Excitement came to Michigan, at least in some parts, in late 2012 when the Census Bureau proclaimed that Michigan’s population had increased over the previous year for the first time in seven years. Our total population was up to 9,883,360, but we knew little of its characteristics. We could surmise that we were getting older, […]
Kurt Metzger
Kurt Metzger is director emeritus of Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit in Detroit established by foundations to build greater capacity for people to work together, and improve lives and communities affiliated with the Michigan Nonprofit Association. In 2013, he was elected mayor of Pleasant Ridge.
Posted inBusiness Watch
New reports ID five housing ‘hot spots’ in Michigan
Michigan’s housing stock is thinning, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which pegged the state as one of only two with fewer housing units in 2012 than in 2010. Neighboring Illinois is the other. But the state of housing is far from equal across Michigan. In fact, there are growing hot spots for housing – […]
Posted inQuality of Life
New century brings change to Michigan’s gender competition
CLICK TO ENLARGE On gender, the statistics always have been clear. More male babies are born than female babies – about 104 or 105 males per 100 females, in fact. Women, though have their own advantage: longer lifespans. At age 65, there are 108 females per 100 males; by age 80, the ratio is 143 […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Death trend stalks Northern Michigan
Kurt Metzger is director of Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit in Detroit established by foundations to build greater capacity for people to work together, and improve lives and communities affiliated with the Michigan Nonprofit Association. He was research director for United Way for Southeastern Michigan from 2005 to 2008 and before that, was a director […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan economy grew again in 2012, but pace was well off ’10,’11 rates
Kurt Metzger is director of Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit in Detroit established by foundations to build greater capacity for people to work together, and improve lives and communities affiliated with the Michigan Nonprofit Association. He was research director for United Way for Southeastern Michigan from 2005 to 2008 and before that, was a director […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Detroit, Grand Rapids are at two ends of ‘job sprawl’ scale
As policy-makers and regional leaders in Southeast Michigan, and other parts of our state, work to grow jobs and connect residents to economic opportunity following the Great Recession, it’s important to remember that with jobs, location matters. The location of employment within a metro area intersects with a range of policy issues — from transportation […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Do you live in a ‘magnet’ or ‘bedroom’ community?
Job commuting patterns are analyzed after every census in order for the federal Office of Management and Budget to determine the naming and composition of metropolitan and micropolitan areas. While the data have resulted in a number of changes to Michigan’s metropolitan/micropolitan landscape, the individual county flows are of particular relevance in that they help […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Census alert: Michigan needs babies!
Remember the lousy movie “Mars Needs Women,” the 1967 cult classic in which Tommy Kirk leads his fellow Martians to Earth on an interplanetary quest for females? Well, Michigan has the women (though maybe not so many in their child-bearing years). The state really needs babies – and the women who want to have them. […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Demographic trends improving in Michigan, but need to bolster education remains
The end-of-year reports on 2012 are coming in at a quick clip now – and the news appears to be consistently positive. Michigan’s jobless rate came in at 8.9 percent for 2012 and the state experienced its second straight year of job growth. (The 2009 rate was 13.4 percent.) Total nonfarm employment rose by 47,300 […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan metros see income boost
Personal income rose in 2011 in all of the nation’s 366 metropolitan statistical areas for the first time since 2007, according to estimates released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. When adjusted for inflation, however, 44 metros actually experienced income loss. Leading the pack were the Odessa and Midland metros, both in Texas, showing […]
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