Metro Detroit to be replaced by Metro Phoenix...

[iheartthed]

... in top 10 largest MSAs by 2025.

3. Detroit will drop out of the top 10, with Phoenix replacing it
Detroit and Phoenix are two of the most economically troubled areas in America today, but their future prospects are considerably different.

Detroit is the only metro expected to slip from the top 10 during the next two decades. It’s projected to fall from 10th place in 2005 to 14th place in 2025, losing 59,500 residents during that span.

Phoenix, on the other hand, is likely to bounce back strongly from its current problems. Its projected 2025 population of 6.9 million will elevate it to seventh place, up from 13th in 2005.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31130897

So is Metro Detroit salvageable?

We know the stats about Detroit. It is the only American city in history to have had over 1 million residents and fallen back below that threshold. It is the only top 5 city from the 1950 census to not even be a top 10 city today. Blah, blah...

But what will save Metro Detroit? Are Detroit's woes just a magnification of what is happening with the metropolitan area? Or is this just a coincidence?

[DetroitPlanner]

This should not be a surprise. Immigrants settle and transients move to where the jobs are. The SW area of the country has been growing like gangbusters when compared to the Midwest, Great Lakes, or Eastern areas. What is most distressing is that we will lose representation in DC due to redistricting, that will take some of our house seats and move them to either AZ, NV, or CA.

[jt1]

... in top 10 largest MSAs by 2025.

3. Detroit will drop out of the top 10, with Phoenix replacing it
Detroit and Phoenix are two of the most economically troubled areas in America today, but their future prospects are considerably different.

Detroit is the only metro expected to slip from the top 10 during the next two decades. It’s projected to fall from 10th place in 2005 to 14th place in 2025, losing 59,500 residents during that span.

Phoenix, on the other hand, is likely to bounce back strongly from its current problems. Its projected 2025 population of 6.9 million will elevate it to seventh place, up from 13th in 2005.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31130897

So is Metro Detroit salvageable?

We know the stats about Detroit. It is the only American city in history to have had over 1 million residents and fallen back below that threshold. It is the only top 5 city from the 1950 census to not even be a top 10 city today. Blah, blah...

But what will save Metro Detroit? Are Detroit's woes just a magnification of what is happening with the metropolitan area? Or is this just a coincidence?

Metro Detroit is now dealing with 50 years of bad decisions, lack of cooperation and a manufacturing mentality. What is sad and funny all at the same time is that so many in Metro Detroit think things are great in their little city because, well, they aren't Detroit.

This region is imploding and Detroit will be the boogey man to blame but we, as a region are just dealing with poor decisions, pitiful infighting and segregation/hatred of 50+ years. It's pretty sad but I can laugh about it since Detroit can't fall much further. For those elsewhere in Metro Detroit the wake up call is going to be brutal.

[Detroitnerd]

Here's a typical conversation out of town.

PERSON ONE: Where are you from?

PERSON TWO: Detroit.

PERSON ONE: Wow, I've always heard that's a tough place.

PERSON TWO: Yeah, it is. But we actually live in Bingham Farms. It's much nicer there.

PERSON ONE: So you don't have to go into the city?

PERSON TWO [[PROUDLY): We never go into the city. It's a shithole.

PERSON ONE: So, you're perfectly satisfied to live next to a shithole?

PERSON TWO: Sure! It's great! We have a terrific standard of living, and we don't have to do anything to support those idiots.

PERSON ONE: Where do your kids live?

PERSON TWO: Oh, my daughter's in Los Angeles, and my two sons live in New York and Chicago.

PERSON ONE: Why so far away?

PERSON TWO: They wanted to live in a city that works. Not that shithole.

PERSON ONE: So, you're perfectly happy living next to a shithole that your children ran away from? And never seeing them?

PERSON TWO: Yeah! It's terrific.

The End

[iheartthed]

Here's a typical conversation out of town.

PERSON ONE: Where are you from?

PERSON TWO: Detroit.

PERSON ONE: Wow, I've always heard that's a tough place.

PERSON TWO: Yeah, it is. But we actually live in Bingham Farms. It's much nicer there.

PERSON ONE: So you don't have to go into the city?

PERSON TWO [[PROUDLY): We never go into the city. It's a shithole.

PERSON ONE: So, you're perfectly satisfied to live next to a shithole?

PERSON TWO: Sure! It's great! We have a terrific standard of living, and we don't have to do anything to support those idiots.

PERSON ONE: Where do your kids live?

PERSON TWO: Oh, my daughter's in Los Angeles, and my two sons live in New York and Chicago.

PERSON ONE: Why so far away?

PERSON TWO: They wanted to live in a city that works. Not that shithole.

PERSON ONE: So, you're perfectly happy living next to a shithole that your children ran away from? And never seeing them?

PERSON TWO: Yeah! It's terrific.

The End

Actually, in my travels, I've noticed that Metro Detroiters have taken to saying that they are from "Michigan" instead of "Detroit".

[Detroitnerd]

Actually, in my travels, I've noticed that Metro Detroiters have taken to saying that they are from "Michigan" instead of "Detroit".

Oh, that makes sense. Why is the metro shrinking? We don't want cities! We just want Michigan to be one seamless strip of hot dog stands, party stores and big-box outlets. Hail progress!

[313WX]

I've given up on this region. I've also grown to hate Metro Detroiers icnreasingly more as time progresses. The huge Cobo Hall debacle is the last straw. Suburbanites pretend as if everything is just peachy fine [[that's obvious judging by the fact people in Oakland County continue to elect a white CAY over and over again) and the only hellhole in SE Michigan is Detroit. This is after time & time again the proof is thrown on their face that we have serious issues here and they're part of them. Yet in the same breath they always want to complain how they wish Michigan was as successful as other states and had a city like Atlanta, Chicago or NYC. And I won't even get on the problems associated with Detroit proper. Then the people who do realize the problems just sit back and wait for them to fix themselves. Well they can enjoy their little trashy paradise, because I intend on following the other [[intelligent) 1 million+ people and move as far away from here as possible.

[jbd441]

Metro Detroit is now dealing with 50 years of bad decisions, lack of cooperation and a manufacturing mentality. What is sad and funny all at the same time is that so many in Metro Detroit think things are great in their little city because, well, they aren't Detroit.

This region is imploding and Detroit will be the boogey man to blame but we, as a region are just dealing with poor decisions, pitiful infighting and segregation/hatred of 50+ years. It's pretty sad but I can laugh about it since Detroit can't fall much further. For those elsewhere in Metro Detroit the wake up call is going to be brutal.

First of all you have to remember Phoenix's weather is completely different from Detroit and is more attractive to seniors and retirees. AZ, TX, FL and now Costa Rica have been the destination for retirees for years. With the boomers retiring naturally the populations of these states will continue to increase.

My Aunt and Uncle lived off GR at 7 Mile and owned a hardware store. The hardware store went broke from high business taxes, from constantly being robbed and of course from less business as the neighborhood lost residents. My Uncle lived in his house until the 90s even after it was paid off but stayed because he would have had to give it away as his was one of the only ones left on his block that wasn't abandoned. My Aunt left years before fearing for her life.

I lived in Redford in the 70s and 80s. The neighborhood looks the same today, the street is still unpaved, but property taxes have gone through the roof.
Maybe people are sick of paying taxes that are being embezzled by corrupt city leaders. Detroit will NEVER be what it was. Maybe the answer is to deannex portions of the city and let the county and state deal with the problem. Or move.

[Patrick]

Why are we fixated on being in a top-10 population list? Smaller can actually be better. See Milwaukee and the twin cities.

[313WX]

Why are we fixated on being in a top-10 population list? Smaller can actually be better. See Milwaukee and the twin cities.

Really, there's a pretty simple answer.

You get more national recognition and money from D.C. .No one with common sense can disagree Detroit had more relevance to the nation [[economically & socially) back in the 1950s - 1970s.

In Milwaukee's case, it's so close to Chicago that it basically receives indirect benefits as being a cheap bedroom city for commuters [[sorta like Newark/NYC).

[iheartthed]

First of all you have to remember Phoenix's weather is completely different from Detroit and is more attractive to seniors and retirees. AZ, TX, FL and now Costa Rica have been the destination for retirees for years. With the boomers retiring naturally the populations of these states will continue to increase.

My Aunt and Uncle lived off GR at 7 Mile and owned a hardware store. The hardware store went broke from high business taxes, from constantly being robbed and of course from less business as the neighborhood lost residents. My Uncle lived in his house until the 90s even after it was paid off but stayed because he would have had to give it away as his was one of the only ones left on his block that wasn't abandoned. My Aunt left years before fearing for her life.

I lived in Redford in the 70s and 80s. The neighborhood looks the same today, the street is still unpaved, but property taxes have gone through the roof.
Maybe people are sick of paying taxes that are being embezzled by corrupt city leaders. Detroit will NEVER be what it was. Maybe the answer is to deannex portions of the city and let the county and state deal with the problem. Or move.

What does anything you said have to do with Metro Detroit shrinking?

[Patrick]

People want jobs and better oppurtunity and they will go to where they can find it. Detroit isn't offering that anymore.

[313WX]

People want jobs and better oppurtunity and they will go to where they can find it. Detroit isn't offering that anymore.

Yes, but the people [[suburbanites and city of Detroit citizens) have yet to realize this as they're still living like it's 1970. That's really my only problem with the "adjustment".

[jt1]

First of all you have to remember Phoenix's weather is completely different from Detroit and is more attractive to seniors and retirees. AZ, TX, FL and now Costa Rica have been the destination for retirees for years. With the boomers retiring naturally the populations of these states will continue to increase.

My Aunt and Uncle lived off GR at 7 Mile and owned a hardware store. The hardware store went broke from high business taxes, from constantly being robbed and of course from less business as the neighborhood lost residents. My Uncle lived in his house until the 90s even after it was paid off but stayed because he would have had to give it away as his was one of the only ones left on his block that wasn't abandoned. My Aunt left years before fearing for her life.

I lived in Redford in the 70s and 80s. The neighborhood looks the same today, the street is still unpaved, but property taxes have gone through the roof.
Maybe people are sick of paying taxes that are being embezzled by corrupt city leaders. Detroit will NEVER be what it was. Maybe the answer is to deannex portions of the city and let the county and state deal with the problem. Or move.

Obviously you missed the fact there is a distinction between Detroit and METRO Detroit. I was referencing the entire metro region. Your little rant is focused strictly on Detroit, not METRO Detroit.

That shouldn't be a hard distinction to make.

[Crumbled_pavement]

Why are we fixated on being in a top-10 population list? Smaller can actually be better. See Milwaukee and the twin cities.

Amen to this. Detroit will never have 1.8M residents again. I would rather see a viable city with 600 - 700K residents than a broken down city striving to get 1.8M residents. When Detroit rebounds, if it ever happens in our lifetime, I can guarantee it won't be as populated as it once was - but I don't think it needs to be. Quality > Quantity.

[EMG]

LOL, blame me. I moved from "Metro Detroit" to "Metro Phoenix" at the beginning of this decade, and my parents finally followed last year.

Better weather, better taxes, tougher on crime [[nobody messes with our Sheriff Joe!), and represented in Congress by someone who fights for my own Republican suburb and not the Democrat city it happens to be next to. What more can I say?

[Detroitnerd]

Joe Arpaio is an asshole.

[Roq]

LOL, blame me. I moved from "Metro Detroit" to "Metro Phoenix" at the beginning of this decade, and my parents finally followed last year.

Better weather, better taxes, tougher on crime [[nobody messes with our Sheriff Joe!), and represented in Congress by someone who fights for my own Republican suburb and not the Democrat city it happens to be next to. What more can I say?

Why do you insist Phoenix has better weather? This is what you call better?

Weather for Phoenix, Arizona
100°F
Current: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: SW at 7 mph
Humidity: 28%

umm....fuck that shit. [[and, DN is right, Arpaio is a major [[[[[[[[[)

[kraig]

First of all you have to remember Phoenix's weather is completely different from Detroit and is more attractive to seniors and retirees. AZ, TX, FL and now Costa Rica have been the destination for retirees for years. With the boomers retiring naturally the populations of these states will continue to increase.

My Aunt and Uncle lived off GR at 7 Mile and owned a hardware store. The hardware store went broke from high business taxes, from constantly being robbed and of course from less business as the neighborhood lost residents. My Uncle lived in his house until the 90s even after it was paid off but stayed because he would have had to give it away as his was one of the only ones left on his block that wasn't abandoned. My Aunt left years before fearing for her life.

I lived in Redford in the 70s and 80s. The neighborhood looks the same today, the street is still unpaved, but property taxes have gone through the roof.
Maybe people are sick of paying taxes that are being embezzled by corrupt city leaders. Detroit will NEVER be what it was. Maybe the answer is to deannex portions of the city and let the county and state deal with the problem. Or move.

Don't worry, some of us understand what you're saying. As Detroit goes, so goes the metro area. For those of us that choose to stay. Our efforts would probably yield more results if we focus on improving the conditions that are driving people away. As opposed to getting mad at the people that felt it was in their best interests to leave.

[jbd441]

Don't worry, some of us understand what you're saying. As Detroit goes, so goes the metro area. For those of us that choose to stay. Our efforts would probably yield more results if we focus on improving the conditions that are driving people away. As opposed to getting mad at the people that felt it was in their best interests to leave.

Thanks Kraig. I moved to the Saginaw/Bay City area back in the 80's which had a employment rate equal then to the Metro Detroit area. My Dad told me I might try working in Florida, the pay sucked but the jobs were plentiful. My friends called me a coward for giving up on and leaving MI. To me it was survival.... I wasn't getting any younger.

Regarding my lack of distinction between Detroit and the Metro Detroit, I stand behind the first part of my post concerning Pheonix's weather being a attraction for RETIREES. Some don't mind the heat and can't tolerate MI's cold winters anymore.

Granted Pheonix is hot in the summer but their average low in the winter, spring and fall is 42 and high is 72. Yearly average days of sunshine 300.

[EMG]

Why do you insist Phoenix has better weather? This is what you call better?

Weather for Phoenix, Arizona
100°F
Current: Mostly Cloudy
Wind: SW at 7 mph
Humidity: 28%

umm....fuck that shit. [[and, DN is right, Arpaio is a major [[[[[[[[[)

I for one like summer, and I like my summers to be REAL summers. Constant rain and clouds and temperatures too cold to swim in are unacceptable to me. I've gotten spoiled out here; I could no longer tolerate more than two consecutive days of clouds and/or rain.

As for Arpaio, the only people who have a problem with him are people who are in violation of the law. Honest citizens love him.

[Jimaz]

As for Arpaio, the only people who have a problem with him are people who are in violation of the law.

How could that statement possibly be true? You're generalizing.

[Bearinabox]

...and represented in Congress by someone who fights for my own Republican suburb and not the Democrat city it happens to be next to.

Um, metro Detroit has its share of ludicrous city-suburban bullheadedness. Are you sure you lived here once?

[crawford]

In Milwaukee's case, it's so close to Chicago that it basically receives indirect benefits as being a cheap bedroom city for commuters [[sorta like Newark/NYC).

Completely different city relationships.

Newark is 7 miles from Midtown Manhattan, and just a 15-minute direct subway ride from Wall Street. It's closer to Midtown than most of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

It's closer to Midtown than Rogers Park [[North Side of Chicago) is to the Loop. About the same distance as Lakeview to the Loop.

Milwaukee is about 100 miles from Chicago's Loop, and is in a completely different metropolitan area. Milwaukee is to Chicago the way Boston is to New York; close but not too close, and very different cities.

And Milwaukee certainly isn't a bedroom community to Chicago. It's a two-hour drive, and there's no regular public transit between the two besides a few Amtrak and Greyhound trains.

And you can get cheaper real estate in metropolitan Chicago. Just go due south.

[crawford]

... in top 10 largest MSAs by 2025.

3. Detroit will drop out of the top 10, with Phoenix replacing it

Detroit is the only metro expected to slip from the top 10 during the next two decades. It’s projected to fall from 10th place in 2005 to 14th place in 2025, losing 59,500 residents during that span.

And this is a silly article.

One can't predict the population of two cities 16 years into the future with any accuracy.

Just 8 years ago, metro Detroit had half the unemployment of the national average, had added a net 200,000 jobs in the second half of the 1990's, and had posted its largest population gains in nearly half a century.