[quote=millennial] Despite this, cities like Detroit are now growing again and property values are growing as well. My sister just purchased a refurbished loft style condominium in a high rise for over $250k. Rent comps within the building are running between 2500-3000 a month and the available units get picked up quick. Companies such as Quicken have come in and incentivized workers by paying for their rent, or covering some of the down payment to do so. Anyways, just wanted to say that the those industrial cities are starting to right size and fill up again with professionals.[/quote]

Hmm. The house that I grew up in in the Detroit NW suburbs is now worth (adjusted for inflation) 73% of what it was worth in 1964. I’m not saying that things haven’t improved over the last few years (in fact, in 2009 it was worth about 50% of its 1964 value). But Detroit is a long way (sadly) from pulling itself out of its slide. My guess is your sister is not downtown (or maybe she is?) – last I heard there wasn’t a single chain grocery store within the city limits: http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/22/smallbusiness/detroit_grocery_stores.smb/

Detroit flourished due to the automotive industry. Initially Detroit was nothing – they almost made Calumet the capital, as that was where the big industry, mining, was when Michigan was made a state. The weather sucks – we used to celebrate the one or two sunny weekends in the summer. There is not a lot to pull people in, except cheap rent – especially for those who are looking for art studio space. And the crime rate is legendary – it is currently the 28th most dangerous city in the world by some estimates: http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world.html

People have been trying to re-envision Detroit since the 70s PR campaign “Say Nice Things About Detroit” – but wishing and hoping doesn’t make it so. I wish things were different, but it has a long way to go.