Detroit: Part 2. Away from the decay.

[newboldphilly]

So who lives in these neighborhoods? immigrants? middle-class blacks? blue-collar white-ethnics?

on PGH - i think the thing it really had going for it was that the industrial meltdown came 20 years later than a place like Philadelphia. An extra 20 years of decay and deferred maintenance can really eff a neighborhood up - the housing stock especially.

[arbeiter]

god, what potential that city has. i fear it may never realize it, at least not within the next 10 years. if michigan had a good economy, it would be a different story.



that reminds me of any bad neighborhood's high street in brooklyn/queens/bronx

[Michi]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

Michi,
...Who knows, if I do make it our for a tour with this company, I'll have to find a way to see Detroit on my free time.

Well, if you ever get the chance, I'd be happy to show you around...if I myself am still here. Which doesn't look good.

Originally Posted by arbeiter

that reminds me of any bad neighborhood's high street in brooklyn/queens/bronx

That's actually an improvement project that was completed about 2 years ago. Imagine big, black, ugly awnings hanging over the sidewalk, which was a development impediment that made for an affect where the retail could not stay open, so the storefronts were blighted. That picture is from New Center, which is just down the street from the Fisher Building on Woodward Avenue. It's a neighborhood in transition as it attracts more residential units.

[hudkina]

Originally Posted by newboldphilly

So who lives in these neighborhoods? immigrants? middle-class blacks? blue-collar white-ethnics?

The majority of the neighborhoods in Detroit are at least 90% black. There are six different areas of the city where blacks make up less than 50% of the population. If you take away the Greater Downtown area plus those six neighborhoods, Detroit would be 92% black.

The largest non-majority area is Southwest Detroit. The area consists of several different neighborhoods including Delray, Vernor-Springwells, Mexicantown, etc. The total population is about 71,000 with African Americans making up about 11% of the population. The majority of the residents in Southwest Detroit are actually hispanics, who are fueling the growth in one of the few areas of the city seeing a rise in population.

The second largest is the Warrendale neighborhood near the border of Detroit. It's a small section of the city south of Tireman St that juts into neighboring Dearborn. The total population is about 28,000 with African Americans making up about 30% of the population. The area is home to quite a few middle eastern residents with shops along Warren Ave.

The third largest is the Balduck Park area that sits at the easternmost corner of the city near the Grosse Pointe border. The total population is about 13,000 with African Americans and Caucasians each making up about 45% of the population.

The fourth largest is the area that sits north and east of the city of Hamtramck (which is surrounded by Detroit). Hamtramck is known as one of the most diverse suburbs in the nation, home to a large number of immigrants from all over the world. The neighborhoods that are adjacent to Hamtramck have absorbed some of those immigrants. The Hamtramck border neighborhoods have a total population of about 10,000. African Americans and Caucasians each make up about 33% of the population, while Asians make up another 20% of the population.

The fifth largest is the Five Points area that sits at the far northwestern corner of the city between Telegraph Rd and the Redford border. The total population is about 7,000 with African Americans and Caucasians each making up about 45% of the total population.

The smallest is the Chaldeantown area that runs along a small strip of 7 Mile Rd near the cities nothern border. The population is about 5,000 with African Americans making up about 45% of the population. The area is home to a large number of Chaldean immigrants with shops along the 7 Mile Rd corridor.

Greater Downtown Detroit (including Downtown, Midtown, New Center, Corktown, Woodbridge, Eastern Market, Lafayette Park, Rivertown, and the West Riverfront) is more diverse than the city as a whole, but African Americans make up nearly 2/3 of the total population. Midtown (particularly the areas surrounding Wayne State University) is the most diverse neighborhood in the Greater Downtown area.

So if you added together those seven areas (even though they aren't near to each other) the total population would be about 180,000 with African Americans making up about 36% of the population. The rest of Detroit has a total population of about 775,000 with African Americans making up about 92% of the population.

Here's a map:

[Michi]

Uh...I've never heard of Balduck Park before.

*quack*

[hudkina]

It's a somewhat large park near the border with Harper Woods/Grosse Pointe Woods. It's cut in half by Chandler Park Dr. The Balduck Park neighborhood is basically everything near the park...

[Evergrey]

fascinating post and map, hudkina... thanks!

[Exodus]

Originally Posted by hudkina

You do realize that the Census Bureau numbers are the actual "guess" and the Social Compact study is an actual study of the city. Also, I was quoting the average income, not the median income, but even then would you expect a city where half the population earns over $30,000 a year to look like that? Especially when many American cities have similar median incomes?

I'm sure lots of people have terrible opinions of Pittsburgh but how many of them are close to the actual truth? Is Pittsburgh nothing but a polluted wasteland of abandoned steel factories surrounded by neighborhoods of toothless Appalachians?

Yes, and we call them Steelers fans

[LivingIn622]

Blacks in Detroit make up 80 percent of the population, not 92%. Warrendale is very diverse, If you drive through there you'll find, hispanics, blacks, muslims, whites, and indians.

Hudkina. Southwest Detroit is more white than hispanic, and you missed holy redeemer neighborhhod which is about the least african neighborhood in Detroit, whith only 5.4 percent black. Here are the demographics for the southwest detroit neighborhoods. Hubbard Richard pop(2,000) white 37%, black 20%, Hispanic 32%. Delray pop(1,891) white 53%, black 21%, hispanic 18%. Holy redeemer pop(8,000) white 50.6%, black 5.4%, Hispanic 35%.