Posted on 02/08/2005 5:00:55 AM PST by wmichgrad
DETROIT (AP) — The number of Detroit residents has fallen below 900,000 for the first time since 1920, according to estimates released by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.
The agency said Monday that its estimate of the city's population, as of Feb. 1, is 899,387. That's a 5.5-percent drop — or 51,883 people — since the 2000 U.S. Census, which showed the city had dropped below 1 million.
Detroit's population peaked at about 2 million in the early 1950s. Since 2000, when it had 951,270 residents, Detroit has lost the most people of any U.S. city with 100,000 or more residents.
"Clearly, that's sobering news," Howard Hughey, a spokesman for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, said of the SEMCOG estimate.
"A lot of this decline is economic flight and we're aggressively addressing the root of that flight," Hughey told the Detroit Free Press. "We will continue to add strategies to grow Detroit neighborhood by neighborhood."
Annual population estimates compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau usually count about 10,000 fewer residents than does SEMCOG. The annual Census Bureau estimates will be available in July.
On the Net:
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments: http://www.semcog.org/
U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/
The Michiganders and Ohioas took I-75 south to St. Pete, New Port Richey, Sarasota, and Clearwater. Sarasota is one of the few places where you can buy Makinac fudge outside of Michigan.
Yes, but at least Philly and Detroit aren't attracting "immigrants," which makes them paradises for many Freepers.
Much as I despise illegal immigration, I still believe that those cities (or neighborhoods) that attract immigrants tend to be in better shape than those that don't. Ferry Street in Newark is filled with restaurants, delis, small stores, etc. run by Brazillians, Ecuadorians, Portuguese and Eastern Europeans. You go to the black areas, all you see are fast food joints and liquor stores.
Detroit is so run down they can't even attract flies to the carcus of the city.
You left out a few counties...Detroit, in my opinion, now stretches as far west as Brighton and Howell.
Detroit is a city in a much larger scale like Lawrence Massachusetts. Dead, if not, dying.
I am reminded of how empty the city is every time I visit... the roads are virtually empty.. I'm talking main thouroughfare roads... Woodward Avenue..
I have been to Lawrence Mass (my wife is from Mass) and you are so right. There are still a few good areas, but for the most part what was once a nice middle class suburb of Boston is a now a cess pool.
Actually, Newark bottomed out at about 270,000 in the 1990 census (15 years ago) and has held steady since then, even increasing. What happened is that the devastated wards emptied out but the vibrant parts of the city are more crowded than ever thanks to immigration from places like Brazil.
Jersey City is closer to 220,000. They used to have a web site promoting their future as New Jersey's largest city. A nice thought, but when you look at the graph, almost all of the progress was to be made by extrapolating Newark's decline from the 1990 census forward!
Like I said in an earlier post, the city is dying. In 100 years it will be a park where people go to see the ruins of a late 20th centry industrial city. We are witnessing Altas Shrugged in action.
Detroit: The Beirut of America.
That is not fair, Beruit is alot nicer then Detroit. And les violent.
Some places you don't go to at night, in Detroit it doesn't matter what time of day it is, you are taking your life in your own hands.
I would not go into Detroit without and Styker and air support.
I was in Detroit briefly for a daylong seminar. On the way home, thanks to a number of highway exits being closed for construction, we got a tour of the city's more scenic neighborhoods. It looked like a neutron bomb had hit 30 years ago and no one bothered to repair the damage.
They need to get people to move back in if they want to save the city, problem is they can't wrap their minds around the fact that people move to where living is good and the taxes low.
It is sad to see isn't it?
back around 1970 I was in Sarnia Ontario and had to give a lecture the next day in Windsor. We drove over to Michigan and down to Detroit. We thought we'd stop for supper and a movie downtown. We parked at rush hour.
When we cam out of the movie Detroit looked completely deserted. A six lane road had NO traffic, none. It was as if the apocalypse had happened. This wa 35 years ago!!!
I can't help but think that having a mayor named "Kwame" is somehow related to their problems.
A long series of corrupt mayors have to share the blame on killing this city.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.