Study: Downtown Detroit Still In Need Of Development

   A new study finds Detroit’s thriving downtown area is still in need of additional development.

   The study is part of a report called 7.2 SQ MI – or seven-point-two square miles — which is also the size of Detroit’s downtown.

   Well before the city emerged from bankruptcy that particular section of Detroit had become a magnet for new investment.

  The report underlines that fact, noting that more than 70 new restaurants and 40 retail outlets have opened in the downtown district as well as thousands of new or renovated residential units.

   But the per capita income of residents is below $21,000 a year, meaning a significant number of people in poverty live downtown

   Experts say that’s due to a large amount of low-income housing in the downtown area, something Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan pledges to continue even as he searches for ways to increase a dwindling tax base.