Metro Detroit has added sprawl at an alarming rate, faster than almost anywhere else in the country.  The reasons for this are lack of good rapid transit and a general lack of a vision for recognizing regional problems, let alone solving those problems.

The metro area has grown geographically even with a lack of overall population growth.  So we have more miles of roads, electrical grids, water and sewers pipes, and other infrastructure that is spread over the same number of people.  The developers do not pay for this. The homeowner in the sprawling areas do not pay for this growth. All taxpayers bear the brunt of this burden. So we, as a state, pay more per person for utilities than we would if we were managing sprawl, all to pay for the very actions that are hurting our cities.  If we are to stem this tide, we need stop subsidizing sprawl and reinvest in our cities.

Healthy suburbs grow off a healthy city. Healthy suburbs are spinoffs from a healthy city.  In Michigan, we have suburbs that have not added to the city and have pulled jobs and people from the city. This is not sustainable for the city and suburbs.  As a region, we need a more sensible approach. We need to invest in our cities and inner suburbs to make the whole region stronger.

Another component to improving Detroit’s population density is immigration.  We need to create a hospitable environment to attract people from other countries, in addition to people from other states.