Niraj Warikoo

Detroit Free Press

Two new reports show that the poor in metro Detroit face unique challenges compared to other parts of the U.S., making it more difficult for them to escape poverty.

A study recently released by the Brookings Institution says that metro Detroit has the highest rate of concentrated poverty among the top 25 metro areas in the U.S. by population.

In the six-county region (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, St. Clair, Lapeer), 32% of the poor live in census tracts where at least 40% of the population is below the federal poverty line, according to an analysis of 2010-2014 census figures by researchers at Brookings, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

In 2000, only 9% of the poor in metro Detroit lived in census tracts with a high concentration of poverty, ranking the region 10th among the top 25 metro areas. Now, metro Detroit has the highest at 32%, more than twice the rate of areas like metro Chicago, Houston and the national average of 13.5%.

"The number of extremely poor neighborhoods in the Detroit region grew almost fivefold between 2000 and 2010-14," said Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, who co-wrote the report. "In metro Detroit’s case, almost every neighborhood that crossed the 40% poverty rate threshold after 2000 did so as it shed population. ... Poverty became more concentrated both as people with the means to moved out of declining neighborhoods and as ... the regional economy pushed more neighborhood residents below the poverty line."

Concentrated poverty spikes in metro Detroit

A separate report, released this month by The Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that the poorest residents in southeast Michigan have a life expectancy rate significantly lower than the poor of comparable incomes in other major metro areas. In a 10-county region that includes metro Detroit and the Flint area, the poorest residents in southeast Michigan live on average six years fewer than the poorest in metro New York City. By contrast, the richest residents of southeast Michigan had a life expectancy that was one year less than for the richest residents in metro New York City.

The two new reports have concerned advocates for the poor in metro Detroit, who say not enough attention is being given to those left out of the economic recovery since the recession. The high rates of concentrated poverty make it more difficult for people who are poor to escape poverty because of their surroundings, say researchers and advocates.

"We're seeing on the ground in Detroit, people are trapped," said the Rev. David Alexander Bullock, a Detroit pastor with Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church who leads the advocacy group Change Agent Consortium. "It makes it harder for people to leave."

"Those with access and means are moving out, leaving behind those who can't leave."

The Brookings report shows that concentrated poverty is a bigger problem among African Americans and Latinos. In metro Detroit, 49% of African Americans who are poor are living in census tracts where at least 40% of the residents are poor, the highest rate among the Top 25 metro areas in the U.S. and seventh among the Top 100 metro areas. Among whites in metro Detroit, the rate of concentrated poverty is much lower, at 14.8%.

Among the top 100 areas overall, metro Detroit has the fifth-highest rate of concentrated poverty.

The two new reports gel with the findings of a separate report released in August by the Century Foundation on concentrated poverty that showed that Wayne County has the second-highest rate of concentrated poverty in the U.S. among the top 100 metro areas. In Detroit, the number of census tracts where more than 40% of people are in poverty more than tripled over the past 15 years, from 51 tracts to 184. Census figures released in September showed that the city of Detroit has the highest rate of residents in poverty, 39%, among all cities in the U.S. with more than 300,0000 residents.

The changes can be seen in areas like northwest Detroit (west of Woodward Avenue. and north of Fenkell Avenue): In 2000, there was only one census tract in that area where more than 40% of the residents lived in poverty. By 2009-2013, that had risen to 11 tracts. Neighborhoods in East Dearborn and south Warren have also had spikes in concentrated poverty.

"You're seeing what were strong neighborhoods that are now where the poverty is," said the Rev. Charles Williams, pastor at Historic King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit and head of the Michigan branch of the National Action Network. "That's why many of us are concerned."

Detroit activists say city's poverty is being ignored

Elected officials "get so focused on the high-voting districts," but not in areas where the poor live, Williams said.

Michigan's unemployment rate has been falling and in October was lower than the national average for the first time since 2000, a sign that the economy is improving. But Williams said those statistics may be misleading in some areas because many have dropped out of the job market since they can't find employment or are in jobs that don't pay well.

The effects can be seen at places like Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit, which distributes food to the needy in a five-county area. There are about 700,000 people in the region who are unable to afford to buy enough food, said Erica Peresman, director of philanthropy at Gleaners, which helped about 428,000 people the last fiscal year.

The report by university researchers on life expectancy, titled "The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014," concerns Williams.

Williams said the shorter life spans for the poor in the region are caused by environmental pollution, lack of access to health care and healthy food and "one of the worst transportation systems in the nation."

Williams said many of the poor in places like in Detroit can't get access to doctors, and when they do, many aren't getting properly treated because they're poor and minorities. He and researchers call for more investment to improve health and decrease concentrated poverty.

“The broader reach of concentrated disadvantage today calls for regional policy responses that join up decision making on issues like housing, land use, transportation and economic development to more effectively connect poor people and neighborhoods to economic opportunity,” Kneebone said. “Failing to act runs the risk of further entrenching disadvantage in inner cities and creating a new wave of chronically distressed neighborhoods in our nation’s suburbs.”

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo.

Living in poverty

Among the top 25 metro areas in the U.S. by population, metro Detroit (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, St. Clair, Lapeer counties) had the highest rate of concentrated poverty,*

1) Metro Detroit, 32%

2) Metro Phoenix, 26.5%

3) Metro Philadelphia, 20.9%

4) Metro New York City, 17.9%

5) Metro Chicago, 15.7%

6) Metro Houston, 14.9%

7) Metro Dallas-Fort Worth, 13.3%

8) Metro St. Louis, 13.2%

9) Metro Riverside-San Bernardino, 12.7%

10) Metro Miami-Fort Lauderdale, 12.6%

*The percentage of the poor in the region who are living in Census tracts where more than 40% of residents are in poverty.

Source: Brookings Institution