In recent years, a revitalization has taken place in “midtown” Detroit. Dan Gilbert, founder of Quicken Loans, moved company headquarters to the city and bought up real estate throughout two square miles of downtown Detroit in an attempt to spur development.
Restaurants have entered the city offering craft cocktails and tapas. Businesses, like luxury watch and bicycle company Shinola, have made Detroit their home.
In the last five years, Shinola has become, in the eyes of some, a sign of Detroit renaissance — and a manufacturing one at that.
Detroit’s population has shrunk from its height of nearly 1.85 million in 1950 to under 700,000 today.
Many black Detroiters continue to leave the city for the suburbs, but young, mostly white millennials have begun to move in, as they land jobs at companies like Quicken Loans and Shinola and are offered incentives to live in the city.
The revitalization looks set to continue in downtown Detroit, but only time will tell whether it’ll expand to the rest of the city.