  Vandykenjefferson Member Username: Vandykenjefferson Post Number: 53 Registered: 06-2006 |
I happened across this article, which I thought was pretty interesting. http://americancity.org/magazi ne/article/reports-from-the-ed ge-the-vacant-building-syndrom e-gratz/ Does anyone know how to find a total of annual demolition over time? (i.e. how many each year for 10 years) I'm curious if there are jumps in election years. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 1065 Registered: 04-2006 |
interesting question. I don't know the answer but would be interested in such a source. | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 324 Registered: 12-2004 |
This lists the number of residential building permits issued by year since 1969 and also lists the number of homes destroyed since then. There's been nearly 180,000 since 1969. http://www.semcog.org/Data/App s/permits.cfm?mcd=8999 | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 654 Registered: 12-2006 |
Thank you for those links. Very thought-provoking. Demolition is the least environmentally sound option. Where's the Green Police when you really need them? | ||
Gsgeorge Member Username: Gsgeorge Post Number: 695 Registered: 08-2006 |
From the article: quote: This is so true. | ||
Shorthook Member Username: Shorthook Post Number: 9 Registered: 10-2008 |
180,000 demos + 70,000 vacant + ??? burnt out private houses still listed as otherwise = lots of vacant land and a hell of a problem. Rather than demo, what about refurbishing? You can't get a house with true dimensional lumber, inlayed wooden floors and crown moulding on every doorway without paying thru the nose! Every house built pre- WWII in Detroit that sits vacant or half burnt with a chance of repair is a diamond in the rough that should be polished... | ||
Retroit Member Username: Retroit Post Number: 883 Registered: 04-2008 |
Unfortunately, many former neighborhoods in the City of Detroit are too far gone to make individual home rehabilitation feasible. It is one thing to restore an abandoned home in an otherwise inhabited neighborhood, but another to restore one on a block where 1/2 the lots are vacant, and 1/2 the homes are either boarded up or a burnt out shell. Who would want to move into such a neighborhood? | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 370 Registered: 10-2007 |
1955: 2 million people / family of 4 = 500,000 houses 2000: 1 million people / family of 4 = 250,000 houses 2009: 850,000 people / family of 4 = 213,000 houses. That's 287,000 vacant/demolished houses, in just over 50 years. Staggering. | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 371 Registered: 10-2007 |
Detroit doesn't have alot of dimensional lumber. But there is no shortage of inlayed floors and crown moulding, or pocket doors, or cherry, or marble. But they're slowly being removed from those houses that do sit vacant. Sure, they are diamonds in the rough. But the rough part of the equation is trying to work on one, then having all your materials or tools swiped as you work on it. Disheartening, to say the least, and unfortunately, a recurring theme. However, pick a good block with decent neighbors and the reward is totally worth it. | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 326 Registered: 12-2004 |
Hamtragedy, the average household size was a lot bigger in 1950 than it was in 2000. In 2000, the city had a total of 375,096 housing units, with 336,428 of them occupied. The population living within those households was 931,569. That means that 931,569 / 336,428 = 2.77. However, in simplest terms, the city had 2.54 people for every housing unit in the city. (total population / total housing units.) Back in 1950 Detroit had 522,430 housing units and 1,849,568 people. Even if none of them were vacant the average household size would have been 3.54. Interestingly, even though 1950 saw Detroit's peak population, 1960 was actually the year that the number of housing units within the city peaked with 553,199. (Probably due to the large amount of public housing units built in the 1950's.) So basically, the number of housing units went from 553,199 in 1960 to 375,096 in 2000. That's a drop of 178,103 or 32.2%. In other words Detroit had 1/3 fewer homes in 2000 than it did in 1960, with 10% of the remaining 2/3 sitting vacant. BTW, the population in 2009 is closer to 915,000. (Message edited by hudkina on February 05, 2009) | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 656 Registered: 12-2006 |
Didn't Detroit once claim the most single-family residences in the US? I thought I read that somewhere. | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 327 Registered: 12-2004 |
I doubt it was the most. I'm sure Queens alone has more single-family homes than Detroit, and that's not even looking at Chicago and Los Angeles. It did have the highest home ownership rate at one point. (Metro Detroit still has one of the highest in the nation.) | ||
Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 120 Registered: 10-2007 |
Hudkina, Your stats are fascinating and provocative, so thanks. If you don't mind me asking, what is your source? | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 328 Registered: 12-2004 |
(Message edited by hudkina on February 06, 2009) (Message edited by hudkina on February 06, 2009) | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 329 Registered: 12-2004 |
The Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/populati on/www/censusdata/hiscendata.h tml | ||
Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 122 Registered: 10-2007 |
Hudkina, I give up! I checked out the link. It's pretty voluminous, to say the least. Can you be any more specific about where your Detroit housing stats came from. Thanks. | ||
Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 123 Registered: 10-2007 |
Hudkina, I give up! I checked out the link. It's pretty voluminous, to say the least. Can you be any more specific about where your Detroit housing stats came from? Thanks. | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 330 Registered: 12-2004 |
It's in the PDF at the bottom. It's 17MB in size, so it's a hefty download. I wouldn't recommend opening it unless you have a good connection: http://www.census.gov/prod/cen 1990/cph2/cph-2-1-1.pdf Once you open it up, you can search the word "Detroit" and keep going until you get the total number of housing units as well as the population from 1950 to 1990. To find data for 2000, you have to use the Amerian Factfinder. http://factfinder.census.gov/s ervlet/DatasetMainPageServlet? _program=DEC&_submenuId=datase ts_0&_lang=en | ||
Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 125 Registered: 10-2007 |
Thanks, Hudkina. | ||
Townonenorth Member Username: Townonenorth Post Number: 779 Registered: 10-2007 |
A current estimate of Detroit's population and housing can be found below: http://www.semcog.org/Data/App s/comprof/people.cfm?cpid=5 Another interesting tool for viewing loss of housing is Google Earth. The latest edition 5.0 has historical imagery from 2002 to now. (Message edited by townonenorth on February 07, 2009) | ||
Lombaowski Member Username: Lombaowski Post Number: 137 Registered: 11-2004 |
Facinating stuff. |
