From the Freep: Population density to guide Detroit’s destiny

A shrinking population isn’t the whole story. If you look at Detroit’s density numbers you’ll see it’s a lot more dense then some other popular destinations. The Freep‘s John Gallagher puts together a nice report on Detroit’s density and what it really looks like.

Excerpt from the Detroit Free Press:

If a single word could capture today’s myriad attempts to redefine
and reinvent Detroit as a smaller but better city, that word may be
“density.”

It’s a
word with many aspects and measurable in many ways that capture the
intensity of activity in a given area — people per square mile, housing
units per block, motor vehicle traffic, commercial activity. Density is
what you need to know to reshape a city and plot its future.

In
decades past, Detroit attempted a sort of faith-based redevelopment
strategy — big projects such as stadiums and casinos, believing that
“if you build it they will come.” But to get “them” to stay and live,
civic leaders are now digging deep into measures of density.

Read the entire article here.