August 29, 2017
Nancy Derringer, from Bridge Magazine, highlights eleven facts about the city of Detroit found in Detroit Future City’s 139 Square Miles report.
Eleven surprising facts that define Detroit’s ‘139 Square Miles’
Bridge Magazine
By: Nancy Derringer
August 29, 2017
LINK
At first glance, “139 Square Miles,” a new book-length report by the strategic planning organization Detroit Future City, looks like a data lover’s dream, the story of Michigan’s largest city told in 75 pages of charts, graphs and tables. But to Anika Goss-Foster, executive director of Detroit Future City, read beginning to end, “139 Square Miles” tells a story about the city.
A story where the overall population is still in decline, but the number of white residents is growing. Where the graduation rate from local public schools is 78 percent, and educational attainment beyond high school is still disappointingly low. Where 672,795 souls live, 80 percent of them African American, 37,107 of them foreign-born. Where 57 percent of children live in poverty. Not exactly a novel, but with humanity in every number.
Particularly worrisome for Goss-Foster: Nearly a quarter of Metro Detroit households have incomes above $100,000, but only 6 percent of Detroit households do. Nearly half of Detroit households earn less than $25,000 per year, but only 25 percent of Metro households earn that little.
Click here to read the full article.