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.