Collapse. Bankruptcy. Crime. Poverty. That’s Detroit. Take a moment to feel sorry for the city. Then grab your stuff and move to Florida, North Carolina, or Texas. Right? To a certain extent, yes. But there’s another story, one that’s a bit more uplifting and tells a tale of grit and survival. Here are 10 facts about Detroit of the optimistic variety.
1
The city of Detroit’s current population of around 670,000 is about one-third of its peak population in 1950. An impressive fall? Absolutely. A unique phenomenon? Absolutely not. Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, DC, are a few other examples of cities that find themselves well below peak population (admittedly not to the same extent as Detroit).
2
While much has been made about the downsizing of Detroit, with 4.3 million residents, its metropolitan statistical area is the 14th largest in the United States. That puts it ahead of places like Seattle, San Diego, Tampa, Denver, and a host of other better-branded metros.
3
The Detroit metropolitan statistical area matches its size in economic output, having the the 14th largest GDP in the US and hanging with the likes of Miami and San Jose, California.
4
Staying with the economy, nine Detroit-area companies made the 2020 edition of the Fortune 500, a listing of the 500 largest American companies by annual revenue. (Several others on the list were in the state of Michigan but not the immediate Detroit area, and several other Detroit companies made the top 1000.)
5
The Ambassador Bridge, which crosses the Detroit River and connects Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, Canada, is the busiest international border crossing in North America as measured by trade volume. Around 27 percent of the trade between the US and Canada takes this route.
6
Detroit has teams in all four major American professional sports (American football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey), making it one of only 13 regions in the country that can boast the same reality. The others are Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
7
Detroit has the creative vibe that goes hand in hand with the entrepreneurial spirit. How is that measured? When you foster musical powerhouses like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Glenn Frey (founding member of the Eagles), Madonna, Eminem, Kid Rock, and the White Stripes—to name just a few—you’re doing something right.
8
In keeping with the artistic theme, Detroit is one of several cities that claims to have the second largest theater district in the US after New York City. Exactly how that’s determined is unclear. But you get the point.
9
Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan, whose 3,288 miles of shoreline gives it the largest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world. I would venture to guess that’s a good thing.
10
If you still want to stick with the pessimistic story, just beware that cities that lose population can gain it back. Leipzig in Germany—yes, with a history different from that of Detroit—peaked in population in 1930 at 718,000, only to dip to 437,000 by 1998. As of this moment, the population has surged back to around 600,000.
Despite all these numbers, you might still be wondering how Detroit could possibly be the first city I’m featuring. How could 10 facts about Detroit show up before 10 facts about New York or 10 facts about Tokyo? Just be happy I didn’t start with Buffalo.
4 Responses
On a recent visit, I was shocked to see the beautiful “bones” of the city! We pulled off the highway right into the city and the architecture was grand. I was expecting something completely in shambles and in that particular area of the city, it was pretty majestic. We walked around the riverfront which had quite a bit of activity including a yacht party blasting some great Motown hits. The cool brunch spot we found had a family friendly hipster vibe and boasted true melting pot style diversity. It was easy to see this large American city that fell really really hard is going to be OK.
The bones of the city are definitely intact, and like many Rust Belt cities, Detroit has a great spirit. It will indeed be okay.
Detroit and nearby areas are educational centers. I as well as family members have been educated here. with abundance fresh clean waters, rust belt will rise again in 100yrs, a speck in universal time.
Well said. Of course, those of us in the Rust Belt would like to see that timeline moved up by a fraction of a speck.