Nov 11 2007
Surprising news about Detroit
Model D has a fascinating article about an outfit called Social Compact based in Washington D.C., which has been hired by Detroit’s development people to measure the potential for retail development in the city. They do in-depth demographic studies for their clients that are much more accurate, and revealing, than the Census Bureau data most development types rely on. Among their findings about Detroit:
* Detroit has 933,043 residents, nearly 62,000 more than the Census reports.
* The average income of a Detroit household is $48,000, as opposed to the 2000 Census estimate of $40,900.
* There is $800 million of informal economic activity in Detroit’s economy each year. This is income like tips, side-consulting, baby-sitting and the like that do not register on traditional market measures.
* The aggregate income of Detroit households, $15.8 billion, is $2 billion greater than indicated by 2000 Census estimates.
What this means is that Detroit is healthier than its reputation, and is ripe for economic development. Good news after all the bad stuff we keep hearing.
(via Ed Vielmetti)
Yay! I teach in the public school system there and goodness knows, we need some good news
:)