Social Diversity

For years, social diversity has been a weakness in Michigan. After the migration of many white and black people from the south to the north, there was racial tension. When the freeways were built through the city, the routes were planned right through predominantly black areas of the city and the Paradise Valley and Black Bottom neighborhoods were destroyed.  White flight to the suburbs left a mostly black city and mostly white suburbs, which fueled the us versus them, city versus suburb mentality. If we are going to move our region forward, we have to get over this.  We have to unite this region and start looking at ourselves as one Detroit, one Michigan.

Two great developments in Detroit have been the influx of the hispanic community in Mexicantown and the Arab community in Dearborn, Detroit, and elsewhere in the metro area. Immigration helps cities to continue to grow.

A negative development has been the outward migration of black middle class. We used to talk about white flight, but now we have many young white people moving into the city, while at the same time we have black flight.  The concentration of the new comers is in downtown, midtown, and the riverfront.  The result is that there are many neighborhoods without the middle or upper class needed to support businesses that are vital to keeping neighborhoods sustainable.

Cityscape Diversity

As far as diversity of the physical structure of the city, Detroit still has a good stock of pre-WWII skyscrapers, but the stock is dwindling. Detroit has so far avoided much of the cookie cutter development of tract homes and buildings without character. But the number of parking lots downtown limits our ability to create a cohesive, walkable, and human-scale center city. To create diverse neighborhoods, we need to stop the destruction of great architecture.

Creating a vibrant community in the center of the city takes more than sports crowds and special events.  To rebuild the neighborhoods which will rebuild our city, it takes people residing, working, and living life, creating neighborhoods downtown and throughout the city.