My daughter lives in Chicago and I’ve visited quite often the last couple of years. I often notice the figure thrown out for Metro Chicago at somewhere from 8.9 to 9.1 million people. I’ve looked at county population statistics and seen how far out they go to get this figure. It literally goes from the extreme corner of SW Michigan and inches into Wisconsin. Now I will agree the city of Chicago dominates the region much more than the city of Detroit does our region, however we are just as much a region and metro area. I’ve actually seem where they demarcate some amorphous line like Detroit/Dearborn/Livonia and Troy/ Warren something else. We have spread more than ever and have lower densities but we are a metro area. They seem to have notched us at about 4.5 to occasionally 5 million. I believe we need to think broader and be credited for the people in the region. And I believe we need to espouse this. I also believe our future likes with our Canadian friends. The goods and transit need to flow across our river crossings. This is where we are geographically. We also need to start asserting that we are metropolitan region of over 6 million people. We have lost people but in the arena of public perception we are becoming even smaller then we are. Below are the counties of the Detroit region Michigan state estimates for 2009.
Wayne 1925 [[thousands)
Oakland 1205
Macomb 831
Washtenaw 347
Monroe 152
Lenawee 99
Livingston 183
Genesee 424
Lapeer 90
St Clair 167

Essex 393
Kent 108
Lambton 128

6,052,000