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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
Restoring a faded palace
The Forest Arms, the grande dame of apartments in Detroit’s Midtown, is being reborn from its burned-out grave. At age 109, there is much work to be done. But geothermal wells?
Border crossing – the long, fraught history of the Detroit-Grosse Pointe divide
The sudden closing this summer of a road leading from Detroit into Grosse Pointe Park reignited accusations that Detroit’s largely African-American and poor population was not welcome. Residents on both sides are pushing for change.
Making Detroit’s streets safer
The Motor City was designed for residents who buy and drive cars and trucks. But those planning Detroit’s future envision a design that is more friendly and safe for pedestrians, bikers and people using public transportation.
In a gentrifying Detroit, an uneasy migration of urban millennials
Is gentrification a bad thing? Is it even happening downtown? The answers depend on your perspective, and perhaps your bank account.
Interactive graphic: Hipster map of Detroit
Detroit’s downtown areas are being transformed by an influx of new people and businesses. Here’s a guide to some key developments.
You can’t spell gentrification without gentry
What is this thing called gentrification – displacement or improvement?
Detroit newcomers get tax credits, old timers get water shutoffs
It is impossible to accept that the lives of Detroiters and newcomers are equal when the majority of the city’s African-American population are experiencing a quality of life so low that the United Nations is speaking up.
Bolting the ‘burbs for the thrill of Detroit
Yes, the infusion of new money, new faces and new business to downtown Detroit is good for the city.
Detroit fire union drops 50-year battle to keep seniority-only promotions
The DFD’s current system is 128 years old and resisted change for decades, but bankruptcy was able to overturn what the city’s mayors couldn’t.
Can Detroit pay its bills after bankruptcy?
High taxes, low wages, yet the City of Detroit still drowns in debt. Here’s why the city faces long odds even after shedding bankruptcy debt.
Giving Detroiters a tax break
Bankruptcy could offer an opportunity to trim taxes for the city’s beleaguered residents, who pay some of the highest income, utility and property taxes in the state.
Detroit taxes friendlier to businesses than to residents
Detroit is in the middle of the pack among the 51 international cities studied for how much of a tax burden they place on businesses.
Duggan donor database: Big-time, Super PAC money comes to Motown
Who gave Mayor Duggan $1 million? A Detroit Journalism Cooperative donation database answers this question and others.
New private Duggan fund to support 'Detroit’s agenda'
Mayor Kilpatrick’s civic fund helped put him in prison. Gov. Snyder’s NERD fund brought only regret. But Mayor Duggan says his fund will be different.
Is Detroit’s financial oversight board too big to succeed?
The state-created board may be larger than necessary, but it has the funding to run its own numbers, rather than relying on the city to turn over information.
VIDEO: How is Detroit's public transportation doing under Duggan?
How are Detroit's buses running these days? We asked the people who depend on them day after day.
Mike Duggan and the selling of Detroit 2014
Set a goal, control the numbers, trumpet the results. That’s been Mike Duggan’s leadership playbook for two decades. Has he pushed his luck with Detroit?
Benchmark: Public safety
Should we stay or should we go? A reporter’s notebook on living with crime in Detroit.
Benchmark: Schools
Detroit’s patchwork of traditional public and charter schools can be confusing to parents looking for a good fit. The resulting chaos led a group of parents to share information on promising schools.
Benchmark Detroit: Six months later
Optimism is beginning to percolate across much of the city, as a can-do mayor attempts to make good on bold promises. Hard numbers are more difficult to come by.