Much has been said about the decline of inner-ring suburbs in Detroit. Most of it is true- Eastpointe, Melvindale, Harper Woods, Garden City, etc. just aren't what they used to be. Outside of Dearborn and GP, nearly every inner ring suburb is declining. Allen Park might be a notable exception. It's not doing bad or great- it's doing fine.

Allen Park's stable position is best viewed when compared with its neighbor, Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park has two leveled shopping centers, dying retail corridors, and dilapidated housing in the northern sections. LP, it's worth mentioning, has a school district that's fallen off a cliff in the past few years. Carr and Hoover schools, which are closer to Wyandotte, remain fine; the rest are looking worse by the day.

It's also worth mentioning that Allen Park, while not bordering the city of Detroit, has a lot in common with other 1950s built inner ring communities such as Lincoln Park, Redford, and Eastpointe. It probably has more in common with these communities than Melvindale, which has its roots in housing Rouge plant workers in sided bungalows.

Allen Park is not a growing or thriving suburb by any means [[as much of the population is getting older and dying out), but there isn't much evidence to say it's declining. The city remains composed of small, well-kept brick homes on tree lined streets. Shopping options on "The Hill" are plentiful and are growing. Ford and other engineering companies maintain white-collar offices in the city. Perhaps the most interesting part of Allen Park's relative stability is its school district. Allen Park High School is second-best to only Woodhaven High School in mainland Downriver.

Allen Park also remains stubbornly white. The city has gone from 95% white in 2000, to 92% in 2010, to 87% now. Melvindale has dropped from 87% to 57% in that time, and LP from 93% to 70%. The school district, which in inner ring suburbs is usually less white than the city itself, is 87% white. Even the hispanic population, which is surging in Melvindale and LP, is just 9%.

Overall, AP has resisted the downward trend of other inner-ring communities. The question, of course, is why?