Is Detroit's population growing?

[mwilbert]

Detroit has been on extended life support for over 50 years. Sure, Dan Gilbert has given the city a slight pulse in the center. Yet, there are no signs of any meaningful growth. The Detroit Public Schools are not inundated with thousands of new students. No signal for a need to expand and build additional schools to accommodate new students to the district. Mexican town in South West Detroit is a ghost of what it was. Warrendale has had zero new construction of single family homes in the last 20 years. Detroit continues to tear down 8,000 abandoned houses a year, yet new construction fails to generate any type of population increase. We could discuss population density or the lack thereof in the city.... Either way you look at it, Detroit simply is tearing down more than it builds...

It is tearing down more than it builds, but almost all of what it being torn down at this point is empty, whereas what is being built is occupied, so that doesn't really tell you much about the population trend.

Nor you can you discern of anything about the overall population from the DPS student population because such a high proportion of kids don't attend them. Also, because new residents are disproportionately childless.

There are actually lots of signs of growth. When you look at the city in aggregate, the declining areas mask them, but it's completely obvious when you travel around the city. That doesn't mean that they are necessarily permanent--we'll see how the city weathers the next recession--but they certainly exist.

[Colombian Dan]

Detroit needs new blood, new ideas, innovation and rid itself of just going through the motions. Detroit needs to attract outside capital and investment on a weekly basis. Expand it's canals on the Eastside and remake much of the Eastside into water front properties. Get rid of two by four wood construction. Implement concrete houses as Thomas Edison advocated. Lower property taxes to attract new residents.

[313WX]

Detroit needs a ton of diverse, high-paying jobs. Either it needs its own Amazon/Microsoft/Dell that grows organically, or it needs to become more aggressive with chasing after relocations/expansions of existing big companies [[by any means necessary).

Fix that problem and the people/prosperity will come.

[K-slice]

Detroit needs a ton of diverse, high-paying jobs. Either it needs its own Amazon/Microsoft/Dell that grows organically, or it needs to become more aggressive with chasing after relocations/expansions of existing big companies [[by any means necessary).

Fix that problem and the people/prosperity will come.

This is happening right now! In 2000, if you worked in Detroit you probably worked for GM, BCBSM, Comerica, Chase, or in a branch office for a company which existed just to serve these larger companies.

We now have the largest mortgage lender in the US, Ford is planting it's flag in Detroit rather than staying exclusively in Dearborn, more banks moving in [[Fifth Third, Chemical, UBS), IBM just announced they're leaving their building in Southfield for Detroit, plus tech companies are either moving their branches in from the suburbs or choosing to set up their first shop in Michigan. You also can't discount the thousands of jobs the 3 casinos add to a area.

[313WX]

This is happening right now! In 2000, if you worked in Detroit you probably worked for GM, BCBSM, Comerica, Chase, or in a branch office for a company which existed just to serve these larger companies.

We now have the largest mortgage lender in the US, Ford is planting it's flag in Detroit rather than staying exclusively in Dearborn, more banks moving in [[Fifth Third, Chemical, UBS), IBM just announced they're leaving their building in Southfield for Detroit, plus tech companies are either moving their branches in from the suburbs or choosing to set up their first shop in Michigan. You also can't discount the thousands of jobs the 3 casinos add to a area.

Just to clarify, when I said "Detroit," I meant Metro Detroit. I was also referring to stuff like regional/world HQs, operation centers and non-automotive manufacturing facilities that have tens of thousands of employees.

That being said, the recent trend of employment centralization in the city of Detroit from others parts of Michigan/the metro area is definitely a good thing. Making the core stronger will only make the region/state stronger, as it will be able to easily compete for more massive outside investment with other major cities.

[stasu1213]

Rent had risen in Detroit especially in the downtown/midtown/lafayette Park/Corktown area. There is still many areas that are not developed. Gratiot Avenue has a new apartment building near Rohns but I don't know the type of renters that are targeted to live in that new building. I do believe that any area that is 5 miles or less from downtown will have increased rent due to their close proximity to downtown. Areas such as Schoolcraft, Heyes, State Fair, Fenkell, and Tireman will not see development nor rent increase in the near future.