Re. Dearborn/Dearborn Heights, I think the fact that it has stable [[or stagnant, depending on perspective) population makes it a big outlier, hence the interest. No other inner ring suburb was really stable [[arguably excepting Hamtramck).
Re. Sterling Heights, I think its population growth was for the same reasons as Dearborn's stability. No one really talks about it, but Sterling Heights has been radically transformed in the last 10 years.
Sterling Heights used to be called "Sterile Whites", and was stereotyped as being super Polish/Italian/German. That's all changed, and those folks have moved to Shelby/Macomb/Washington.
The new Sterling Heights is very heavily Chaldean/Arab/Asian. The Ryan Road corridor, in particular, is extremely diverse. Tons of foreign-born newcomers with growing families.
The Census counts Chaldeans and Arabs as whites, so it won't show up in the race stats, but that city has changed big-time. And even the European population has changed. Lots of Albanians and former Yugoslavians.
And I think this also accounts for the income decline. The former residents worked at GM Tech or in the plants, and have fat pensions. The new residents have lower-income jobs [[often working in restaurants or starting new businesses), hence the income drops. There are also tons of folks being paid in cash [[including folks I personally know). That wasn't the case when Generous Motors was paying the bills.
Bookmarks