Encouraging the Revitalization of Downtown Detroit: Attracting the Millennial Knowledge Worker

The Michigan economy has been dreadful this decade, having suffered through seven consecutive years of job losses. As a result, the state is at the bottom of the national rankings in both employment and per capita income, and at the top of rankings in the percentage of the population living in poverty. This is largely because the engine that drives the Michigan economy is the
troubled domestic auto industry.

Michigan Future, Inc. believes that the key to better positioning Michigan in the new economy is in building its talent base and diversifying its industries to include more knowledge-based enterprises. This report was developed in order to identify the means by which Michigan can hope to achieve that objective, particularly in terms of attracting young talent to the city of
Detroit. Through significant research and data collection, we have identified the key housing and neighborhood characteristics that young professionals demand and have compared their presence in leading MKW cities to that in specific Detroit neighborhoods in order to understand
the existing gap. (full report)

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