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HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE By Darren Johnson Detroit is a great place to live and work. There is growing urban energy, an inflow of new residents, and many new renovation projects. One of the attractions of living in Detroit now is the affordability factor. With many dynamic neighborhoods like Corktown, Eastern Market, Midtown and New Center, there is a neighborhood to fit every conceivable lifestyle. Incentives for professionals to live in the Midtown area make it even more affordable to own, rent, or improve a property. The Downtown Detroit Partnership, a privatepublic partnership, develops and supports new initiatives and programs to create a clean, vibrant, safe, and economically strong downtown Detroit community. All of this makes Detroit a great place to live and work. Historically, Detroiters have fought to stay in Detroit and they have overcome many obstacles because of their love for this city. When the automotive industry began to expand nearly a century ago, it created phenomenal growth for Detroit. This growth made Detroit the fourth largest city in the country. The city population peaked at 1.85 million in the 1950s when people were moving into the city to work for Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. The automotive industry became the primary industry for Detroit, and at the same time made Detroit financially vulnerable due to its lack of economic and job diversity. The economic downturn in Detroit impacted the auto industry resulting in the city declaring bankruptcy in 2013. In the aftermath of declaring bankruptcy and having their reorganizational plan approved in November
january/february 2015 issue
of 2014, the city of Detroit continues to struggle and wage war against blighted neighborhoods and an aging infrastructure. Despite Detroit’s problems, new jobs are being created every day. Detroit is transforming its one industry economic base into a diversified economy with many new jobs in a variety of industries including the services sector, advertising, hydrogen fuel cells, and non-petroleum power generation technologies. Detroit is also among one of the top five financial centers in the U.S. and it has become a magnet for bike manufacturers. During the last several years, at least seven bicycle manufacturers have made Detroit their home. Other growing business sectors include health care and life sciences, music, film, and entertainment. This developing diversity is supported with tax incentives to attract new businesses back to Detroit and the plan is working. Detroit’s future is looking brighter thanks to efforts to secure a more stable economic base that no longer relies solely on the auto industry although auto manufacturing and auto parts manufacturing remain a large part of Detroit’s economic base. As part of the city’s bankruptcy restructuring plan, DTE Energy will take over the municipal power grid and implement a four-year $200 million dollar modernization program to rebuild the power generation infrastructure that along with the rest of the city’s infrastructure has been neglected for decades. As Detroit works towards exiting bankruptcy, stabilizing the city housing market is a priority. The steep declines in Detroit’s employment and
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