I live in Detroit and as our downtown core and few other inner ring neighborhoods have grown exponentially the rest of the city has not changed or lost population. Our mayor is currently challenging the last census, but it’s looking pretty clear that the growth of the now largely white downtown core has been at the expense of the largely black greater city. Obviously anecdotal evidence doesn’t mean much, but my lived experience reflects what this article is saying.
I agree with you that some neighborhoods are being left behind by growth, but what is the alternative?
Leaving aside race, Detroit needs to densify or die - nothing sustainable about supporting services in neighborhoods with one occupied house per block. Duggan has no choice but to chase downtown growth for tax revenue. It's a city with infrastructure built for millions and a population of half a mil.
I’m just not sure that the investments being made downtown will be successful long term. There’s very little high density housing for sale, it’s easier to buy in the loop in Chicago than in downtown Detroit. And at the same time, non visitor amenities are lacking. It’s a weird situation
Things like the district Detroit, the Hudson site, going back farther Comerica. These projects all used public funds and over promised, and undelivered.
