August 21, 2017
Violet Ikonomova, from Detroit Metro Times, focuses on statistics that showcase Detroit’s economy, and highlights the city’s job opportunities, physical places and transportation, using data from Detroit Future City’s 139 Square Miles report.
Report: Despite Detroit’s turnaround, opportunity remains out of reach for many
Detroit Metro Times
By: Violet Ikonomova
August 21, 2017
LINK
With Detroit in the midst of an economic turnaround after decades of decline, there’s a new set of data out confirming what the naked eye can plainly see: many longtime residents — namely, the minorities who make up 90 percent of the city — are being left out of the nascent growth, and economic disparities, in some cases, are widening.
The “139 Square Miles” report by the non-profit Detroit Future City — known for the 50-year plan for Detroit it released five years ago — gives a comprehensive look at the state of the city using data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and other sources. And while a press release sent out with the report aimed to put a sunny face on things by first giving the good news (tens of thousands of jobs have been added, some neighborhoods are stabilizing, and a decades-long population decline is slowing), then the bad (the unemployment rate is 150 percent higher for African-American residents, a third of residents live off less than $15,000 per year), juxtaposing the data lays bare a gap in the areas of education, job opportunity, and economic advancement.
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