By The Associated Press MLive.com

For over a month, Detroit has been reeling from new census numbers that showed the city lost more population in the last 10 years than anyone realized — 230,000 or about 25 percent. City officials are trying to get the estimate increased, arguing that thousands of residents went uncounted.

More troubling is the outlook for the city's next 10 years. Rather than a rebound, which community leaders are publicly talking up, demographers are projecting losses of another 100,000 to 200,000 people, leaving the city somewhere between Tucson, Ariz., and Memphis in size:- 500,000-plus, only without much of a middle class.

"I can safely say the population there shows no sign of bouncing back any time soon," said Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that analyzes national population, health and environmental data. "Most demographers would suggest a continuation of the decline we've seen unless there is a dramatic turnaround in the economy and revitalization of parts of the city."

In population decline, "We're not done yet," said financial consultant James McTevia, president of a Michigan-based firm that specializes in turnaround management.

But, bad as it is, Detroit could still go in either direction, some experts say, since turnarounds do happen. Not long ago, urban areas like Brooklyn and Jersey City, N.J., were also afflicted with blight and economic decay, only to reverse course and begin getting better.

City leaders and supporters are now focusing on what it would take to change Detroit's trajectory, knowing that an expanding wasteland would be the alternative. No single plan has emerged, but efforts now are directed at salvaging the center city and a smattering of other viable neighborhoods, at trying to create an inviting environment for artists and at attracting more technology jobs. These are seen as keys to making Detroit a place where middle class people would be willing to live.

"Many young professionals are looking for greenways, walking trails, bike paths, parks; also a diversity in housing," said Jeff Nutting, a demographer with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. "In addition to traditional single-family homes, you need to have condos, loft conversions." These are things Detroit could offer, along with a modest cost of living.

Continued at: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...raphers_s.html