News & Opinions
05/23/13 – CBS Detroit
Census Says Detroiters Leaving City For Suburbs
The Census Bureau estimates Detroit’s population is just above 700,000, and Demographer Kurt Metzger said the city’s population could fall to 650,000 or 600,000 before it stabilizes.
05/23/13 – Detroit Free Press
Many Michigan communities show modest losses in new U.S. census
Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, said both Detroit and Highland Park experienced a slowing of their population losses, which have plagued both communities in the last 10 to 15 years.
05/19/13 – Detroit Free Press
Stephen Henderson: Welcome to A Better Michigan
Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit that provides high-quality data about Detroit and Michigan, will provide content and help shape Free Press editorials and columns.
05/07/13 – MLive
A stunning 60 percent of Detroit children live in poverty, demographer claims
The economy might be improving, but it reportedly hasn’t done much to help Detroit’s children….experts like Metzger believe the children in Detroit and throughout Wayne County are suffering more now than they did five years ago.
05/06/13 – CBS Detroit
Economic Rebound Not Catching in Detroit as 60 Percent of Kids Live in Poverty
Monday at Focus:HOPE more than 75 people sat to hear the Data Driven Detroit lecture entitled “How are the Children?” And the answer was hard to swallow as now more than sixty percent of children living in Detroit live in poverty.
05/02/13 – Detroit 2020
The Two Detroits
In the meantime, Metzger says–blaming Detroiters for what’s happened isn’t the answer. He argues the entire region must get to work to fix Detroit. And the sooner—the better.
04/22/13 – Detroit Free Press
Rochelle Riley: Detroit District 4 is diverse, committed and active
A third of its residents live in poverty, and only one-tenth have college degrees, according to Data Driven Detroit. Its residents see hope and a future focus for the district in the hundreds of acres of unused property…The district has nearly 30 parks and playgrounds — including 167 acres of riverfront parks in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood. District 4 could offer Detroit a new way to think about green space.
04/04/13 – Bridge
In Michigan suburbs, once-pricey bedrooms worth less
Public attention has long focused on urban centers like Detroit or Flint as poster children for all that has gone wrong in Michigan. But suburbs have by no means been immune to fiscal distress, according to Kurt Metzger, an expert on Michigan demographics and director of Data Driven Detroit, a regional data analysis organization.
03/31/13 – Detroit Free Press
Rochelle Riley: In council District 2, a search for long-term stability
Demographer and historian Kurt Metzger of Data Driven Detroit said the city’s plan can and must work…All across District 2, residents are beginning to think through what the change in Detroit’s political structure means for them.
03/25/13 – The Toledo Blade
Entrepreneurs try to recapture Detroit’s glory
Many Detroiters believe the city’s future lies not so much in a state-appointed financial manager as in venture capitalists with undying loyalty to Detroit…
03/21/13 – Detroit Free Press
Nancy Kaffer: Six Detroiters with hands-on know-how for EFM Orr
Talking with Metzger, one can grasp the shape and breadth of Detroit’s changing condition, tempered by a love for Detroit and familiarity with the city’s challenges.
03/14/13 – The Detroit News
Census: Wayne Co. loses residents, other counties gain as population moves from Detroit
U.S. Census data released Thursday show Wayne County lost 9,424 people from July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2012, falling slightly below 1.8 million residents.
03/11/13 – The Detroit News
Old and new suburbs top Metro Detroit area in home sales
Metro Detroit’s housing recovery has sparked renewed buyer interest in the region’s older, inner-ring suburbs — Warren and Livonia, for example — and in the far-flung suburbs and townships of Oakland and Macomb counties.
03/06/13 – The Macomb Daily
Census finds Macomb County remains a bedroom community
“It’s amazing the difference between Macomb and Oakland,” said Kurt Metzger, a veteran demographer with Data Driven Detroit. “Macomb County has about 100,000 commuters coming in, which is significant, but about 150,000 leave the county to go to work…”
03/06/13 – Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
Making the case for Downtown Detroit
“There’s an exciting story here, and if we tell that story people are going to start to think about Detroit in a different way, and start to look at Detroit as a real opportunity for business growth, for residential growth—the market can only get better that way,” says Kurt Metzger of Data Driven Detroit.
03/05/13 – Detroit Free Press
Oakland County among highest in attracting commuters
“Macomb is more of a bedroom community. More people leave the county for jobs than commute in,” said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit.
03/04/13 – The New York Times
A Private Boom Amid Detroit’s Public Blight
“Everything has sort of been operating on separate tracks,” said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit…“The business and philanthropic communities had basically just decided to go ahead in spite of government.”
02/26/13 – The Detroit News
Building boom boosts Macomb Township recovery
Metzger said several factors are spurring the growth, including people seeking bigger houses on larger parcels of land, farmers realizing it was more profitable to sell their land than tend it and the creation of M-59 as a major thoroughfare.
02/22/13 – The Detroit News
5 ways for Detroit to fix its broken property tax system
The city has about 770 charities, but Data Driven Detroit analyst Rob Linn estimates that as many as half of the properties with religious designations operate as businesses and should be on the tax rolls.
02/22/13 – Governor Rick Snyder’s YouTube Channel
Governor Rick Snyder Speaks to Media about Detroit Financial Report
D3 is mentioned by Governor Snyder at the 11:42 mark.
02/21/13 – Mlive
Volunteers vow to keep Detroit parks thriving after City Hall announces closure of 50
As uncertainty swirls throughout Detroit with the rejection of the state’s Belle Isle takeover that would have saved the city $6 million and the prosepect of a state-appointed emergency manager looming, people wonder what will come of their parks, especially the 50 pegged for closure.
02/20/13 – The Atlantic Cities
Quantifying Downtown Detroit’s Comeback
The report draws on new and unique data from local surveys as well as national data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and other national sources. It is the product of a partnership between the the Hudson-Webber Foundation, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, the Downtown Detroit Partnership, Midtown Detroit, Inc., D:hive, and Data Driven Detroit.
2/19/13 - Michigan Radio
Stateside: Michigan needs more babies
Michigan needs babies and it needs the women who are willing to have them. That’s the takeaway after demographer Kurt Metzger crunched the numbers and analyzed the state’s birthrate.
02/18/13 - Detroit Free Press
Downtown Detroit has more wealth, diversity than city as whole, report says
“We’re a long way from gentrification,” said Kurt Metzger, director of the nonprofit Data Driven Detroit, which gathered much of the statistical basis for the report….Metzger pointed out that things are changing so rapidly in the areas that the report may already be slightly dated.
02/11/13 – Bridge
Census alert: Michigan needs babies!
The state really needs babies – and the women who want to have them.
02/07/13 – Crain’s Detroit Business
Report: Arts groups contributed $553 million to state economy in 2010
The analysis, done by Data Driven Detroit, is based on information from 346 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, around 17 percent of Michigan’s more than 2,000 groups.
02/02/13 – Detroit Free Press
Graphic: Which Detroit City Council members will run again?
02/01/13 – Mlive
Electing City Council by district could change the conversation, spur a new kind of Detroit recovery, says demographer
Electing City Council members by district for the first time, coupled with an urban plan that calls for boosting civic involvement on the neighborhood level, could change the “us vs. them” conversation on Detroit’s revitalization, said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit on Thursday.
02/01/13 – Bridge
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.
01/26/13 – WHTC
Study shows 60-percent of Detroit children live in poverty
According to findings released by Data Driven Detroit, close to six-in-ten children live in poverty, a 65-percent increase in just over the last decade. The study shows that the poverty rate between 1999 and 2011 exceeded the poverty rate during the …
01/25/13 – Mlive
Report: Child poverty skyrockets in Detroit
The report released this week and produced by Data Driven Detroit finds that 57 percent of Detroit children were in poverty in 2011. Researchers say that erases all the gains made during the 1990s.
01/25/13 – Stamford Advocate
Report: Child poverty skyrockets in Detroit
A new report finds the number of Detroit children living in poverty jumped about 65 percent in the past decade.
01/25/13 – Click on Detroit
New report finds skyrocketing poverty among Detroit children, population drain led by families
The report finds the city’s 25 percent population loss between 2000 and 2010 was largely driven by families with children. It also documents a 9 percent drop in births to teen mothers and 12 percent increase in the number of mothers who received appropriate prenatal care.
01/25/13 – Detroit News
Study: 60 percent of Detroit kids live in poverty
The goal is to create “community momentum that will result in collective efforts,” Data Driven Detroit Director Kurt Metzger said in a statement Thursday.
01/24/13 – Bridge
Report details surge in child poverty in Detroit
The majority of children in Detroit now live in poverty, says a new report from the demographic firm Data Driven Detroit.
01/24/13 – Detroit Free Press
Report: 3 in 5 Detroit kids live in poverty, but teen births drop
Detroit has fewer children these days — a result of families moving to the suburbs and a drop in birth rates. Those who are left are living in poverty in greater numbers — about 3 in 5 of Detroit’s children.
01/24/13 – CBS Local
Report: Childhood Poverty High In Detroit, But Teen Pregnancy Down
A new report from Data Driven Report reveals that in spite of the many families with… according to the data firm’s director Kurt Metzger.
01/24/13 – Detroit News
Detroit Public Schools face drastic cuts to balance budget
Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, said that with the emergence of charter schools, schools of choice and the Education Achievement Authority, …
01/24/13 – Deadline Detroit
Data Driven Detroit Study Shows 3 in 5 Detroit Kids Live In Poverty …
Detroit has fewer children — a result of families moving to the suburbs and a drop in birth rates. But those who are left are living in poverty in greater numbers …
01/23/13 – Detroit News
Farm, garden store plows new Detroit ground
Detroit has 104795 vacant lots spanning 13690 acres, said Kurt Metzger, director of Data DrivenDetroit. There are an estimated 2500 gardens in the city.
01/20/13 – Detroit Free Press
Carol Cain: Health care to be growth area for state
… age 65-and-up expected to grow from 428082 in 2010 to 732310 in 2030 — that’s a 71% increase,” said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit.
01/17/13 – Mlive
Guest column: Admission to Detroit Science Center not affordable for families
Detroit area businessman and philanthropist Dexter Ferry founded the Detroit …
01/17/13 – Bridge Michigan
Science Ed in Detroit Has Too High a Price
Detroit area businessman and philanthropist Dexter Ferry founded the Detroit Science Center in 1970.
01/14/13 – Michigan Radio
“Detroit Future City” emerges, and so do critiques, questions
It started as an effort to deal with Detroit’s vacant land problem. But it evolved into a highly-detailed, 50-year vision for a future city. Kurt Metzger …
01/13/13 – Deadline Detroit
Kurt Metzger: Farewell To Census Office That ‘Led To The Best Job I Could Imagine’
I absorb news of the recent closing of the Census Bureau’s regional office in Detroit with a great deal of sadness. This office gave me the opportunity to move to …
01/09/13 – Associated Press
50-year plan to fix Detroit
“This represents an exciting opportunity for Detroiters to get involved in a process, the scale of which has never been matched on either the national or international stage,” said demographer Kurt Metzger, who spearheaded a separate, earlier project that counted the number of abandoned and vacant houses in the city.
01/02/13 – Detroit Free Press
Nancy Kaffer: What was Benny Napoleon thinking?
Among the four U.S. Census tracts comprising Palmer Woods, the median household income ranges from $24,318 to $85,417, according to information compiled by Data Driven Detroit. Citywide, Detroit’s median household income is $27,862. But compare Palmer Woods with Birmingham, where the median household income is $100,473, or Huntington Woods, where it’s $109,946, and it becomes clear that Palmer Woods is a middle-class enclave — the kind Detroit desperately needs more of.
12/26/12 – Detroit Free Press
Fewer students means more money woes for state’s school districts
But that’s not likely to happen, said demographer Kurt Metzger, director of the nonprofit Data Driven Detroit. He said Michigan Department of Community Health data show the number of live births in Michigan was down nearly 16% from 2000 to 2010.
12/21/12 – Detroit Free Press
Nancy Kaffer: Hike taxes to save a neighborhood? Let residents have it their way
Between 2000 and 2010, Grandmont-Rosedale fared better than the rest of Detroit, according to Data Driven Detroit; while the city lost about 25% of its population, Grandmont-Rosedale lost just 14%. Detroit lost 6.9% of its housing units; Grandmont-Rosedale saw a small increase. Residents of the area tend to be older and better educated than the average Detroiter, and crime tends to be less of a problem.
12/21/12 – Detroit News
Census: Michigan gains population as exodus slows down
“Certainly, all the signs are in the right direction,” said Kurt Metzger, a demographer and director of Data Driven Detroit. “I think people are less apt to …
12/21/12 – Southeast Michigan Startup
Data Driven Detroit makes move to TechTown permanent
Data Driven Detroit now calls TechTown home, completing its move from the Barden building in downtown Detroit from earlier this year.
12/20/12 – National Council of Nonprofits
Data Driven Detroit’s new tie with Michigan Nonprofit Association boosts access, value
D3′s affiliation with the Michigan Nonprofit Association will help inform foundations’ grant making in Michigan and help nonprofits …
12/20/12 – Crain’s Detroit Business
New tie with Michigan Nonprofit Association lets Data Driven Detroit spread its wings
Four years after its formation, Data Driven Detroit has found a permanent home. The information powerhouse has merged into the Lansing-based Michigan …
12/19/12 – Deadline Detroit
Hot Off The Press: The First Detroit Guidebook In A Generation
Rob Linn, 26, is an economic development urban planner working as a GIS Analyst at Data Driven Detroit. Emily Linn, 35, and Andy Linn, 29, have been Midtown …
12/16/12 – Macomb Patch
New Report Shows Rapidly Aging Macomb County, Calls Education Key to ‘New Economy’
By the year 2040, nearly 250,000 Macomb County residents are expected to be age 65 or older. Meanwhile, the population of children age 17 and younger will see little to no growth over the next 30 years.
12/16/12 – Crains Detroit
WEEK ON THE WEB: WWJ host Donovan signs off — for good
An increasingly “older” Macomb County will see a rise in demand for health care services and a continued increase in manufacturing in the next few years, according to the report “The New Macomb County,” a collaboration of Data Driven Detroit, Macomb Community College and the Macomb County Executive’s Office.
12/13/12 – Detroit News
Macomb County’s demographic face is changing
“Macomb County is probably changing faster than any other (county) in Metro Detroit,” said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, who co-wrote the …
12/11/12 – Model D
Data Driven Detroit makes move to TechTown permanent
Data Driven Detroit now calls TechTown home, completing its move from the Barden building in downtown Detroit from earlier this year.
12/05/12 – Metro Times
Sticky Thicket
Data Driven Detroit long ago showed (and I reported on it) that the 40 square miles figure includes Belle Isle, Palmer Park, Rouge Park, Howell Park and the …
12/04/12 – Model D
Talking with cheeky founders of Michigan Needs More Parking
He said, contrary to a recent data driven survery, downtown Detroit needs … More importantly, we dispute Data Driven Detroit’s map and entire premise.
11/29/12 – Bridge Michigan
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, …
11/29/12 – Lansing State Journal
Income up statewide but Lansing lags
Taken together with the more modest gains in 2010, the new data released by the … said Kurt Metzger, director of the nonprofit group Data Driven Detroit.
11/19/12 – Living Cities
Overcoming Barriers to Using Data: Insights from Data Driven Detroit
Last month, I participated in a panel entitled “Data as a Tool for Systems Change” as part of Living Cities’ Data Day for The Integration Initiative sites. During this panel, I discussed the work of my organization, Data Driven Detroit (D3), and our efforts to provide accessible, high-quality information and analysis to drive informed decision-making throughout the Detroit area.
11/13/12 – Bridge Michigan
Starfish group leads charge for Inkster families
Of Inkster’s 26000 residents, about 1500 children under the age of 5 are considered high-risk, according to an assessment done by Data Driven Detroit at the …
11/08/12 – UIX Detroit
Using data to inspire innovation and inclusion
There are certain statistics that are little more than educated guesses – informed, detailed, and highly articulate, but guesses nonetheless. A margin of error could be described as the numeric representation of the quality of a statistician’s guess.
10/30/12 – Figures of Progress
Erica Raleigh
I spent nearly 10 years working as a bartender, but walked off my final bar job when I was 26. I was looking for something new and meaningful, but wasn’t sure where to start. I took a personality test the next day and it told me I should be an urban planner… so that’s what I did. Everyone says, “Of course you’re a planner!”, but my major criticism of planners is that they don’t always measure what affect their professional actions have. We need to measure the effects of our actions. We need evidenced-based decision-making; in other words, we need to be data-driven.
10/25/12 – Detroit News
Recession slaps Michigan’s smaller cities
It shows that even if the region is recovering, there’s still a long way to go, said Kurt Metzger, a demographer and director of Data Driven Detroit.
10/24/12 – West End Word
St. Louis Shines For Visiting City Leaders
Linn, who is a GIS analyst for Data Driven Detroit, had a similar experience. “I’ve benefited tremendously from exchanging dialogue with people from other …
10/23/12 – Huffington Post
Detroit Grocery Stores, ‘Food Desert’ Myth Examined In Noah Stephens’ Photography Survey
Last September, a report by think tank Data Driven Detroit found 115 full-service grocery stores in the city, not including the large and busy Eastern …
10/23/12 – Reuters
Detroit boosters say they’re putting the mo’ back in Motown
From 2005 to 2011, Detroit had at least 70000 foreclosures, according to Data Driven Detroit. The city’s unemployment rate in August was 10.7 percent, …
10/23/12 – Detroit Free Press
It’s time to cut off land hoarders — but how?
Another way to tackle the problem, suggests Rob Linn, an analyst at Data Driven Detroit, is to cut off binge buyers — in much the same way a bartender …
10/14/12 – Detroit Free Press
Rochelle Riley: Small, individual projects won’t fix Detroit – a collaborative, integrated approach will
But nobody looks at all the issues,” said demographer Kurt Metzger, whose think tank, Data Driven Detroit, has begun regular studies of Detroit’s various …
10/11/12 – Detroit News
Poll: Crime drives Detroiters out; 40% expect to leave within 5 years
Demographer Kurt Metzger said the city is becoming a tale of “the best of times and worst of times.” The media have focused on pockets of revival led by prosperous young people moving to Detroit, but many more thousands of residents lack the means to leave, Metzger said.
10/10/12 – Detroit News
Macomb exec launches effort to aid growing firms
Macomb County has probably seen an even bigger economic hit than even Detroit because manufacturing got hit so strongly, said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit.
10/08/12 – Detroit Free Press
As cold sets in, agencies need help to meet growing needs in metro Detroit
Korean War veteran Grantonio Giovanni of Detroit said he’s deeply grateful … able to move from Detroit “to the first suburban ring,” said Kurt Metzger, …
10/04/12 – Bridge Michigan
Another income report is out, and the news is not so good for Michigan
Last time, I reported on the good news coming out of the latest Census Bureau report: median household income increased …
10/04/12 – Detroit News
New Detroiters bring pioneer spirit to 300-year-old city
Now Detroit is seen across the country as kind of a cool place in many ways; it’s a place where people can come in and get very connected very quickly, said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit.
09/27/12 – MLive.com
Numbers expert says Detroit population has dipped below 700000, but is starting to turn corner
U.S. Census Bureau numbers from the American Community Survey released last week indicated a 1-percent decline in city residents from 2010 to 2011, but Kurt Metzger, Director of Data Driven Detroit, described that estimate as rosier than reality
09/20/12 – Detroit Free Press
Michigan’s kids suffer hard times as incomes fall, poverty climbs
The median income in Detroit is half what it is in the nation, said demographer Kurt Metzger of Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit research firm. “Half the households in the city make less than $25,000 a year.” Metzger said Detroiters with higher …
09/20/12 – Detroit Free Press
Michigan’s immigrant population rises slightly, survey shows
We tend to forget how important immigrants are to this region and state on so many levels, said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, which does demographic and economic research. “We need to look at ways to retain and attract more.” Metzger …
09/20/12 – Detroit Free Press
Industrial workers back at it, but the ranks have shrunk, survey shows
Kurt Metzger, director of the nonprofit Data Driven Detroit agency, said the ACS numbers bode ill for Detroit. “Even when you think we can go no lower, the Detroit picture continues to deteriorate,” he said Wednesday in an e-mail to the Free Press …
09/18/12 – Bridge Michigan
Michigan bucks trend – in good way – on family incomes
Michigan finally bucked a national trend in a … Kurt Metzger of Data Driven Detroit analyzes demographic trends in …
09/12/12 – Detroit Free Press
Guest commentary: In downtown Detroit, a battle of parking vs. history
However, downtown Detroit has an abundance of parking options, especially surface lots (55 garages and 163 surface), as Data Driven Detroit has illustrated.
09/07/12 – Dearborn Press and Guide
ACCESS chief named to national census committee
The private study was done by Kurt Metzger, a demographer who created the nonprofit group Data Driven Detroit. He worked with the Census Bureau in its …
08/29/12 – Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Detroit’s Choice: Beautiful Historic Buildings or More Parking
The city of Detroit is considering tearing down this building, the State Savings Bank, … New York to San Diego,” said Rob Linn of Data Driven Detroit.
08/29/12 – Deadline Detroit
Parking Guru Says Downtown’s 55 Garages And 163 Surface Lots Are …
By day, Rob Linn is a mild-mannered urban planner and analyst with Data Driven Detroit. But he has another life. He is an expert on downtown parking.
08/28/12 – Huffington Post
Detroit Parking: Analyst Says Tearing Down State Savings Bank For Garage Doesn’t Make Sense
But according to Rob Linn, an urban planner and analyst with Data Driven Detroit, Apostolopoulos’ claims might contain more bunk than business sense.
08/20/12 – Detroit Free Press
Ron Dzwonkowski: Michigan is losing population ground — naturally
The result, according to a new analysis by Data Driven Detroit, was a 47% drop in Michigan’s natural population change from 2000-10. In 2000, births exceeded deaths by 49,060; by 2010, the margin was just 26,659.
08/15/12 – Macomb Daily
Frank DeFrank: Macomb Community College Stumps for Bond Issue
”Jacobs shared the speaker’s podium with Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit. Metzger’s message: Triggered by the influx of African Americans from Wayne County and immigrants, Macomb County will grow increasing more diverse over the next 20 years.”
07/31/12 – Bowdoin Daily Sun
Q&A: In Detroit, Charlie Cubeta ’13 Uses Data to Help a Struggling City
Charlie Cubeta: Data Driven Detroit (D3) is a nonprofit data collection, research and analysis firm [founded in 2009 under the leadership of Kurt Mezger].
07/24/12 – Model D
Southwest presents promising model for Detroit’s future
While poorer than any other part of town, according to figures from Data Driven Detroit (DDD), Southwest’s entrepreneurial vigor, community spirit and …
07/19/12 – Flint Journal – MLive.com
Flint master planning group to assess housing, building conditions …
The format in Flint will be similar to the parcel-by-parcel assessment done in Detroit by Data Driven Detroit, an organization that collects and analyzes …
07/18/12 – Businessweek
Detroit’s Core Thrives as Criminals Prey on Neighborhoods
Detroit in 2009 had 125015 vacant residential lots or vacant houses — about one-quarter of all residential parcels, according to Data Driven Detroit, …
07/18/12 – Detroit Free Press
Rochelle Riley: Neighborhoods Day a chance to help Detroit ARISE
ARISE will host events in 50 of the more than 100 neighborhoods that Data Driven Detroit, the city’s independent data center, has identified as still …
07/08/12 – Citiwire.net
Jay Walljasper: Southwest Detroit: Jane Jacobs would love it
While poorer than any other part of town, according to figures from Data Driven Detroit… Southwest’s entrepreneurial vigor, community spirit and appealing urban ambience position it as a promising model for Detroit’s future.
07/05/12 – Wall Street Journal
Matthew Dolan: New Detroit Farm Plan Taking Root
After losing more than 1 million residents since 1950, Detroit has a greater share of vacant land — by some estimates 40 square miles, or more than a quarter of the city’s 139 square miles — than almost any other U.S. city. Dozens of groups are using some of these empty lots to grow crops.
06/28/12 – Detroit Free Press
Kristi Tanner: Detroit keeps ranking as 18th biggest city, Census Bureau says
Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, said Detroit isn’t likely to hold onto its rank as 18th largest city for long. El Paso, Texas, currently ranks 19th with a population of 665,568, followed by Memphis, Tenn., at 652,050.
06/26/12 – Bridge Magazine
Nancy Derringer: Detroit, Allies Caught on Blight Treadmill
Maps of census data compiled by Data Driven Detroit shows the extent of the loss, by vacant lot and by vacant housing, much of it unlikely to be recovered.
06/25/12 – Curbed Detroit
Sarah Cox: Zombie Apocalypse Theme Park Will Fix Neighborhood Blight
In these tough times for Detroit neighborhoods we are all about creative solutions. We’re also all about fun fun fun in the form of theme parks. So Z World Detroit, the proposal to make a zombie theme park in a blighted neighborhood, is just so genius we might need three of them. Not convinced? Well the crack team of researchers have Data Driven Detroit figures, a crowd-sourcing-style fundraising campaign…
06/21/12 – Detroit Free Press
Chastity Dawsey: Shrinking DPS will cut 1,889 more jobs
Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, said the declining enrollment in DPS is no longer a result of declining city population but a result of DPS losing the competition for students. The city is now losing only about 2,000 school-age children per year, he said.
06/21/12 – Detroit News
Jennifer Chambers: DPS plans to cut 1,900 jobs for fall
Detroit demographer Kurt Metzger said about 9,000 school-age children will leave Detroit during the next five years if no one moves in or out. But the reality is, many families continue to leave, and very few if any new families move into the city, he said.
06/19/12 – Model D
Jay Walljasper: Detroit Fellows: They’re here building the city of tomorrow
The employers run the gamut from the city’s purchasing department to the TechTown business incubator to Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit offering the latest information and analysis on conditions in Detroit.
05/18/12 – Detroit News
Mike Wilkinson: Census shows blacks moving to Macomb as more leave Detroit, Wayne County
(Macomb County) became so affordable that it wasn’t really that much different from Detroit, said Kurt Metzger, a demographer and director of Data Driven Detroit. “And you could get away from the crime.”
05/17/12 – Bridge Magazine
Rick Haglund: Not Much Above Par on Michigan’s Scorecard
Gov. Rick Snyder campaigned for the state’s top elected office in 2010 with a promise to “reinvent” Michigan. The Center for Michigan’s 2012 Michigan Scorecard, compiled in partnership with Data Driven Detroit, shows there’s still plenty of reinventing to do.
04/28/12 – Detroit News
Louis Aguilar: Home buyer website catching flak for neighborhood nicknames
It sounds like (Picket Report) used language and categories that are the industry standard, said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit.
04/26/12 – Mlive
Jonathan Oosting: Gateway Marketplace to break ground next month with plans for Detroit’s first Meijer store
Kurt Metzger of Data Driven Detroit, which did the Detroit Parcel Survey in 2009, says efforts must be targeted at neighborhoods that are still fairly …
04/26/12 – Detroit News
Nolan Finlay: Want to save Detroit? Help tear it down
Detroit residents spent approximately $1.5 billion on retail shopping outside of the city in 2009, according to Data Driven Detroit.
04/25/12 – Metro Times
Larry Gabriel: Numbers games
Danny Devries, a data analyst at Data Driven Detroit (D3), took on the myth in a December D3 staff blog post after a caller repeated it to him while he was …
04/24/12 – Model D
Green City Diaries: Walk the walk
Let’s start with Billy Hunter, who catches the 445 or 475 SMART Bus every day from his home in Green Acres, near Woodward and 8 Mile, to the office of Data Driven Detroit, where he is an HR, finance, and office manager.
04/18/12 – Michigan Public Radio
Detroit tons of vacant land. But forty square miles?
Forty square miles. That’s how much of Detroit lies vacant, nearly a third of the city. You could fit Miami or San Francisco inside all that emptiness. At least, that’s what we’ve heard for years. The thing is, it might not be true.
04/10/12 – ITWorld.com
Cameron Scott: Detroit makes pitch for ousted Yahoo employees
Vacancy rates are as high as 50 percent in some areas, according to the Data Driven Detroit project. “We’re in the midst of a massive transformation, …
04/08/12 – Detroit Free Press
Jack Gallagher: Detroit’s workforce lacks job skills; it’s called a ‘huge problem’
Whatever their background, they’re among the 1 of every 2 Detroit adults neither … ultimately adding to Detroit’s income tax base, said Kurt Metzger, …
04/05/12 – Xconomy
Sarah Schmid: TechTown Report Sheds Light on Its Economic Impact
Smith says TechTown will continue to collect data and work with its newest tenant, the highly respected nonprofit Data Driven Detroit, to refine what the …
04/02/12 – CBS Detroit
Matt Roush: Data Driven Detroit Moves to WSU’s TechTown Business Incubator
Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit hub for community information, has relocated its Detroit-based headquarters to TechTown, Wayne State University’s business …
04/02/12 – WSU PR
Data Driven Detroit Moves to WSU’s TechTown Business Incubator
DETROIT, April 2, 2012- Data Driven Detroit (D3), a nonprofit hub for community information, has relocated its Detroit-based headquarters to TechTown, Wayne …
04/01/12 – Detroit Free Press
John Gallagher: With so much space, so few options — Detroit’s vast vacant lots are a burden
During the last 30 years, Detroit has seen nearly 10 residential units demolished for every new one built. Surveyors for Data Driven Detroit found more than …
04/01/12 – Michigan Citizen
Shea Howell: Reading truth
Data Driven Detroit asked the critical question: Where did the statistic come from? How do we know this to be so? Here is what they found: “Dissecting the …
03/31/12 – Xconomy
Sarah Schmid: Coming Soon to Detroit: Live Bus Arrival Times Via Text Message?
Hampel adds that the fellows are partnering with a number of local organizations, including Data Driven Detroit, Loveland Technologies (which has already …
03/29/12 – Crain’s Detroit Business
Sherri Welch: Data Driven Detroit in new Detroit digs
Data Driven Detroit has left the building—the former Barden Cos. building, that is. The data center’s director, Kurt Metzger, and his team are moving their …
03/07/12 – Huffington Post Blog
Simone Landon: Urban Innovation Exchange Connects Detroit’s Social Innovators
To that aim, Data Driven Detroit will collect and analyze information about the UIX participants to get a full view of how social innovation can drive change greater than the sum of its parts. Detroit is not a blank slate. True social innovation means …
03/06/12 – Model D
Partnering for transformation: Get ready, Detroit
This initiative represents an opportunity to better understand the little things and individual leaders that play an important role in our city’s future, says Kurt Metzger, Data Driven Detroit Executive Director. The (Detroit) Urban Innovation …
03/05/12 – Port Huron Times Herald
St. Clair County birth rate drops
Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit, said the drop in St. Clair County births especially accelerated in the last 10 years. The number of births fell by nearly 17% when comparing three-year averages of birth numbers between 1999-2001 and …
02/29/12 – Detroit Free Press
Michigan birth rate hits record low, analysis shows
… according to newly numbers analyzed by Data Driven Detroit (D3), a data repository. An average of just 11.4 babies were born for every 1000 Michiganders in 2010, the latest numbers available, according to Kurt Metzger, director of D3.
02/28/12 – Bridge Magazine
Ron French: Wayne State University: In a black-majority city, but one of the worst at graduating African-Americans
“Detroit can’t grow by importing a bunch of college grads and saying we don’t give a damn about what happens to city residents,” said Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit. “You have to be able to (get degrees into the hands) of the minority …
02/12/12 – Detroit Free Press
Susan Tompor: Chase’s private client program targets well-off metro Detroiters
When it comes to wealth, many might find it hard to imagine Michigan at the top of any list. But Chase announced that metro Detroit is among the first areas in the country to roll out a program that targets affluent customers…
02/12/12 – Detroit Free Press
As churches close, hope, help are lost with them: Struggling parishes are often lifelines for Detroit’s neediest
The staff at St. Benedict in Highland Park was laid off last summer. But the faithful continue to work. Paul Moore, the now volunteer pastoral administrator, lives on-site and rents out the school, rectory, convent and gymnasium so that St. Benedict can make a $30,000 monthly debt payment to the Archdiocese of Detroit…
02/09/12 – Detroit Unspun TV
DetroitUnspunTV Ep. 11 – How Data Drives Detroit, Why Creatives Choose Detroit
Detroit is going through transformative times, and we’re taking a look at it. We talked with Kurt Metzger, who is the head of Data Driven Detroit, about what roles data can play in the future of Detroit and his highly talked about fifth city council district option…
01/29/12 – Detroit Free Press
New Districts Could Launch Better Future
It is safe to say that what Detroit will become as a city — industrial hub, leading American urban center, small town — is being determined right now….
01/29/12 – Detroit Free Press
Remapping Detroit: Progress, Any Way You Slice It
Reform is finally at hand for Detroit’s City Council, which will decide over the next few weeks how to carve the city into seven legislative districts – the first time since early in the last century that the city will have council members who represent specific areas…
01/26/12 – Center for Michigan
Sorry, governor, Mich. still losing families
During his 2012 State of the State speech last week, Gov. Rick Snyder included, among his “Dashboard Updates,” a special mention of the newly released Atlas Van Lines moving index. The stated reason for the mention was that Atlas’ index showed that, in 2011, Michigan stopped a six-year trend of more people moving out of Michigan than moving in…