Quote:
Originally Posted by The North One
Detroit proper is the hardest city in the US to count, this is expected. This count is without a doubt lower than real population. A lot of new residents also keep official addresses outside the city due to insurance rates which makes it worse. The main source of immigrant growth (Middle Eastern and Latino) are especially distrustful of the census so they just don't do it. Pandemic ruined in-person counting and counting events which are essential to cities with height minority populations.
It's also worth noting the bulk of this loss in the decade is very old, it's mostly if not entirely due to the tax foreclosure crisis that peaked at around 2011. There are next to zero tax foreclosures in the city today.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by edale
Predictably, the Detroit homer has issues with data showing that Detroit is still in free fall. A resurgent downtown/inner core can't overcome the continued hollowing out of the neighborhoods. I think this is what people mean when they say the Detroit revitalization narrative is a bit overstated. Pockets of the city are making great strides, but the city overall is still experiencing substantial decline.
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I mean, there's at least some evidence to back North up. Detroit has one of the lowest response rates, compared to cities of similar size (51%). The national response rate is 67%. The State of Michigan's response rate is 71% (
Detroit Free Press). It is notoriously one of the more difficult places to count accurately because of its size and residents' resistance and distrust. And the "local" Census Bureau office? - it's in Chicago. The Mayor and US Rep (Rashida Tlaib) have been posturing since last summer to contest these results.
Regardless, Detroit's population undoubtedly declined, for the 7th consecutive decade, there's no denying it. But maybe not a free fall as you suggest. At least, not as much as from 2000 to 2010. From 2000 - 2010, the population plummeted by 25%. It dropped less than half of that this past decade (10.5%). And I agree with North, much of it was likely in the beginning of the decade.