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Detroit
In-depth reporting on Michigan's largest city and surrounding communities, including deep dives into the big changes afoot in Detroit, its schools, neighborhoods, institutions and city hall.
Articles
Detroit shut water to 1 in 10 homes this year. Yes, that’s progress.
Since 2014, the city has shut taps on 100,000 homes. Even so, shutoffs are way down this year.
A fight for teachers weakens Detroit schools.
Teacher shortages and poaching of talent among traditional and charter schools hurts students in the low-performing school district.
Garlin Gilchrist to seek recount in Detroit clerk loss
Detroit city clerk candidate who lost by 1,482 votes wants absentee votes recounted.
A lawsuit and recount threats. Yes, it’s Detroit post-election season.
Democracy isn’t pretty. It’s even less so in Detroit, so experts are urging audits of balloting to restore faith in elections.
Detroit election issues (surprise!) could prompt recount
Clerk candidate Garlin Gilchrist says he’s concerned about reports of irregularities and may seek a recount in his narrow loss Tuesday.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan wins big. Does he have a mandate?
Few surprises in Detroit, Flint and other cities. Here are takeaways from Tuesday’s elections.
American dream, Mexican nightmare: A Michigan mom’s life after deportation.
She grew up in America, married an American and had an American baby. Her story could hold lessons to Dreamers worried about deportation. (video)
They grew up in the United States. They’re finding a better life abroad.
Undocumented immigrants are increasingly ‘self-deporting,’ returning to Mexico or other countries and forsaking the American Dream. (video)
Detroit deportee adjusts to Mexico’s poverty. 'You can’t believe it'
Deportation split his family in two. Now, he’s surrounded by shanties and homes without running water. (video)
Detroit schools compete for teachers. As usual, the students suffer.
Rampant turnover has schools yearning for teachers and turning to bonuses and penalties. Research shows the instability is bad for kids.
Miss the Detroit mayoral debate? You can watch right here
Watch the debate right here on Bridge with the incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan and challenger state Senator Coleman Young II.
Is Detroit coming back? It depends on the neighborhood.
Bridge Magazine examines four corners of Detroit. The numbers say the city is improving. The people sometimes tell another story.
Warrendale: ‘I don’t feel like we’re part of a renaissance’
Cheap homes are attracting new residents. But dumping, crime and a feeling of disconnection from City Hall pervade this far-west neighborhood.
Osborn: Bulldozing gives hope in crime-ridden corner
City Hall has spent four years demolishing hundreds of homes in this northeast neighborhood. Many more remain.
Islandview: New development, fears of displacement
Detroit is planning big changes to a little neighborhood near Belle Isle. Some wonder who will benefit.
Bagley: New residents, more investment, old worries
In one of city’s most self-reliant neighborhoods, City Hall plans improvements as old brick homes get new owners.
Q&A: Meet the man reimagining Detroit, one vacant lot at a time
Maurice Cox’s plan for the city: Make its biggest weakness a strength.
Owe taxes? That’s OK. Wayne County will still sell you foreclosed homes.
A law was supposed to stop land speculators from buying homes at tax auctions. It hasn’t worked out that way.
Diary of a longshot: Inside Coleman Young’s no-frills bid for Detroit mayor.
He has a name, but little money. So Young relies on his speeches in his uphill climb to unseat incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan.
Detroit police improve response times. But not all neighborhoods are equal.
A Bridge analysis shows that police responses to emergencies are roughly the same in all neighborhoods, but vary wildly for lesser crimes.