Detroit Resident Voices Survey Highlights Disparities and Opportunities

By Donald James SENIOR WRITER, REAL TIMES MEDIA

“I am excited to tell dope Black stories. I’ve always enjoyed getting to tell stories in the city I love,” Mychael said. “I went to high school here downtown, college here downtown, and now to be working here, it’s really a full-circle experience and I’m so excited to be doing what I love, where I love.”

Curry joined the Chronicle in June as a senior reporter. A Detroit native, Curry holds a master’s degree in journalism (concentrating in video and broadcast) from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism along with a bachelor’s in communications media from Alabama A&M University. Prior to working as a reporter for Mid-Michigan’s ABC12-WJRT, Curry served as a Press Assistant for the Executive Office of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and as the Director of Communications for District 2 Michigan State Senator Adam Hollier.

“Caroline Wanga, president and CEO of Essence, said: ‘If you can’t be who you are, where you are, then change where you are, not who you are,’” Curry said. “To be able to be a part of Black press and tell stories of our people, for our people and by our people has been a lifelong goal of mine since the age of eight. It’s empowering to be the next generation of the Michigan Chronicle and more empowering to uplift and uphold the stories of our people.”

Additionally, Curry isn’t the first person in her family to work at the Michigan Chronicle. Curry’s mother Gwendolyn West was a Jill-of-all-trades at the publication over the course of her 16-year Chronicle stint. West

In 2020, the Gallup Center on Black Voices, in partnership with the Detroit Regional Chamber, launched a comprehensive survey designed to capture the daily perceptions, feelings, desires, and experiences of Detroiters and neighboring residents in the Greater Metro area. The endeavor, called the Detroit Resident Voices Survey, involved soliciting responses from 11,470 individuals: 6,243 residents of Detroit and 5,227 residents living in the neighboring suburbs of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.

In early June of 2023, the results of the Survey were released, spotlighting 61 key areas of life deemed important to Detroiters and Metro residents.

Regarding employment, the survey reveals that about four in 10 city residents (39%) are satisfied with the availability of good jobs. Among Detroit’s suburban residents, the figure is 72%. Interestingly, there is a substantial racial gap in Detroit’s suburbs, with 57% of its Black residents satisfied with job opportunities compared to 76% each among Hispanic and White residents.

The Detroit Resident Voices Survey Report also shows what Detroiters think about sending their children to quality schools. Detroiters agree the quality of the city’s schools is critical to the employment prospects of future generations. However, three in 10 city residents (30%) say they are satisfied with the educational system or schools in their area. In the adjacent suburbs, 58% of those surveyed were satisfied with their local schools.

When sharing their thoughts about neighborhood conditions (neighborhood aesthetics), city residents’ positive ratings fell to one-third or less for three neighborhood aspects: noise (33%), snow removal (33%), and the presence and upkeep of abandoned homes (29%). For the latter

By Ebony JJ Curry SENIOR WRITER

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer rolled out a groundbreaking new initiative: the establishment of the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, known as MiLEAP. The new department is geared toward revitalizing and invigorating the state’s education system, focusing heavily on early childhood and higher education, with the goal of bolstering Michigan’s economy and combating sluggish population growth.

“Every Michigander deserves a path to ‘make it in Michigan’ with strong, lifelong learning support,” said Whitmer. “For too long, we have thought of education as item, almost half of the city’s residents (48%) rate it bad or very bad, highlighting the problem with blighted homes in much of the city.

When it comes to healthcare services, about half of the city residents (51%) are satisfied with the availability of quality healthcare in their area, compared to about three-fourths (76%) of Americans overall. Fewer city residents — 28% — say accessing mental health services in their area is easy.

Poverty remains widespread in Detroit and is far more common among Black and Hispanic city residents than White residents. Overall, 43% of city residents say there were times in the past year when they didn’t have enough money to buy food for themselves or their families, while 23% say they didn’t have enough to provide adequate shelter or housing.

Crime, as expected, is foremost on many Detroiters and Metro Detroiters’ minds. In Detroit, the survey points out that only 26% of the residents believe their communities are safe to live and play in. In the suburbs, 71% say their communities are safe. In addition, a majority of city residents (57%) say they would like to move permanently to another area if they had the opportunity.

Other survey questions posed to Detroiters and Metro Detroiters were centered on Emotional Experiences, Access to Resources, Attitudes About Law Enforcement, and more.

In conclusion, the Detroit Resident Voices Survey was designed to better understand how Detroiters view the quality of their lives, evaluate services offered by the city, and rate key daily experiences.

In addition, the survey presents a comparative picture of residents living in the suburbs of Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties.

“The Chamber is proud to be partnering with the Gallup in this important work,” said Sandy K. Baruah, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Detroit Regional Chamber. “Our goal is for this data to not only enlighten policymakers and program delivery entities, but to drive more and more effective, collective action that delivers meaningful change in Detroit and across the Region.”

“Bringing resident voices to the table is an important aspect of advancing racial equity,” said Camille Lloyd, the Gallup Center on Black Voices director. “Localizing these efforts is an approach that has not typically been employed in addressing inequities but allows us to amplify their voices and bring them into the decision-making process.”

The disparities between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ in the Detroit area reflect rising economic inequality and a shrinking middle class in the U.S. as a whole,” the “Detroit Resident Voices Survey Report states. “However, Detroit represents an extreme case, as the city has the smallest share of middle-class households in any major metro area.”

The results of the 48-page Survey should not be a complete revelation to Black Detroiters because they have long experienced a widening gap in services and quality of life when compared with suburban cities, the overwhelming number of which has a majority White population. Yet, the findings reported in the Detroit Resident Voices Survey Report are vital and useful, especially in this day and age of living in a post-pandemic era, rising racial tensions, shifting political and social policies, an unsettling economy, and an escalation of bold tactics to erase or change Black history and culture, and more.

While much of the Survey’s findings are somewhat predictable, they can be used to create and implement proactive measures to boldly combat systemic problems and issues which have plagued Detroit, a Black Big City, for many decades.