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Geography. Environment. Urbanism. And other stuff.
Browsing All Posts filed under »Detroit«
Is a map always the best way to display geographic data?
As you might have guessed, the short answer is, not always. Like all data visualization questions, the answer to this one depends almost entirely on what it is that you’re trying to show. As an example, take this map I created of New Bedford, Massachusetts. It gives us a pretty unambiguous picture of two things: […]
Research blogging: Depopulation can be murder
October 1, 2012
Lately I’ve been doing some research for a book proposal on abandoned places and the processes behind massive and rapid depopulation. It’s a topic I’ve been interested in for a while – in fact, I would have written my Ph.D. dissertation on the subject if I had thought of it earlier (I came up with […]
Is freeway demolition the answer to Detroit’s problems?
August 8, 2012
Detroit experienced a huge decline in population between 2000 and 2010, losing something like 20% of its residents and going from a city of nearly a million to a city of 713,000. So why do they need a highway system designed for a much bigger city? Since its population peak in 1950, every single Census […]
New map: Race and sprawl, Detroit edition*
May 24, 2012
*Potentially the first in a series of posts mapping race and sprawl in American cities A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece about Detroit and how I found it to be ironic that the very thing that built the city in the first place – the car – is now slowly choking the […]
Detroit depopulation map, revisited
April 27, 2012
Because I had a bit of time on my hands yesterday, I decided to quickly put together another map of the changes in population density in metro Detroit. But this time, instead of looking at absolute density changes like I did in the original map, I thought I would see if I got a different […]
Location and place
April 24, 2012
In yesterday’s post I included a link to a letter written by a Detroit-area businessman explaining why he believes he may have to move his business out of southeastern Michigan. The letter’s author described Detroit’s inability to attract new workers from outside the region as having to do with poor “quality of place.” What does […]
The irony of Detroit
April 23, 2012
I hate cars. I’m all too aware that I’m in the minority with that sentiment, and that generally speaking, people love their cars. And I know cars have a major role to play in America’s transportation system. I can accept that. Still – speaking only for myself here – if I could go the rest […]
New map: the depopulation of Detroit, 1970-2010
April 18, 2012
I’ve had a bit of an obsession with Detroit over the past few years. It’s perfectly natural. Not only was I born there (well, in the suburbs, anyway), but the city is a fascinating natural laboratory for me as a geographer. All sorts of things are happening in Detroit that don’t seem to be happening […]
What can we do about abandoned cities?
April 16, 2012
A few years ago, as part of my Ph.D. field work, I had the opportunity to travel to Romania for three weeks. I spent the first five or six days of the trip at a conference in a town called Baile Herculane, in the country’s humid southwestern region. We landed at Timisoara at almost the […]
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October 29, 2012
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