McNair Scholars Research Journal
Volume 4 | Issue 1

Article 4

1-26-2012

Governmental Fragmentation in Metropolitan
Detroit
Kristal D. Davis
Eastern Michigan University, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.emich.edu/mcnair Recommended Citation
Davis, Kristal D. (2012) "Governmental Fragmentation in Metropolitan Detroit," McNair Scholars Research Journal: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: http://commons.emich.edu/mcnair/vol4/iss1/4

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at DigitalCommons@EMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in McNair Scholars Research Journal by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@EMU. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Davis: Governmental Fragmentation in Detroit

GOVERNMENTAL FRAGMENTATION IN METROPOLITAN DETROIT
Kristal Davis
Dr. Joseph Ohren, Mentor
ABSTRACT
At its population peak in the 1950’s, Detroit, Michigan was inhabited by almost two million residents and served as the car capital of the country. Today, however, the population has dropped by more than fifty percent. With the loss of Detroit residents to surrounding cities and counties, the wedge between Detroit and the suburbs has grown wider. Detroit, once considered the crown jewel of the state of Michigan, is now treated as an immovable stain by its surrounding municipalities. What this means for the metro Detroit area is a high level of governmental fragmentation, preventing economic opportunities for both the city and its suburbs. This is especially unfortunate for the economy of the metro Detroit area because of the current economic crisis in the state of Michigan. With the state’s long tradition of home rule and pride in autonomous, municipal decision-making, municipalities in the metro Detroit area might better realize economic opportunities and the relief they can bring to their own local economies by not only collaborating with the city of Detroit, but with neighboring cities as well.

INTRODUCTION
The metropolitan Detroit area is compromised of seven counties—Wayne, Livingston, Washtenaw, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Monroe—with 238 municipalities, and is defined for census purposes as the Detroit-Warren-Livonia statistical area. The metro Detroit area has a population of about 4.8 million residents and an area of 4,598.1 square miles (SEMCOG, 2011).

Published by DigitalCommons@EMU, 2012

1

McNair Scholars Research Journal, Vol. 4 [2012], Iss. 1, Art. 4

As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau (2011), a metropolitan area is considered to be “a large population nucleus, together with adjacent communities having a high degree of social and economic integration with that core.” The incongruity between this definition and the present condition of the metro Detroit area is that, despite a high level of economic interaction between municipalities, there is also a lack of social interaction, which contributes to governmental fragmentation. Detroit has become a nuisance and an eyesore to some nearby suburbs, with citizens only visiting the city for sports or concert events. Although Detroit has prime waterfront property and is only minutes from Windsor, Ontario, many people choose to live, work, and enjoy entertainment outside the city. Most leisure attractions can be found within the suburbs of the metro Detroit area, where citizens over four decades have created their own isolated communities to avoid going to Detroit.

If citizens in the metro Detroit area do not want to visit the city of Detroit, then why would someone who lives outside Michigan ever want to visit the city? Detroit still has a population of over 700,000 people, but it has no major retail or food districts. Businesses still in operation are scattered about the city among vacant buildings. Furthermore, people do not have the convenience of visiting the city without driving a car, because no system of mass transportation links Detroit to other municipalities besides the Smart Bus system. However, that system sees minimal use because of the considerable influence of the automotive industry on economic and transportation development in metro Detroit. The only significant form of economic interaction the city of Detroit has with other municipalities is the contract to receive water from Detroit. Yet that may soon change as cities look to obtain a piece of ownership of the water plant as well. Suburban cities within the metro Detroit area have attempted to create communities that are socially and economically independent from the city of Detroit. For the city

http://commons.emich.edu/mcnair/vol4/iss1/4

2

Davis: Governmental Fragmentation in Detroit

of Detroit and suburban municipalities to experience growth, a first step is to pursue intergovernmental cooperation to create economic growth for the region as a whole.

LITERATURE REVIEW
The history of Detroit plays an important role in the formation of communities in the metro Detroit region. In the early to mid-twentieth century, thousands of people, both white and black, flocked to Detroit for auto-plant assembly jobs that offered average, unskilled workers a salary sufficient to attain a middle-class lifestyle. However, the desire to buy a nice home and earn a decent living was not a strong enough motive to end segregation in the city of Detroit. Although there were plenty of jobs in the city, African Americans were denied employment because of their race. Some manufacturing plants were known to have no African Americans employees. Often managers and supervisors discriminated against African Americans because they believed hiring an African American into an all-white plant would create discord among the workers (Sugrue, 1998, 92-93). When African Americans were hired into theses plants, they were given the lowest-paying and most dangerous jobs. Often the only positions available to African Americans were custodial or car painting, which subjected workers to harsh chemicals. Furthermore, the decentralization of auto plants and gradual decline of manufacturing jobs played a pivotal role in the way the metro Detroit area looks today. Once the promise of manufacturing jobs began to decline, so did the reason for living in the city. In the later years of the twentieth century, economic growth in the city of Detroit severely lagged when compared to its neighboring suburbs. As the population of African American migrants in the city increased, the number of white residents decreased. By the 1980’s, foreign automakers dominated the U.S. car market and U.S. automobile companies began to decline in

Published by DigitalCommons@EMU, 2012

3

McNair Scholars Research...

-1980 -2010 -2012 -26 -93 /.../as-budget-cuts-loom-what-could-your-community-dowithout-firefighters-? /data/apps/comprof/people.cfm?cpid=5 /downloads/michigan%20home%20rule.pdf /mcnair /mcnair/vol4/iss1/4 0 000 017 025 026 027 028 033 041 045 050 063 069 072 077 097 098 099 1 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.9 10 10.2 10.4 10.5 10.7 100.0 11 113 114 116 12 12.7 127 13 13.5 14 14.9 144 148 15 152 154 16 16.2 17 17513 182 186 19 1909 192 1941 1950 1950s 1960 1960s 1961 1970 1980 1980s 1987 1990 1996 1998 2 2.1 2.6 20 20.7 2000 2002 2003 2004 2007 2009 2010 2011 2011.michigan 2012 203 207 209 21 212 215 219 22 229 23 232 234 238 24 25 25.6 257 26 269 27 270 274 278 28.9 284 288 29 291 3 30 300 31 313 315 318 32 320 33 33.2 33.4 333 339 34 36.1 368 371 374 377 38 387 39 394 4 4.8 402 428 43 435 44.5 45 46 47 48.7 482 487 49 4921 5 50 506 51 511 514 5258 526 528 529 545 547 55 55.4 551 555 556 568 573 586 598.1 6 603 604 61 62.6 626 63 660 667 670 673 68.6 680 69 694 695 698 7 7.8 70.8 700 704 713 720 739 75.3 754 755 757 771 774 777 79 8 8.5 81.2 82.2 825 838 84 849 870 877 889 89 890 891 9 92 921 933 940 951 966 968 970 974 979 99 a.j a.w abandon abat abil abstract accept access accord accustom achiev across act actual addit address adjac administr adopt advantag affair afford african age agre agreement aid algonac alien all-whit allen allow almost alon along alreadi also although america american among amount amplifi analysi annual anoth apart appli april area argument aris art articl aspect assembl assist associ attain attempt attitud attract august author auto auto-pl automak automobil automot autonom autonomi avail averag avoid away background baltimor bank barrier base basi battl battleground becam becom began begin behind believ benefit besid best better bever biotechnolog birmingham black blatant bloomfield blow board branch brick brighton bring bromag brought budget build built bureau bus busi business-ori buy c ca came cannot capit capston car carri caus census central centuri certain challeng chang charact characterist charter chemic choos chose chunk citat cite citi citizen civil clair class climat clinton close collabor collaps combin come commerc commit common commons.emich.edu commons.emich.edu/mcnair commons.emich.edu/mcnair/vol4/iss1/4 communiti commut compani compar compet compris compromis concentr concern concert concis conclus condit connect consensus consid consider constitut construct contact continu contract contribut control conveni cooper core corpor cost could council count counterpart counti countri creat creation crisi crown cultur current custodi cut d d.c danger darden date davi de de-facto dearborn decad decay decent decentr decid decis decision-mak declin decreas defin definit degre deleg demand demograph deni denounc depart desir despit detroit detroit-warren-livonia develop differ difficult digitalcommon dilemma direct disadvantag discord discrimin discuss dispar disprov district divis domin door downtown downturn dr drawn drive drop due e earli earn eas easier easili east eastern econom economi educ effect effici effort eight eighti elect elsewher employ employe emu enabl encourag end endless engin enhanc enjoy enough ensur entail entertain entir entiti especi ethnic europ even event eventu ever everi evid exampl exert exhibit exist expand expect experi experienc explain express extern extrem eyesor face facto failur famili farmington faster fate fear februari feet feighan ferndal fewer fifti fight fight-or-flight final financi find fire firefight firm first fiscal fit flat flight flock flood follow food foreign form format former found four fragment frame franklin fraser free frequent furthermor g gave general gibraltar give given go goal govern government gradual graduat great greater green grip gross group grow grown growth h half half-mil handl harbor harder hardship harm harper harsh hazel heavi height held help heritag high high-risk higher highway hill hinder hire hispan histor histori holli home homeown homeownership horizont hous howel howev huge hunington huron hurt idea ident ii illustr immedi immigr immov implement implic import impract improv inabl inc incent includ inclus incom incongru increas independ industri inequ influenc inform inhabit initi instanc integr interact interest interfer intergovernment interloc intern interst intimid introduct invest isol iss issu j jackson jame jelier jewel job joint joseph journal jurisdict kantor [email protected] keego keep known kristal lack lag laid laid-off lake languag lans lapeer larg larger later lathrup layoff lead leader leav left leisur lender lesser level [email protected] life lifestyl like limit limitless line link liter literatur live livingston livonia loan local locat long long-term look loom loss lost low low-incom low-wag lower lowest lowest-pay lure lyon m macomb made madison maintain mainten major make makeup manag mani manufactur march marin market marketplac martindal marysvill mass matter may mcnair mean meant median member memorandum mentor metamora metro metropolitan mi mich michigan mid mid-twentieth middl middle-class might migrant migrat mile milford million minim minut mispercept moder money monro most motiv move msa much multi multi-unit multitud municip must n natur nearbi necess necessari need negat neighbor neighborhood new next nice nj non non-necess nonetheless north noth notori novi nucleus nuisanc number oak oakland object obstacl obtain occupi occur offer offic offici often ohren one ontario onto open oper opinion opportun oppos order orient origin orion outsid over-util overcom overlap owner ownership oxford p p.64 pace paid paint parent park part particip particular past patrol pay peak peopl perceiv percent percentag person philadelphia pick piec pit pivot place plan plant play pleas plenti pocket point polic polici polit politically-domin poor popul port posit possibl postwar potenti poverti power practic predomin prefer presenc present press prevent price price-rang pride prime princeton print privat procedur profit profound program project promis proper properti propos prosper protect protest prove provid provis public publish purpos pursu qualiti r race racial racism rang rate rather realiz reason rebuild receiv recess recommend recov recreat reduc refer region regular reinvent relat relationship reli relief reloc remain remov replac report represent requir research resid residenti resourc respons result retail retriev return revenu review richmond right rise risk riverview rochest rock rockwood role rule run rush sage salari sand save savitch saw scatter scenario scholar school second see segreg semcog separ serv servic set settl seven sever share sherriff shift shop shore show shut sign signific similar simpli size small smaller smart social socioeconom sole solv someon sometim somewhat soon sourc south southfield southgat special spent sport squar st staff stain standard state state-loc statist stay steadili step stereotyp sterl still strategi street stress strong struggl sub sub-unit subject subsidi substandard suburb suburban suburbanit success suffer suffici sugru suit supervisor support surround survey surviv sustain swallow syndrom system tabl take tax tax-bas taxbas taylor templ temporari ten tenement tension term theori these think thoma thousand threat thrive tight time today togeth total township tradit translat transport travel treat troy twentieth two type u.s ultim undermin understand underton unemploy uneven unfortun unit univers unrespons unskil unwilling updat uphold upper urban use usual utica util vacant valu vandal vehement ventur venu viabl villag village4 visit visser vol volum wage wake wall want war warren washington washtenaw water waterfront way wayn wealthi wedg well went western westland white whole wider will william windsor within without wolverin wood woodhaven work worker working-class workingclass world would wrong wwii www.celdf.org www.celdf.org/downloads/michigan%20home%20rule.pdf www.freep.com www.freep.com/.../as-budget-cuts-loom-what-could-your-community-dowithout-firefighters-? www.semcog.org www.semcog.org/data/apps/comprof/people.cfm?cpid=5 year yet ypsilanti