Most media outlets are quick to point out Detroit's weaknesses. Don't get us wrong, there is more than a few things wrong with our beloved city, but there are also a few things right. And Detroit is a lot stronger than some give it credit for. Not just in people, and the strength of its residents, but also in it's housing stock... yes, housing stock.
Next American City cites some data compiled right here in Detroit about the strength of the city's houses and what that could mean in terms of growth.
Excerpt from
Next American City:
Detroit is exposed, and it's not the weed-wrecked, shriveled city I
expected. The city shows muscle beneath a film of high unemployment,
failing industry, and vacancies. A recently published report
by the Detroit Data Collaborative reveals the real condition of the
city's residential areas, finding that there is more to this market
than a 35 percent vacancy rate. The report, a joint effort of the Detroit Office of Foreclosure
Prevention and Response, Data
Driven Detroit, Community Legal
Resources, Living Cities,
and the Edward Ginsberg Center
at the University of Michigan, found that occupied housing in Detroit
is well-maintained and thriving in spite of the overwhelming percent of
vacancies. 93 percent of occupied housing in Detroit is in good
condition, 7 percent is in fair condition, and a mere 1 percent is in
poor condition.
The stark duality of these findings brings Walt Whitman's words
to mind: "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I
am large, I contain multitudes." Detroit has room enough for strong and
weaker residential communities. Stable residential areas are not
diminished by areas with high vacancy rates; rather, both types of
spaces define the city for residents and visitors.
Read the entire article
here.
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