Racial Dot Map

**sturge** · December-28-13, 03:05 PM

Found this interesting racial map in a WIRED article [[http://www.wired.com/design/2013/08/...slideid-210501)

http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html

The divides won't be surprising to any of us, but it is remarkable how sharp the divides are. Amongst the sea of green in Detroit I can easily spot Mexican town, Hamtramck, and a tiny little square I believe is U of D Mercy. I expected to see more brown in Dearborn, but it's either too hard to make out or isn't as populous as I believed.

**Johnnny5** · December-28-13, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by sturge

Found this interesting racial map in a WIRED article [[http://www.wired.com/design/2013/08/...slideid-210501)

http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html

The divides won't be surprising to any of us, but it is remarkable how sharp the divides are. Amongst the sea of green in Detroit I can easily spot Mexican town, Hamtramck, and a tiny little square I believe is U of D Mercy. I expected to see more brown in Dearborn, but it's either too hard to make out or isn't as populous as I believed.

That's a very interesting and enlightening map! I believe people of Arab decent are normally considered "white" on the census, so it makes sense that Dearborn appears mostly in blue.

**Ray1936** · December-28-13, 03:55 PM

Scrolling back to the national picture, ain't no doubt most US folks are east of Ol' Miss. Except for Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada is pretty sparse.

**renf** · December-28-13, 04:42 PM

In my view, there has been a rather substantial decrease in racial residential segregation in metro Detroit since 1970. The suburbs are open in a sense
that few expected. When people spoke about a movement of blacks to the
suburbs decades ago, they expected large concentrations of mostly black areas in the suburban ring. For the most part that has not happened and many suburbs that were almost all white in the Nixon era, now have modest and slowing growing numbers of black residents. Racial attitudes have changed and the movement of blacks from the city to the ring is now substantial. However, metro Detroit remains among the more segregated areas in the nation. In many parts of the South and West, black-white residential segregation is much lower.

**poobert** · December-29-13, 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by renf

In my view, there has been a rather substantial decrease in racial residential segregation in metro Detroit since 1970. The suburbs are open in a sense
that few expected. When people spoke about a movement of blacks to the
suburbs decades ago, they expected large concentrations of mostly black areas in the suburban ring. For the most part that has not happened and many suburbs that were almost all white in the Nixon era, now have modest and slowing growing numbers of black residents. Racial attitudes have changed and the movement of blacks from the city to the ring is now substantial. However, metro Detroit remains among the more segregated areas in the nation. In many parts of the South and West, black-white residential segregation is much lower.

While the suburbs are certainly more "open", white flight has merely extended out further. What were formerly lily white communities [[Eastpointe, Warren, Harper Woods) have gained significant black population and are now undesirable to Metro Detroit whites.

Things aren't getting better, what happened with Detroit in terms of flight and segregation and the suburbs is now happening with a virtually empty Detroit/inner ring suburbs vs. outer ring suburbs.

Compound that with an actual drop in state and regional population and it isn't pretty.

But I hear there is some kind of out of doors hockey so its cool.

**corktownyuppie** · December-29-13, 03:03 AM

Originally Posted by poobert

Things aren't getting better, what happened with Detroit in terms of flight and segregation and the suburbs is now happening with a virtually empty Detroit/inner ring suburbs vs. outer ring suburbs.

I agree with the facts you present, but I come to the opposite conclusion. Very much like the bankruptcy in Detroit is good in the long run [[shedding debts and restructuring city government to be lean and efficient will make for better residential services), the "spreading problems" of Detroit into the suburbs is finally bringing us to the point of unsustainability of urban sprawl.

As Wayne County approaches what appears to be an inevitable emergency manager, social problems which were at one point limited only to Detroit are now being shared with our suburban brethren.

Now, of course, I'm sure they don't like that. But the reality is that moving away from the problem wasn't really a solution to the problem. And perhaps to their dismay, they find themselves side by side with Detroit working together to deal with inner city problems that they've been able to thusfar avoid.

This is a de facto "regionalization" and will finally funnel larger and more coordinated resources to deal with problems.

Ah, but you say that people are just moving further away into the next ring of suburbs? Even that is hitting the end of it's rope as state budgets will simply not allow ring after ring after ring of suburbia and exurbia to continue moving further and further away, each time leaving behind a trail of destruction in exchange for a temporary and delusional "solution" to dealing with "undesirables" who are ruining it for everyone.

Just as Detroit has hit the end of its rope for borrowing Peter to pay Paul, Metro Detroit has hit the end of its rope for using geographic distance to solve social problems.

And while it will be uncomfortable...especially for those who enjoyed the luxury of saying, "Well, that's Detroit's problem, not ours"...in the end we all finally be forced to marshall our resources to rethink about how we can deal with some of our most nagging problems.

Get the popcorn out. The next 30 years will be interesting, indeed.

**Hamtragedy** · December-29-13, 03:40 AM

Yup. The same 30 years our parents waited for. The following 30 years I've been waiting for, [[and I'm still young, we were so close in the late 90s & early 2000s). And the next 30 years I'll hopefully live to see, at least on the calendar. Fingers crossed on the regionalization part, but zero in the way of expectations. Oh, to be pleasantly surprised.......

**corktownyuppie** · December-29-13, 03:55 AM

Originally Posted by Hamtragedy

Yup. The same 30 years our parents waited for. The following 30 years I've been waiting for, [[and I'm still young, we were so close in the late 90s & early 2000s). And the next 30 years I'll hopefully live to see, at least on the calendar. Fingers crossed on the regionalization part, but zero in the way of expectations. Oh, to be pleasantly surprised.......

Regionalization is already happening.

Cobo Hall, Detroit Zoo, Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit Riverfront, Campus Martius, Detroit Institute of Arts, Eastern Market...these are all entities that used to be run by City Hall and have been turned over to non-profits, foundations, or regionwide boards.

Pontiac finally merged its fire dept with West Bloomfield, and its policing is now being done by Oakland County.

Wayne County is about to have a real "Come to Jesus" moment when the sh** hits the fan and they go into emergency management.

I don't think we'll ever see regionalization in terms of a Metro Detroit Governing Board. It's too politically unpalpable. But without a doubt, the figureheads are remaining in office while their powers and responsibilities are being shifted away to other municipal entities or newly formed region-wide boards.

The consolidation won't be a dramatic revelation on election night. But rather a slow, steady, but inevitable crumbling of the fiefdoms that used to run Metro Detroit.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · December-29-13, 09:33 AM

The Detroit area will never get it together where people live in harmony. There are too many racist and divisive people who live here and why it's still the most segregated city in the US, for the last 45 years.

**poobert** · December-29-13, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

I agree with the facts you present, but I come to the opposite conclusion. Very much like the bankruptcy in Detroit is good in the long run [[shedding debts and restructuring city government to be lean and efficient will make for better residential services), the "spreading problems" of Detroit into the suburbs is finally bringing us to the point of unsustainability of urban sprawl.

As Wayne County approaches what appears to be an inevitable emergency manager, social problems which were at one point limited only to Detroit are now being shared with our suburban brethren.

Now, of course, I'm sure they don't like that. But the reality is that moving away from the problem wasn't really a solution to the problem. And perhaps to their dismay, they find themselves side by side with Detroit working together to deal with inner city problems that they've been able to thusfar avoid.

This is a de facto "regionalization" and will finally funnel larger and more coordinated resources to deal with problems.

Ah, but you say that people are just moving further away into the next ring of suburbs? Even that is hitting the end of it's rope as state budgets will simply not allow ring after ring after ring of suburbia and exurbia to continue moving further and further away, each time leaving behind a trail of destruction in exchange for a temporary and delusional "solution" to dealing with "undesirables" who are ruining it for everyone.

Just as Detroit has hit the end of its rope for borrowing Peter to pay Paul, Metro Detroit has hit the end of its rope for using geographic distance to solve social problems.

And while it will be uncomfortable...especially for those who enjoyed the luxury of saying, "Well, that's Detroit's problem, not ours"...in the end we all finally be forced to marshall our resources to rethink about how we can deal with some of our most nagging problems.

Get the popcorn out. The next 30 years will be interesting, indeed.

I certainly agree with you about the solution, but I don't think that realization has come for the vast, vast majority of Metro Detroiters. I think it certainly has for a good deal of people, but politically and socially speaking, I've never seen, heard, or read anything to suggest an abandoning or even a healthy skepticism of the sprawl machine. I'd be extremely interested if you had any quotes or snippets from anyone suggesting as much.

If they're still finding enough dogs' blood to pump through L. Brooks Patterson to keep him alive, I'm sure at this very moment he'd offer some nugget of brilliance of how sprawl is wonderful.

While people have ever-so-slowly recognized the importance [[and even value) of Detroit, that, paradoxically, hasn't gone hand-in-hand with not living at 40 mile road. People want their cake and to eat it too. Once per month they drive down to Hugh, marvel at midcentury goods, hop on a widened I-94 and drive back up to Whatever Township and gossip to burby friends about Detroit.

GUSHI · December-29-13, 02:33 PM

All the map shows is the population of the Us, which as of now is mostly white. It's not the white fault the black do not want to live with them.

**English** · December-29-13, 02:58 PM

"It's not easy being green..."

**stromberg2** · December-29-13, 04:23 PM

^^
English!!

**canuck** · December-29-13, 04:29 PM

Welcome back English!

How are things in the city of Father, Son and Holy Ghost houses?

**Detroit Stylin** · December-29-13, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by English

"It's not easy being green..."

Yo wassup Ms English...

**sumas** · December-30-13, 05:28 AM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

The Detroit area will never get it together where people live in harmony. There are too many racist and divisive people who live here and why it's still the most segregated city in the US, for the last 45 years.

I just adore bullshit. Cincinnati, keep your crap in Ohio. Why bother with this board unless of course your sterile existence needs to feed off a synergy that exists here. Racial divide, please kiss my ass! This city has done more to break down barriers then any other. Neighborhoods have more to do with shared values, not color issues.

**Danny** · December-30-13, 07:43 AM

Detroit is what it is and the suburbs is what it is. The 8 Mile Demarcation Line is the significance between the ghetto and the real middle class neighborhood. It's living in Brewster Place without the brick wall. Across 110th Street with no Central Park in New York City. My question is will this racial line be broken, Yes. Give about 70 years and more black folks will be living up to 20 Mile Rd. and M-59 FWY in no time. White folks will be re-populating Detroit from Downtown to the West Side and East Side by 2070.

**Zacha341** · December-30-13, 08:24 AM

Hey what's up English!?

Miss you...

Originally Posted by English

"It's not easy being green..."

**Cincinnati_Kid** · January-02-14, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by sumas

I just adore bullshit. Cincinnati, keep your crap in Ohio. Why bother with this board unless of course your sterile existence needs to feed off a synergy that exists here. Racial divide, please kiss my ass! This city has done more to break down barriers then any other. Neighborhoods have more to do with shared values, not color issues.

As soon as you come from under that ROCK you've been living under, I will.
BTW..."Opinions are like _ssholes, everybody has one"

**GOAT** · January-03-14, 09:43 AM

I don't think "white flight" is as prevelent as people think it is today. IT is more in line with the love of suburbia and the love of all things new. Couple that with the attitude of those with money against those who do not exacerbates the continuing sprawl of the region.

This is no different than many other areas in North America. The difference being that black people as a whole have a lot less money than white people and therefore cannot continue to sprawl to get away from the "poor".