3.1 Detroit
In this chapter I would like to provide you with information about Detroit. I am going
to talk to you about its population, how it has changed since 1970’s and I would like to divide
the population of the city into different races. Next, I would like to talk about home sales in
Detroit, its biggest employers and the crime rate which is according to Tod Newcombe the
biggest problem of the city. According to the 2012 census over 9 500 000 people live in
Michigan, which makes the population of Detroit less than 10 percent of the population of the
state. Detroit is a metonym for American automobile industry because in the city millions of
cars were produced by different car-manufacturing companies like Ford and Chevrolet every
single year. The city of Detroit was once rated amongst the wealthiest US cities per
household, but the city is no longer shown in Forbes’ top 25 wealthiest city of America.
According to Paul Haris it used to be one of the wealthiest cities in the United States of
America, but it is no longer truth. Since that time things have changed and according to Rick
Mathew the situation of the city is not likely to change for better. The City has announced its
bankruptcy and the bankruptcy court will now deal with the problem of unpaid creditors that
will according to Curtis Tate’s article probably lose a lot of money.
3.11 Population
Races of Detroit
Black Alone 81,4%
White Alone 8,1%
Hispanics 7,3%
Asian Alone 1,1%
American Indian Alone
0,2%
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Detroit-Michigan.html
When it comes to races in the city we can notice a huge diversity. In most of the cities
in the U.S.A. the white are in majority. The same situation was in Detroit, 90,4% of the
population were non-Hispanic white in 1940. In 1910 only 6000 black people could call
Detroit their home. In 1930 120 000 black people lived in Detroit and during the 20th century
thousands of black people came to Detroit as a result of the Great Migration (source:
Wikipedia). Black people are in the majority and over 81,4 percent of the population of
Detroit are the black, which is 575 321 people. The white represents only 8,1% percent of the
population, which is 57 010 people so over 10 times less than the black. The third biggest
group is Hispanics, 51 502 people, which is 7.3 percent of the population. The next group
stands for two or more races mixed and 12 631 people belong to this group, which is 1.8
percent of the population. Then we have Asians 7 861, 1.1 percent of the population and the
last worth mentioning group is American Indians, 1 643, 0.2 percent of the population,
source: www.city-data.com.
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Detroit-Michigan.html
According to Michigan department of Community Health the number of black people
dropped from 796,840 in 1996 to 584, 961 in 2012. The same happened to the white in 1996,
there were 185,568 white people in the city but there were only 97, 854 in 2012, which means
that the population of the white dropped by 50%. The Statistic shows clearly that the
population is has went down since 1970s’
3.12 Home Sales
zeby
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Detroit-Michigan.html
Selling houses in Detroit is a very interesting topic that is worth discussing. First of all
there is a very small number of houses that people buy and what even more interesting houses
are bought mostly in few districts, therefore, we have a situation where some places in Detroit
are completely abandoned. The house-selling tendency seems to maintain as when we think of
the period of time between 2008 and 2013 we can notice that in every quarter of a year at least
2300 houses are purchased. The highest number of purchased houses is a bit over 4000 and
the situation does not seem to change soon. The statistics shows that there is a stagnation on
the market and according to Wikipedia in some districts of Detroit you can buy the cheapest
houses in the U.S.A.
3.13 The Largest Employers
When it comes to the biggest employers in the city we can notice easily that there are still
car-producing companies that hire people in big numbers. From automotive industry we have
Ford, General Motors and Chrysler in the ranking. What is interesting is the fact that 5 out of
10 biggest employers are from public sector, which shows very clearly that big private
companies left the city. The 9th and 10th position is occupied by two private health care
companies. Jointly, 10 biggest employers in Detroit hire 254383 people which states for less
than 1/3 of the population of the city only.
Most common industries for men
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Detroit-Michigan.html
What is interesting in those statistics is the fact that 15% of the population of Detroit work in
the transportation sector and only 13% of the population of Michigan work there, which is 2%
less than in the city. When it comes to the construction sector we can notice that a greater
percentage of the population of Michigan works in this sector than in Detroit only. It might be
caused by crisis in the construction industry. What we see here does not differ from what we
can notice in different cities in the neighborhood.
3.1.4 Crime Rate
Type
Murders
Rapes
Robberies
Assaults
Burglaries
Auto thefts
Arsons
1999
415
790
7823
12948
18278
26770
2121
2000
396
811
7868
13037
15828
25892
2015
2010
310
405
5538
10723
17090
12602
1082
2011
344
427
4962
9512
15994
11368
957
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Detroit-Michigan.html
Detroit was always known as a dangerous city and the statistic seems to confirm that. Only in
1999 415 people were murdered and 790 women were raped. It makes 42,6 murders and 81
rapes per 100 000 citizens. There are of course some good news for the citizens of Detroit, in
2011 we had 71 less murders than in 1999 and 363 less rapes. This is definitely good news but
according to official data of the government the crime rate is still one of the highest in the
entire country. The statistic shows exactly how dangerous the city is. There were 2121 arsons
in 1999 and only 957 in 2011 which shows that the number of arsons went down since that
time. There is one type of crimes that do not drop as fast as the others, which are burglaries.
In 1999 we had 18278 burglaries and in 2011 there were 15994 burglaries which shows that
there were only 2284 offences less.
3.2 Indianapolis
It is the capital city of the state of Indiana and the 13th largest city in the United States. It is
also according to official data the 29th largest metropolitan area in the United States.
Indianapolis was ranked by Forbes magazine as the sixth-best city for jobs in 2008. Forbes
magazine took into consideration lack of unemployment, income growth, median household
income and cost of living. Yahoo Real Estate ranked the city as the tenth best place for
relocation in 2010, which was a huge success after the financial crisis in 2008. The Boyd
company, Inc. ranked the city as the most competitive place for corporate headquarters and
facilities in the whole country in 2013. Forbes magazine ranked Indianapolis as the best place
for business and careers in the United States in 2013. According to the 2012 census 834 852
people lived in Indianapolis. The United States Census Bureau states that the population of
Indiana was at the level of 6,570,902 on July 1, 2013, and there was a 1.3% increase since
the 2010 United States Census.
3.2.1 Races of Indianapolis
Races of Indianapolis
White Alone 58%
Black Alone
27,5%
Hispanics 9,4%
Two Or More
Races 2,7%
Asian Alone 1,9%
Other races
Alone 0,4%
American indian
Alone 0,5%
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Indianapolis-Indiana.html
In Indianapolis the white are in majority and they represent 58% of the population. What is
interesting is the fact over 80% of the population of the city was white in 1970s’ so within 40
years’ time the population of the white fell by over 22%. The white represented 75,7% of the
population in 1990s’. The Black or Afro-American represent over ¼ of the population, 27,5%.
The black represented 18% of the population in 1970s’ and 22,6% in 1990s’. The Asians
represents right now 1,9% of the population but they represented 0,1% in 1970s’ and 0,9% in
1990s’. Hispanics represent only 9,4% of the population, they represented 0,8% of the
population in 1970s’ and 1,1% in 1990s’. The population of the city grows since 1980s’ by
more less 5% every ten years. The biggest jump of the population in the previous century was
by 56,3% between 1970 and 1980.
3.2.2 Home Sales
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Indianapolis-Indiana.html
According to Forbes magazine there are low costs of living and high salaries in Indianapolis.
Median price varies from $100 000 to $140 000 but we can buy cheaper and much more
expensive houses. Since 2008 at least 5000 houses are sold every single year. What is
interesting is the number of permits given to build a single-family house every year. In 2001
60 permits per 10 000 citizens were given, but only 6 permits per 10 000 were given in 2012.
It shows that people do not want to build new houses, there a lot of used houses and flats
available on the market and there is no need to build a house on suburbs when you can have a
big and comfortable apartment nearer the center of the city.
3.2.3 The Largest Employers
#
Employer
City
Indiana University Med Centre
Bloomington
1
Purdue
University
West
Lafayette
West Lafayette
2
St Vincent Hospital
Indianapolis
3
Parkview Regional Medical Centre
Fort Wayne
4
Delphi Electronic & Safety
Kokomo
5
Indiana University-Bloomington
Bloomington
6
Eli Lilly Intl Corporation
Indianapolis
7
Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital
Indianapolis
8
Indiana
University-Bloomington
Indianapolis
9
Indianapolis
10 Lu Health
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Indianapolis-Indiana.html
Number of Employers
30 000
15 304
10 000
8800
8000
7701
7500
7000
6800
6500
The statistic shows clearly that the largest employers in the region are from two sectors :
healthcare and education. What is interesting is the fact that first 2 biggest employers are not
exactly located in Indianapolis, but in different cities in the region. 5 out of 10 largest
employers are not located exactly in Indianapolis but in the close neighborhood. 10 largest
employers hire over 106 000 people, which shows exactly that still most of the population is
hired by small and medium-sized enterprises.
3.2.4 Most common industries for men
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Indianapolis-Indiana.html
The statistic shows that the greatest percentage of men in Indianapolis works in the
construction sector due to the fact that according to Yahoo Real Estate Indianapolis was
ranked as the tenth best place to relocate in the USA and therefore thousands of buildings are
build every single year. Then we have “Accommodation and food services” sector, which
means that 8% of the whole population of the city works in restaurants, McDonalds, KFCs
etc. Unemployment rate was at the level of 8,5% in 2013 and 4,5% in 2007, which shows
clearly that due to financial crisis that started in 2008 the unemployment rate grown by 4%
until 2013. What is interesting is the fact that unemployment rate was at the level of 2,7% in
2000.
3.2.5 Crime Rate
Type
Murders
Rapes
1999
113
424
2000
96
443
209
100
460
2011
96
435
Robberies
Assaults
Burglaries
Auto thefts
Arsons
2598
4579
9971
5434
354
2551
3753
8095
5985
306
3929
5271
15217
4485
346
3372
5267
15112
5257
463
Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Indianapolis-Indiana.html
The statistic shows clearly that more less 100 people are murdered in this city every year,
there is no big difference between 1999 and 2011. The same is with rapes, over 400 women
are raped every single year, which is definitely sad. What is interesting is that the number of
robberies grown by more less 1/3 between 1999 and 2011. The number of assaults also grown
by more less 20% between 1999 and 2011, which covers with the grown of the
unemployment rate. The higher unemployment rate, the higher crime rate.
3.3 Comparison
I decided to compare Detroit to Indianapolis due to few reasons. First of all both cities have a
similar number of populations. Both cities are located in the distance of 300 miles from each
other, which is not a lot. I decided also to compare them because they stand in contrast with
each other, Detroit is falling down while Indianapolis is growing. Detroit used to be based on
car-producing companies, Indianapolis is based on the service sector. There are many
interesting comparisons that might be showed and I do think that it is worth discussing.
3.3.1 Population
The population of Detroit is at the level of 681 090 people and the population of Indianapolis
is at the level of 834 852. The difference is that the population of Detroit is going down since
1950’s while the population of Indianapolis is growing since the foundation of the city. There
was only one moment in the history of the city when the population dropped. Another
difference is that in Detroit the black are in majority ( 81,4% of the population), the white are
in majority in Indianapolis (58% of the population). The population of Indianapolis is also the
better educated one. 84,5% of the population graduated from the high schools. In Detroit the
situation is a bit different because 77,4% of the population graduated from their high schools.
13% of the population have bachelor’s degree or higher, 25,8% of the population of
Indianapolis have bachelor’s degree or higher. People in Detroit need also more time to get to
work, the average time is 26,9 minutes, the citizens of Indianapolis need only 21,9 minutes to
get there.
3.3.2 Home Sales
Houses in Detroit might be twice cheaper as those in Indianapolis which shows the statistics I
provided. In the last quarter of 2013 an average price for a house was $60 000 in Detroit and
almost $140 000 in Indianapolis. The number of sold houses is similar but still people need to
spend more money to buy a house in Indianapolis than in Detroit.
3.3.3 The Largest Employers
3 out of 10 largest employers in Detroit are car-producing companies like Ford, Chevrolet and
Chrysler. This shows clearly that Detroit might still be called The Motor City. In Indianapolis
we have a bit different situations as the biggest employers are private clinics, services and
public sector, universities. 6 out of 10 largest employers in Indiana are private hospitals and
clinics. In Detroit situation is a bit different, only 2 out of 10 largest employers are private
hospitals, the public sector also plays important role as 5 out of 10 largest employers are from
the public sector. Estimated median household income in Detroit was at the level of $25 193
in 2011 ($29 526 in 2000) but in the state of Michigan it was $45 981 in 2011. Estimated
median household income in Indianapolis was at the level of $39 015 in 2011 ($50 051 in
2000) whilst the median household income for the state of Indiana was $46 438 in 2011.
3.3.4 Crime Rate
Detroit is definitely a more dangerous city than Indianapolis and the statistics I provided
prove this. There are 4 times more murders in Detroit than in Indianapolis every single year.
There were 7 times more arsons in 1999, now there are only 2 times more. There are 2 times
more auto thefts and assaults every single year. What is interesting that only the number of
rapes is similar but there were 8 more rapes in Indianapolis than in Detroit in 2011. There is
also one interesting fact, when the crime in Detroit drops the crime in Indianapolis grows
every single year. This might be connected with the growing of the unemployment rate, the
higher unemployment rate, the higher crime rate.