Digging Into the Data on Detroit's 'Recovery'

The Detroit recovery narrative depends on positive citywide trends in the years since the Great Recession, like higher home sale prices and lower jobless rates. But as John Gallagher points out, "the problem with those upbeat statistics is that the deeper we dive into the data, the less sure we are of what story data tell us."

"It's not just that data cannot capture ephemeral concepts like hope, resilience and racial justice. It's also that it's too easy to cherry-pick statistics that make one's case while ignoring inconvenient facts."

One of those facts, Gallagher writes, is that Detroit's jobless rate remains at least twice that of the state of Michigan and the nation as a whole. And most of those new jobs have emerged downtown, not across the city as a whole.

Detroit's housing market tells "a similar story." Though sale prices have risen since the recession, they're still below state averages. And while new homes are going up, "the vast majority of those new residential units being built are found in and around the downtown core, not in Detroit's distressed neighborhoods." Mortgage loans are rare or nonexistent in most parts of Detroit. Renting, cash purchases, and land contracts remain the norm.