Census 2010: Detroit population plummets to 713,777, lowest since 1910

[The Northerner]

Detroit’s population plunged 25% in the past decade to 713,777, the lowest count since 1910, four years before Henry Ford offered $5 a day to autoworkers, sparking a boom that quadrupled Detroit’s size in the first half of the 20th Century.

Census figures released to the Free Press by a government source who asked not to be identified because the data has not been released publicly yet, show the city lost, on average, one resident every 22 minutes between 2001 and 2010.

The data also show that Wayne County’s population fell almost 12% to 1,820,584. Oakland County grew almost 1% to 1,202,362, while Macomb grew the most, a 6.7% increase to 840,978. Macomb is now more populous than Detroit for the first time.

Detroit’s political clout in the state also stands at a level not seen since 1880. Just 7.1% of Michiganders live in Detroit now, down from a peak of 32.4% in 1930. The city’s Lansing delegation will be smaller than Macomb County’s.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20110322/NEWS06/110322036/0/ENT08/Census-2010-Detroit-population-plummets-713-777-lowest-since-1910?odyssey=nav|head

[GSLevel9]

1. yeah... allow a city to wallow in poverty and misery and those who CAN escape... will. nt

[villager]

2. Why would this be unrecc'd? Someone from the Detroit Chamber of Commerce here?

Detroit has an interesting chance to reinvent itself in terms of urban homesteading, use of open/green spaces, community farms, etc...