|
Whites
moving
to
Detroit,
the city
that
epitomized
'White
Flight'
in the
Sixties
BY COREY
WILLIAMS
Associated
Press
DETROIT
- Whites
are
moving
back to
the
American
city
that
came to
epitomize
white
flight,
even as
blacks
continue
to leave
for the
suburbs
and the
city's
overall
population
shrinks.
Detroit
is the
latest
major
city to
see an
influx
of
whites
who may
not find
the
suburbs
as
alluring
as their
parents
and
grandparents
did in
the last
half of
the 20th
century.
Unlike
New
York,
San
Francisco
and many
other
cities
that
have
seen the
demographic
shift,
though,
it's
cheap
housing
and
incentive
programs
that are
partly
fueling
the
regrowth
of the
Motor
City's
white
population.
"For any
individual
who
wants to
build a
company
or
contribute
to the
city,
Detroit
is the
perfect
place to
be,"
said
Bruce
Katz,
co-director
of the
Global
Cities
Initiative
at the
Washington-based
Brookings
Institution.
"You can
come to
Detroit
and you
can
really
make a
difference."
No other
city may
be as
synonymous
as
Detroit
with
white
flight,
the
exodus
of
whites
from
large
cities
that
began in
the
middle
of the
last
century.
Detroit
went
from a
thriving
hub of
industry
with a
population
of 1.8
million
in 1950
to a
city of
roughly
690,000
in 2013
that
recently
went
through
the
largest
municipal
bankruptcy
in U.S.
history.
In that
time,
the
city's
population
has gone
from
nearly
84
percent
white to
a little
less
than 13
percent
white.
In the
three
years
after
the 2010
U.S.
Census,
though,
Detroit's
white
population
grew
from
just
under
76,000
residents
to more
than
88,000,
according
to a
census
estimate.
The
cheap
cost of
living,
opportunities
for
young
entrepreneurs
and push
by
city-based
companies
to
persuade
workers
to live
nearby
have
made a
big
difference,
experts
say.
Simple
math
convinced
music
producer
Mike
Seger to
move
from
adjacent
Oakland
County
into a
rented
two-story
house on
Detroit's
east
side
that
also
houses
his Get
Fresh
Studio.
Seger,
27, pays
$750 per
month in
rent,
and said
he
wouldn't
have
been
able to
find
anything
comparable
in the
suburbs
for that
price.
Indeed,
the
average
monthly
rental
rate of
a
three-bedroom
single-family
home in
Detroit
is about
$800, as
opposed
to
$1,100
to
$1,400
in the
suburbs,
according
to
RentRange.com,
which
collects
rental
market
information.
"A young
person
can move
here
with
$10,000
and
start up
a small
flex
space
for
artists
or
artists'
studios,"
Seger
said.
"It's
the
uprising
of the
youth
being
able to
have the
opportunities
to make
a future
for
themselves."
Eugene
Gualtieri,
a
41-year-old
lab
technician
at the
Detroit
Medical
Center,
took
advantage
of an
incentive
program.
Live
Midtown,
offered
by his
employer
and
several
others
in the
Midtown
neighborhood,
allowed
him to
take out
a
$20,000
home
loan
that he
won't
have to
repay if
he stays
in his
condo
for five
years.
The
program
is aimed
at
getting
workers
to live
closer
to their
jobs,
which
can
benefit
employers
and
employees.
"The
condo is
eight
minutes
from
work ...
super
close,
nice
neighborhood
and
really
reasonably
priced,"
Gualtieri
said.
"Like
any part
of any
city,
I'm sure
there
are good
parts
and bad
parts.
You just
make
sure you
don't
end up
in the
areas
you are
not
supposed
to be
in."
Live
Downtown
is a
similar
incentive
program
offered
by
employers
located
in
downtown
Detroit,
which is
home to
General
Motors,
Quicken
Loans
and Blue
Cross
Blue
Shield
of
Michigan.
Three
professional
sports
teams
and
stadiums,
three
casinos,
restaurants
and bars
are
entertainment
anchors.
Blacks
appear
to be
weary of
waiting
for
Detroit
to turn
things
around
and have
been
migrating
to
nearby
suburbs
in
search
of
comfort,
better
schools
and
lower
crime.
The
city's
black
population
was
nearly
776,000
in 1990.
By 2013
it had
dipped
to an
estimated
554,000.
Elizabeth
St.
Clair,
27, and
her
family
may
count
themselves
among
black
former
Detroiters.
St.
Clair
and her
boyfriend
are
searching
for
rental
homes in
Detroit
and
several
inner-ring
suburbs.
She has
two
school-aged
children.
She
acknowledges
things
are
getting
better -
pointing
out
Detroit's
current
campaign
to tear
down
vacant
houses
and
eradicate
blight.
But the
high
cost of
car
insurance,
underperforming
schools
and the
condition
of many
neighborhoods
are
obstacles.
"As I
see a
resurgence
of
Detroit,
I really
want to
stay
here,"
St.
Clair
said. "I
feel
there
are two
Detroits.
There's
a
Detroit
where
you are
able to
go
downtown
and
enjoy,
and then
in our
neighborhoods
there's
not much
change."
Susan
Mosey,
who
heads
the
nonprofit
planning
and
development
group
Midtown
Detroit
Inc.,
said
about
1,150
people
have
participated
in the
Live
Midtown
program,
38
percent
of whom
are
white
and 38
percent
of whom
are
black.
She said
it's
great to
see
whites
moving
back to
Detroit,
but the
city
needs to
attract
more
people
and stop
others
from
leaving.
"The
reality
is this
town is
not
diverse
enough,"
Mosey
said of
Detroit
as a
whole.
"We need
new
immigrants
and more
whites
to move
in. We
lost so
many of
the
middle-class
African-Americans
during
the
recession.
We need
good
numbers
of all
people
to come
back." |