New challenges for Detroit

At a recent Midtown preview of a documentary about Detroit to be shown in Germany and France, longtime city resident and artist Olayami Dabls sat in "amazement," he said.

"I have not seen so many people of African descent and people of color in any other documentary about Detroit," said Dabls, who is featured in the film.

That's saying something because Detroit, whose population is 82 percent black, has been the focus of many documentaries with more on the way. Perhaps half of the people interviewed in the documentary featuring Dabls are African-American.

The film focuses on the same theme many boosters, investors and new online media sites cast about Detroit — a new city emerging from its post-industrial ruins. But a growing number of Detroiters say they often feel left out of that positive story. Though Detroit is on the verge of bankruptcy, it is starting to deal with issues of gentrification, where some people are getting pushed out.

Many potential home buyers in Corktown, Midtown and downtown often get outbid, many real estate agents said. It's a combination of not enough high-quality inventory and stiff competition.

Amber Wilson, 28, knows this firsthand. The Southgate resident wanted to move to Corktown, but quickly found herself outbid on at least three residences last year.

"Some Oakland County couple paid more than $100,000 cash for a loft, because they wanted their daughter to move back from Chicago. I can't compete with that," said Wilson, a graphic designer who had been pre-approved for a $120,000 mortgage loan. Nor did she want to buy a home in disrepair, which seemed the only other option for her in that neighborhood.

In downtown, the Trolley Plaza apartment complex was bought by new owners, who upgraded the facility, changed the name to Washington Square Apartments and increased the rent 20 percent or more.

"It went from diverse to mainly young and white," said Jack Sexton, a former resident. "That's too bad because a lot of people wanted to stay but they couldn't afford it."

The Broderick Tower downtown is being upgraded, too. The $5,000-a-month penthouses were among the first to be reserved when the renovated building opens this fall, said Stewart Beal of Motown Construction Partners, one of the building owners.

There is a different city emerging in downtown, Corktown and Midtown, data shows, and it is more white and affluent than the rest of the city.

From 2000 to 2010, Detroit lost 25 percent of its population and 44 percent of its relatively small number of white residents. But Midtown and downtown lost far smaller percentages of their population while Corktown gained, according to a Detroit News analysis of census 2010 information.

Each of the three neighborhoods gained white residents, who now represent at least a quarter of the population in each of three areas. In Detroit, overall, whites make up 8 percent of the city's population.

The average income level of new homebuyers in the three areas is far higher than the city overall. Midtown has the highest average household income at $113,788, followed by downtown at $111,509 and $79,980 in Corktown, according to a 2010 study funded by the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

The average household income for new homebuyers in Detroit was $50,550.

Outsiders coming in

Gentrification helps otherwise depressed real estate prices and a city that is hemorrhaging population. But change has caused tension.

Two years ago, a group of young adults took over an abandoned house near North Corktown and attempted to make it into an art project. The problem is no one informed the neighbors, said Jeff DeBruyn, who runs the Manna Community Meal soup kitchen and the art/community project called Imagination Station.

"It mysteriously got put on fire twice," he said.

No one claimed responsibility for the fires. DeBruyn said he has talked to neighbors, many of whom felt threatened by a group of newcomers who made no attempt to engage with the residents.

Southwest Detroit native Carolina Garcia is also concerned.

"It feels like it's not about making things better for everyone, just making it safer for suburbanites. That's just not fair," Garcia said. "I'm still excited to see all the people moving to Corktown and all the new businesses. But every time you read or see something online about the progress, it's this tone the new people are responsible for it all. That just kind of rubs me the wrong way."

Others also see that trend and say it's the seeds of talk to formally break up Detroit.

"Think about the conversation so many institutions, neighborhoods, media are having about growth, culture and entertainment. That dialogue, that investment is about downtown, Corktown and Midtown," said Rodney Lockwood, a longtime Detroit developer and soon-to-be chairman of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. Those areas are seeing an influx of jobs, retail and new residents.

Now, "think about the narrative for the rest of Detroit," Lockwood said. That would include the growing possibility of a state-appointed emergency financial manager to run the finances of a city that hasn't balanced a budget in six years; a foundering transit system where the buses don't run on time; broken street lights; and an increasing homicide rate.

"What many people don't realize is we have already begun the conversation that will lead us into splitting up Detroit into separate cities," Lockwood said.

More voices, stronger city

Margarita Barry is excited to be part of the rebounding Detroit. She has a Midtown retail shop called 71 Pop and an online retail shop called bohomodern.com. She is "loving the energy and all the new people."

Still, the young African-American says a skewed picture is being painted by some. "I read some of these online sites, and I am amazed that there is not one person of color in their coverage. It's alarming," she said. "It just feeds a perception that only a certain group of people are involved in the positive change, and this is so not true."

It is part of the reason Barry recently decided to buy a house in northwest Detroit.

"I (sometimes) get blank stares, because it seems the idea that I would move into an area that's not Midtown, Corktown or downtown is just unheard of," she said. "I grew up in northwest Detroit , and while I love these newer hip areas and their developments, I'm very concerned with the neighborhoods outside of them being left behind."

Toby Barlow, senior partner of the JWT advertising agency, is one of the poster boys for the rising Detroit. He has praised Detroit's virtues in national columns and in documentaries, and has invested in Detroit properties and business.

"That is a very valid concern that there are just not enough voices in these discussions, and it's a danger" he said.

But the larger challenge for Detroit is to convince investors and businesses to return to the city, Barlow said.

"I couldn't disagree more that we are on path to split up Detroit," he said. "That is not the goal of anyone."

laguilar@detnews.com

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