesting question... but yes... the nationalities pretty much went northward or westward [[or southwestward)... depending on the nationality.

For example Italians. Many of the Italian-Americans moved to Clinton Twp., Sterling Hts., Macomb or Shelby Twp., or points NE of Mt. Clemens.

The German-American community did likewise moving northward.

The Polish-American community located farher west [[Hamtramck) moved to Sterling Heights, Troy and other places northward.

[Shollin]

A lot of poles moved to Warren. More so than Sterling Heights.

[Johnnny5]

A lot of poles moved to Warren. More so than Sterling Heights.

I think Warren was one of the earlier destinations [[That's where my Polish and Slovak relatives moved to in the late 1950's). Sterling Heights was more popular later on as the closer suburbs were pretty much built up.

[Shollin]

I think Warren was one of the earlier destinations [[That's where my Polish and Slovak relatives moved to in the late 1950's). Sterling Heights was more popular in the late 1960's and later as the closer suburbs were pretty much built up after that time.

Warren's boom happened in the 60's too. In 1960 Warren had a population of 89,000. In 1970 in had a population of 179,000. Sterling Heights experienced growth in the 60's but more in the 70's. North Warren has an old population and Warren has a population that has lived in the city for an average of 35 years. Most moving into Warren now are blacks in the south and immigrants to the north, especially Ukrainians. Sterling Heights has seen a sizable increase in Arabs as well as Asians. White flight is pretty much over in Detroit.

[Gistok]

A lot of Germans also moved to Warren from Detroit... many have since moved on to points northward.... many groups are well into their 2nd migration since moving from Detroit.

[Mikeg]

.....Hopefully this makes sense...

It only makes sense if you subscribe to the convenient but false narrative that migration to the suburbs can be mapped simply by using arrows pointing outward from the city of Detroit.

I'm a 4th generation descendant of a German immigrant who moved to Macomb County from Westphalia in 1849. My father, grandfather and great grandfather all lived their entire lives within Macomb County, as have I. Five of my eight great-grandparents were Macomb county natives and the majority of their living descendants can be found here in Macomb Co.

Many of the early Macomb County pioneers came directly to Macomb County from upstate New York and Ontario and many of their descendants can still be found living here.

Two of my current neighbors came here from the Copper Country of the UP. Another current neighbor moved here from northern California, but visits his native India once or twice a year.

A former neighbor moved to Macomb County from western North Carolina in the early 1960s and even though he retired back to NC, 50 years later his daughter and grandchildren are all living here in Macomb County. I've also had neighbors who moved to Macomb County from other Michigan counties or states due to job transfers. A couple of other former neighbors were Chaldean, one who did move here from Detroit but the other who came directly from Iraq.

Somehow I doubt that you are interested in seeing arrows for these migration streams since they run counter to the notion of "white flight" abandonment of the city.

[iheartthed]

It only makes sense if you subscribe to the convenient but false narrative that migration to the suburbs can be mapped simply by using arrows pointing outward from the city of Detroit.

I'm a 4th generation descendant of a German immigrant who moved to Macomb County from Westphalia in 1849. My father, grandfather and great grandfather all lived their entire lives within Macomb County, as have I. Five of my eight great-grandparents were Macomb county natives and the majority of their living descendants can be found here in Macomb Co.

The OP wasn't asking about you or your family. The OP specifically asked about "the migration of whites from the city to the suburbs." The OP didn't say that everybody in the suburbs is a product of flight from the city. If you are not a product of flight from the city to the suburbs then it does not include you. Stop projecting.

[dtowncitylover]

It only makes sense if you subscribe to the convenient but false narrative that migration to the suburbs can be mapped simply by using arrows pointing outward from the city of Detroit.

I'm a 4th generation descendant of a German immigrant who moved to Macomb County from Westphalia in 1849. My father, grandfather and great grandfather all lived their entire lives within Macomb County, as have I. Five of my eight great-grandparents were Macomb county natives and the majority of their living descendants can be found here in Macomb Co.

Many of the early Macomb County pioneers came directly to Macomb County from upstate New York and Ontario and many of their descendants can still be found living here.

Two of my current neighbors came here from the Copper Country of the UP. Another current neighbor moved here from northern California, but visits his native India once or twice a year.

A former neighbor moved to Macomb County from western North Carolina in the early 1960s and even though he retired back to NC, 50 years later his daughter and grandchildren are all living here in Macomb County. I've also had neighbors who moved to Macomb County from other Michigan counties or states due to job transfers. A couple of other former neighbors were Chaldean, one who did move here from Detroit but the other who came directly from Iraq.

Somehow I doubt that you are interested in seeing arrows for these migration streams since they run counter to the notion of "white flight" abandonment of the city.

Cool story bro. I'm not sure your post has anything to do with my original thought. I wasn't talking about general migration of people to Michigan, an entirely new topic to begin with. I was referring to the white migration from the city to the suburbs. I know of the New York migration to Michigan. In fact the house my grandparents bought and grew up in was built by such a New Yorker. My grandfather was brought from Detroit by his Ohio-born and raised stepfather and his Iowan born and raised mother to 1930s Warren and grew up in that village, so that would be another migration to study at a later date.

I am interested in demography and demographic statistics, so yes I would be interested in many migrations of people. But right now, I'm only interested in white flight in Detroit. The Data Driven Detroit presentation is something very close to resembling what I had in mind. Thank you DetroitPlanner for that.

[MikeM]

I can't speak for the OP, but maybe they are interested solely in the geographical extent of white migration out of Detroit. My father moved to Detroit in '37, left for the army from '40-'46, lived in Detroit again '46-'48, then moved to the east side suburbs. Maybe the OP is just interested in the move out, not the move in.

[Mikeg]

I can't speak for the OP, but maybe they are interested solely in the geographical extent of white migration out of Detroit. My father moved to Detroit in '37, left for the army from '40-'46, lived in Detroit again '46-'48, then moved to the east side suburbs. Maybe the OP is just interested in the move out, not the move in.

Note that the OP did not use the term "white migration".

White migration out of Detroit included many, many folks who moved "up north" as well as to places like NV, OR, FL, CA, AZ, etc., but the OP proposes mapping the "white flight" of those who only made the short move to the suburbs. If the focus is only on out-migration to the suburbs, then it fails to tell a meaningful story of where all of the "white flight" from Detroit went to and what percentage of the suburban population is the result of "white flight".

[MikeM]

Note that the OP did not use the term "white migration".

He said "migration of whites" so I took the liberty to call it white migration. I suspect he is looking for something derived from census data or a survey and a map like this, only more detailed.

[bibs]

The migration wasn't just to the suburbs. My grand parents moved from Detroit to Floriday and I'm sure others moved to warmer climates.

[p69rrh51]

I wondering if there were any maps of following the migration of whites from the city to the suburbs. Think of those immigration maps of arrows with numbers coming from Europe and Central/American showing the amount of immigrants coming to the US. Or I also remember a map of the slave trade and the amount of Africans that were taken and where they were sent.

I know for the most part it had to do with geography; the Poles and Italians of the East side moved up into Macomb County, while the Jews of the West side moved up into Oak Park and Southfield. But did people move based on where their neighbors move?

On a micro scale, my grandparents moved from Harlow St. on the west side to Royal Oak because they needed more house for their growing family. It would be interesting to follow their neighbors who moved out. Did they go to Royal Oak? Or to Southfield? Or to the Ferndale? Etc... So it would be interesting to map out full neighborhoods and the different suburbs these residents moved to for whatever reason.

Hopefully this makes sense...

Its quite simple just place a clear compass rose on the geographic center of Detroit. Eliminate from 90 degrees to 180 degrees and you have a map of the directions of white flight out of the city. After that all you need to do is look at the ethnic areas of the suburbs you find along the points of the compass.

[Wingnatic]

With the demise of Detroit's Purple Gang and legitimate businesses owned by Jews , they may have been the 1st to head to the suburbs . News or Free Press 2-3 part story about this possibly 5 years ago .

'' Many publications have taken a look at Detroit’s decline recently. They make important points. The 1967 riots caused “white flight” from the city. The unions and Big Three entered into contracts with expensive legacy costs. America shed its industrial base. Mayor Coleman Young left a Chicago-style legacy of corruption. Over a decade after Young’s departure corruption, incompetence, and unemployment have continued to blight Detroit. The ‘67 riots provide researchers with a convenient starting point for this decline. However, the population decline began a decade earlier. In the fifties, the government created the interstate highway system. Highways made America mobile and people left the cities for the suburbs. People left Detroit for greener pastures and took their money with them.

The Interstate Highway Act of 1956 created modern America and provided the hole in the dyke that led to Detroit‘s depopulation and decline. Detroit lobbied hard for a highway system to promote car ownership. Americans could only go so far without roads. The new system would open up the country. Americans could travel everywhere in their automobiles. This new freedom would mean more profits for the auto industry. Consumers would feel the need to purchase vehicles as status symbols and for the freedom of mobility the highways created.

Opening the nation to car travel also opened areas outside the major cities for settlement. People could go to work in the city and live in the suburbs or country. Americans did not have to live in apartments in crowded, dirty cities. Instead, they could live in homes they themselves owned in clean surroundings. There would be elbow room, privacy, and backyard barbeques. This especially appealed to those parents responsible for the baby boom. Many Detroiters and began moving to cleaner suburban pastures.

In 1950, Detroit’s population stood at 1.8 million. Over the course of the decade, it dropped 10%. On the other hand, the Metro Detroit Region which includes the suburbs surrounding the city grew by 25%. The middle class was abandoning the city a decade or so before the riots. These were auto workers benefiting from the Big Three’s halcyon days. High wages, good benefits, and a strong union made the Detroit area a great place to live. Workers took their wages to the suburbs and purchased homes. People could commute between homes in the suburbs and jobs in the city. Meanwhile, the tax base began to decline.

The 1967 riots accelerated the exodus. The riots pitted whites against blacks. African-Americans felt besieged by white racism and rebelled. In the aftermath, whites felt besieged by black racism. With highways available to evacuate the populace, whites began to flee the city. African Americans with the resources to move were barred from moving to the suburbs by de facto segregation. During the seventies, Detroit’s population declined by over 20%. By 1980, the destruction of Detroit was complete. Despite efforts at revitalization in the nineties, the process has accelerated in recent years.

Detroit’s demise did not begin with racial issues in the aftermath of the riots. It did not begin with economic stagnation or the shipping of jobs overseas. It did not begin because of bad deals cut between the UAW and G. M., Ford, and Chrysler. Instead, it began because people wanted their own homes on their own plots of land. The Interstate Highway System gave us Modern America. It created soccer moms, minivans, and the world of Leave it to Beaver. However, it also opened a Pandora’s Box which began the decline of America’s fourth largest city. ''

[Wheels]

With the demise of Detroit's Purple Gang and legitimate businesses owned by Jews , they may have been the 1st to head to the suburbs . News or Free Press 2-3 part story about this possibly 5 years ago .

'' Many publications have taken a look at Detroit’s decline recently. They make important points. The 1967 riots caused “white flight” from the city. The unions and Big Three entered into contracts with expensive legacy costs. America shed its industrial base. Mayor Coleman Young left a Chicago-style legacy of corruption. Over a decade after Young’s departure corruption, incompetence, and unemployment have continued to blight Detroit. The ‘67 riots provide researchers with a convenient starting point for this decline. However, the population decline began a decade earlier. In the fifties, the government created the interstate highway system. Highways made America mobile and people left the cities for the suburbs. People left Detroit for greener pastures and took their money with them.

The Interstate Highway Act of 1956 created modern America and provided the hole in the dyke that led to Detroit‘s depopulation and decline. Detroit lobbied hard for a highway system to promote car ownership. Americans could only go so far without roads. The new system would open up the country. Americans could travel everywhere in their automobiles. This new freedom would mean more profits for the auto industry. Consumers would feel the need to purchase vehicles as status symbols and for the freedom of mobility the highways created.

Opening the nation to car travel also opened areas outside the major cities for settlement. People could go to work in the city and live in the suburbs or country. Americans did not have to live in apartments in crowded, dirty cities. Instead, they could live in homes they themselves owned in clean surroundings. There would be elbow room, privacy, and backyard barbeques. This especially appealed to those parents responsible for the baby boom. Many Detroiters and began moving to cleaner suburban pastures.

In 1950, Detroit’s population stood at 1.8 million. Over the course of the decade, it dropped 10%. On the other hand, the Metro Detroit Region which includes the suburbs surrounding the city grew by 25%. The middle class was abandoning the city a decade or so before the riots. These were auto workers benefiting from the Big Three’s halcyon days. High wages, good benefits, and a strong union made the Detroit area a great place to live. Workers took their wages to the suburbs and purchased homes. People could commute between homes in the suburbs and jobs in the city. Meanwhile, the tax base began to decline.

The 1967 riots accelerated the exodus. The riots pitted whites against blacks. African-Americans felt besieged by white racism and rebelled. In the aftermath, whites felt besieged by black racism. With highways available to evacuate the populace, whites began to flee the city. African Americans with the resources to move were barred from moving to the suburbs by de facto segregation. During the seventies, Detroit’s population declined by over 20%. By 1980, the destruction of Detroit was complete. Despite efforts at revitalization in the nineties, the process has accelerated in recent years.

Detroit’s demise did not begin with racial issues in the aftermath of the riots. It did not begin with economic stagnation or the shipping of jobs overseas. It did not begin because of bad deals cut between the UAW and G. M., Ford, and Chrysler. Instead, it began because people wanted their own homes on their own plots of land. The Interstate Highway System gave us Modern America. It created soccer moms, minivans, and the world of Leave it to Beaver. However, it also opened a Pandora’s Box which began the decline of America’s fourth largest city. ''

This answer skirts the question of WHITE FLIGHT.

[Danny]

With the demise of Detroit's Purple Gang and legitimate businesses owned by Jews , they may have been the 1st to head to the suburbs . News or Free Press 2-3 part story about this possibly 5 years ago .

'' Many publications have taken a look at Detroit’s decline recently. They make important points. The 1967 riots caused “white flight” from the city. The unions and Big Three entered into contracts with expensive legacy costs. America shed its industrial base. Mayor Coleman Young left a Chicago-style legacy of corruption. Over a decade after Young’s departure corruption, incompetence, and unemployment have continued to blight Detroit. The ‘67 riots provide researchers with a convenient starting point for this decline. However, the population decline began a decade earlier. In the fifties, the government created the interstate highway system. Highways made America mobile and people left the cities for the suburbs. People left Detroit for greener pastures and took their money with them.

The Interstate Highway Act of 1956 created modern America and provided the hole in the dyke that led to Detroit‘s depopulation and decline. Detroit lobbied hard for a highway system to promote car ownership. Americans could only go so far without roads. The new system would open up the country. Americans could travel everywhere in their automobiles. This new freedom would mean more profits for the auto industry. Consumers would feel the need to purchase vehicles as status symbols and for the freedom of mobility the highways created.

Opening the nation to car travel also opened areas outside the major cities for settlement. People could go to work in the city and live in the suburbs or country. Americans did not have to live in apartments in crowded, dirty cities. Instead, they could live in homes they themselves owned in clean surroundings. There would be elbow room, privacy, and backyard barbeques. This especially appealed to those parents responsible for the baby boom. Many Detroiters and began moving to cleaner suburban pastures.

In 1950, Detroit’s population stood at 1.8 million. Over the course of the decade, it dropped 10%. On the other hand, the Metro Detroit Region which includes the suburbs surrounding the city grew by 25%. The middle class was abandoning the city a decade or so before the riots. These were auto workers benefiting from the Big Three’s halcyon days. High wages, good benefits, and a strong union made the Detroit area a great place to live. Workers took their wages to the suburbs and purchased homes. People could commute between homes in the suburbs and jobs in the city. Meanwhile, the tax base began to decline.

The 1967 riots accelerated the exodus. The riots pitted whites against blacks. African-Americans felt besieged by white racism and rebelled. In the aftermath, whites felt besieged by black racism. With highways available to evacuate the populace, whites began to flee the city. African Americans with the resources to move were barred from moving to the suburbs by de facto segregation. During the seventies, Detroit’s population declined by over 20%. By 1980, the destruction of Detroit was complete. Despite efforts at revitalization in the nineties, the process has accelerated in recent years.

Detroit’s demise did not begin with racial issues in the aftermath of the riots. It did not begin with economic stagnation or the shipping of jobs overseas. It did not begin because of bad deals cut between the UAW and G. M., Ford, and Chrysler. Instead, it began because people wanted their own homes on their own plots of land. The Interstate Highway System gave us Modern America. It created soccer moms, minivans, and the world of Leave it to Beaver. However, it also opened a Pandora’s Box which began the decline of America’s fourth largest city. ''

I agree with your comments. Plus the bad deal between automobile companies and its unions starts the race and class in Detroit. middle class whites vs. low income whites, Middle class blacks vs. low income blacks, middle income whites vs. low income blacks, middle income blacks vs low income whites made Detroit what it is today, an urban mess.

[Danny]

If you all want to see more white flight in progress click into this link. and zoom close to Metro-Detroit area.

http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map?hp

Light to dark blue areas represent Black communities.

Light to dark green areas represent White communities.

Light to dark yellow represent Hispanic communities.

Light to dark pink represent Asian communities.


Move your mouse pad to any community and you will see the change on population by the percentage of demographics. You see that all of Detroit from the River to 8 Mile Rd. is black coated with some Hispanics in the Southwest side and fewer Asians near Hamtramck. In Detroit's black community, any percentage of them are leaving that area. Because to lack of city services, poor schools, lack of businesses, violent crime, drugs, gangs and other mayhem. Whites dominance in Detroit is long gone since 1975. In the inner ring suburbs that boarder Detroit. White flight has begun and Black flight to the inner ring suburbs had increased in the last 30 years. Southfield, Oak Park, Lathrup Village, Royal Oak TWP. is the prime example of early white flight across the 8 Mile demarcation line. Next East Pointe now has a black community. White flight has begun there North of 8 Mile Rd. and Gratiot to Toepfer St and Kelly Rd. By 2030 East Pointe will be 60% black. Harper Woods is now over 50% black and getting quickly ghetto-ized every year. Warren experience black growth from 8 Mile Rd to I-696 FWY. By 2030 that area will lose more white middle class and the population will be 35%. Any areas around Dequindre to 10 Mile Rd, Mound Rd to 10 Mile Rd, Van Dyke Ave. to Center Line and including Groesbeck Rd will see black growth. Roseville will follow with black growth by 2040. Do you all see the white flight. It's not just happening in Detroit anymore.

[subsidized]

I wondering if there were any maps of following the migration of whites from the city to the suburbs. Think of those immigration maps of arrows with numbers coming from Europe and Central/American showing the amount of immigrants coming to the US. Or I also remember a map of the slave trade and the amount of Africans that were taken and where they were sent.

I know for the most part it had to do with geography; the Poles and Italians of the East side moved up into Macomb County, while the Jews of the West side moved up into Oak Park and Southfield. But did people move based on where their neighbors move?

On a micro scale, my grandparents moved from Harlow St. on the west side to Royal Oak because they needed more house for their growing family. It would be interesting to follow their neighbors who moved out. Did they go to Royal Oak? Or to Southfield? Or to the Ferndale? Etc... So it would be interesting to map out full neighborhoods and the different suburbs these residents moved to for whatever reason.

Hopefully this makes sense...

No, I do not think there are any maps of white flight.

[DetroitPlanner]

WSU used to trace ethnic migrations but I have not seen a map for a very long time. I would assume that it is definitely more complex now than it was in the past. There are a lot of mixing of ethnic groups. 40-50 years ago that simply was not done at the scale that it now is. The whole ecology of moving is different.

D-3 has done this, it gives some answers...
http://datadrivendetroit.org/web_ftp...etroit__11.pdf

[Wingnatic]

Où est passée l'anglais ? They must have checked out first lol

[douglasm]

About the time I was born [[9/48), mom and dad were looking for a house that 1) they could afford and 2) was within easy commute of Chrysler HQ. They were looking in Highland Park, but the real estate agent steered them to Ferndale. I may be mistaken, but over the years, I got the impression that the inner ring suburbs grew in this manner in the late 40's and early 50's.

One of the problems in tracking "ethnic migration" in the manor that DetroitPlanner was talking about is that ethnic makeup as a residential choice pretty much goes away after a couple of generations. Unless your ties are really strong, or there's a compelling reason for staying in one area [[walking to Temple comes to mind, for example), the "great melting pot" effect kicks in making ethnic migration a mute point.

[Király]

This one shows while flight from Detroit from 1990-2000.

http://www.cus.wayne.edu/content/map...t-whitepop.pdf

[Steve Frey]

File not found

[douglasm]

Question: We keep talking about "white flight". It would be interesting to see figures for "income flight", that is, are people of higher incomes, regardless of race abandoning Detroit?