The Decline of Metropolitan Detroit

According to new data, the nine counties in southeast Michigan that comprise what we know as Metropolitan Detroit have fallen to 12th in the country in terms of metropolitan population. Places such as Atlanta have soared past the Detroit area. I have been trying to figure out how the discussion went from concern about urban sprawl to pure astonishment at what I will call "metro Detroit flight." I remember only a few years ago reading and listening to people complain about those who had left the city of Detroit and its near surroundings for the suburbs. Now we can't even keep people in the suburbs.

Drive down any street in a Detroit suburb and you will most likely see more than one "For Sale" sign. Maybe it happened gradually but it sure seemed to hit the area like a lightning bolt just in the last couple of years. When examining why this is taking place, one realizes that many industries have been devestated by it.

I cannot think of a bigger reason for Metro Detroit's population decline than the end of the Industrial Revolution. We now live in the Information Age because of the internet and other amazing technology. The area once dominated by the automobile industry appears to be dying a slow death. Very few metropolitan areas in the country have been affected by one industry the way the Detroit area has for 100 years. Michigan will continue to lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives every time the census is taken and it's due largely to people leaving southeast Michigan for other states.

Drive up and down I-75 through Oakland County and nothing out of the ordinary will stand out to you. But get off one of the exits and drive through the tech parks and the office complexes. The buildings are empty and weeds are growing through the cement. I've driven through them and I know what I'm talking about. I was astonished. There is a multiple-story office complex along Stephenson Highway that once housed thousands of workers that sits completely empty today. There is not one business located in the enormous buildings anymore.

I spoke with a gentleman just yesterday who once owned a thriving manufacturing business with about 50 employees located along I-75 in Troy. By the time he was out of business, he was the only employee and his building that appraised for $1 million was sold for $500,000. That's real, folks. What happened to him is happening to Detroit area business owners in droves.

The auto industry is struggling mightily and its taking its connected industries down with it. Auto suppliers are either declaring bankruptcy or moving to other states. We don't hear about the automobile and manufacturing sectors creating jobs anymore. Now when we turn on the news it's Google creating jobs in the area. That's the reality of the age we have moved into. The reason this all seemed to happen so fast should not be shocking. All we have to do is look at how quickly computers, cell phones, the internet, MP3 players, DVR's, and the like have changed our lives. We cannot be amazed at what has happened in metro Detroit if we take that into consideration. It was bound to happen just as quickly as those things became popular and easily accessible.

How many realtors do you know that are doing well financially right now? I don't know one. Every realtor that I know is either looking for a new job or have taken on a second job. I live in Waterford Township, which at one time was the largest township in Michigan. When I tried to sell my house last year there were 150 houses in my size and price range for sale just in Waterford. I bought that house in 2001 and when I sold it I received about $2000 more than I paid for it. Go stand in front of a classroom of high school or college students and give them a list of reasons why they should live and work in metropolitan Detroit when they are out of school. Good luck writing that list.

I wish I had an answer for how to change what has taken place. The only thing I can think to do is to not give up on the area and keep spending my money at the restaurants, stores, and other businesses. I sure hope this is just a phase that our area is going through, but it is certainly hard to see it that way.

People have to make the effort to access the wealth of information that is available about how to utilize technology, such as the internet, to make the Detroit area strong again. I am committed to doing my part. I can only hope that thousands of others will also. The days of "In GM We Trust" are over.