“Detroit only has the auto industry”. “detroit vs. san diego. asinine indeed.” Is that so?
As of March 2005 Detroit’s civilian labor force was at 2.2 million and its employed labor force was at just over 2 million.
For Michigan as a WHOLE, auto manufacturing accounted for 244,000 jobs out of a total employed labor force of 4.4 million. Now, let’s make the unrealistic assumption that 50% of that 244,000 was in the Detroit MSA and then double it (back) to capture the effect of all auto-RELATED employment. So, to use round figures, let’s assume that Detroit has 250,000 auto-related jobs out of an employed labor force of 2 million. Per the properties of mathematics, that suggests that auto-related employment accounts for around 12.5% of Detroit’s total employment… which is a big number.
Now let’s look at San Diego. What proportion of San Diego’s total employment is tied as directly to real estate as Detroit’s is to automobiles? I think Rich Toscano knows the answer to that question, but I think the number is somewhere around 14% or so (give or take). [Obviously, this includes real estate agents, mortgage brokers, title agents, developers and builders, construction workers, etc.] So, I’m still not seeing an “asinine” comparison when analyzing the relationship of auto employment to detroit vis-a-vis housing employment to San Diego. Help me to understand what I’m missing.
I’m NOT saying that Detroit is anywhere near as attractive place to live as San Diego. I’m merely trying to point out that housing-related employment appears to be every bit as important – if not more so – to San Diego as auto employment is to Detroit. So, let’s keep the discussion focused and not get off track. Please bring data to the discussion.
