Home foreclosures in Detroit are contributing to the redefinition of the vision for Detroit, as mass layoffs in the auto industry and foreclosures forced city residents to move to other states or to the suburbs and cut down total city population by about 150,000 from the total census count of 951,270 in the year 2000.
Mayor Dave Bing, who was elected in 2009 to complete the term of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, has been promoting his new vision for Detroit, different from the grand development plans of his predecessors. This time, Mayor Bing is encouraging his constituents to accept the reality of a smaller population, a smaller tax base and a smaller budget.
According to Mayor Bing, the city will no longer spend funds to make the 2010 census in the city more accurate to be able to get a higher level of funding. Political analysts said that the smaller census count for Detroit may make the city miss huge amounts in funding as each resident counted means around $1,000 to $1,200 in funding from the federal government. However, they understand that the city no longer have the financial resources to boost the census count.
The city reached its peak in population in the 1950s when it had almost 2 million residents. Analysts said that the population would settle below 700,000 as unemployment and home foreclosures in Detroit continue to push more people to leave the city.
In January this year, the pace of Michigan home foreclosures slowed by 12.7 percent compared to December 2009, but total foreclosure postings are still substantial, putting the state seventh in the country in foreclosure rate.
A total of 17,574 residential units in the state were notified of default or foreclosure, and 5,302 of these units were already in bank listings of real estate foreclosure houses. Total statewide filings marked a 54-percent increase from filings in January last year.
Academic and philanthropic groups have been supporting Mayor Bing in his efforts to renew Detroit in a different way. Some of them are visualizing a city of urban parks, urban farms and open spaces.
Rip Rapson, head of the Kresge Foundation, is supporting the mayor by investing in development projects that salvage the best remnants of old Detroit.
According to architect Dan Pitera of the University of Detroit, the potential of the city’s open space, which arose when commercial and home foreclosures in Detroit left about 40 square miles devoid of activity, is enormous.
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