Quote Originally Posted by nain rouge View Post
Because we're backwards. You can try to spin how you want, but we're shrinking for a reason.

We're backwards.

We're not shrinking anymore.

Just released July 2013 numbers from the Census Bureau bode well for the region:

  • Population – Southeast Michigan gained 4,540 people last year, which is the second consecutive year of population growth after a decade of population decline. Current population is about 6,500 more that the 2010 Census. It is 1.1 percent higher than SEMCOG’s 2040 forecast for 2013.
  • Employment – After bottoming out in 2009, the region has been gaining jobs for four consecutive years now, adding 146,420 total jobs, or 7.9 percent. In contrast, the U.S. gained only 4.8 percent from the bottom [[2010).
  • Building permits – Just like jobs, the region’s building permits have been increasing for four consecutive years now. In 2013, residential permits increased 34.8 percent over 2012, with 7,564 new units permitted in 2013.

http://smcg.informz.net/InformzDataS...anceId=3919545

The question of density is also a puzzling one. Density is not necessarily good for everything.