Exodus from Michigan

Since 2001, more than 400 000 people have fled from the American state of Michigan in an exodus caused by the recent economic turmoil. This is the equivalent of the combined populations of Grand Rapids, Warren and Sterling Heights - the second, third, and fourth largest cities in that state. Michigan endures one of the worst unemployment rates in the United States of America. Government officials had feared that educated people leaving would discourage enterpreneurs from creating new jobs within the state of Michigan. According to the official 2011 recount of the 2010 United States Census, Michigan's population plummeted to 9,876,187 people. The last time that Michigan's population reached that low was back in 2000.

Authorities in former East German cities had to literally shut off electricity to neighborhoods that they couldn't support during an exodus period that was similar to Michigan's. Urban planning in the 21st century has become mainly about downsizing towns and cities that have reached chronic hardships with their economy.

Summary

This historic crisis is the least understood crisis in the state of Michigan - being either ignored or downgraded in importance during the past decades. Flint, once considered one of the most productive cities in America, was dependent on General Motors for their livelihood from the early 20th century until then-current chairman of General Motors Roger Smith took 60000 jobs away from the area in the early 1980s. Even though General Motors was gaining billions of dollars in profits from the sales of automobiles, Smith convinced the United Auto Workers union that they were going bankrupt in order to give them hundreds of millions in aid dollars. Smith would use this money to replace the automobile workers in Flint with those in lower-paying Mexico.

Out of those people who have left, 18000 of them had college degrees and 12000 of them attended grades kindergarten through twelfth grade. $1.2 billion in paychecks have been lost due to outmigration to other states. The 2010 United States Census has confirmed that more people have left Michigan since 2000 than have arrived at Michigan to live; the other 49 states have reported population increases. The change from 2010 to 2011 only shows a 0.08% decrease in the population for that year. However, the massive emigration in previous years had already devasted Michigan's economy for people who want a steady job, a sustainable retirement, along with those who want to pursue higher education. Some of these costs won't come into effect for decades but it means higher income taxes (for those who stay behind) and deteriorating government services (for people who cannot leave the state due to various reasons). When people leave a state and never come back, the economy shrinks so that the remaining people cannot support the infrastructure. Population loss has been reported to be the highest near downtown Detroit (a 25% decrease) and Northwestern Michigan (showing a 10% to 20% decrease) while population growth has remained the most positive in parts of Western Michigan (some districts received a 10% to 20% increase). There has only been infrequent instances in other places where population loss had the same magntiude as the "exodus from Michigan."

Opportunities for a post-secondary education along with the needs of the young people and the full-time jobs (that produce a living wage for residents) are being pushed out of the state. Softball teams are left without coaches and organizations are left without volunteers as people leave Michigan in droves. Home values are being weakened by abandoned apartments and houses. These are being aggravated by the layoffs and mergers being conducted at once well-paying workplaces such as General Motors and Ford.

As the population of Michigan continues to diminish, its clout in the United States Congress will diminish. The state will have to cope with less influence in future U.S. presidential elections and electoral votes will decline as districts are forced to be merged and the number of Michigan's congressmen who serve their tenure in Washington, D.C. for their local district will decrease. There are currently 15 congressional districts; the state formerly had 19 before population decreases caused four districts to be declared redundant. While the 19th congressional district was disbanded back in 1983 (and a few others were disbanded during the 1990s), plans are underway to absorb the 15th congressional district into the 9th congressional district by 2013.

Complaints

This list of complaints are the primary reasons that people are leaving Michigan:

• Michigan's terrible economy
• Terrible standards of living
• Rising crime rates
• Inability to find jobs
• Omnipresent trade unions
• Terrible conditions of roads
• "Nanny state" policies
• Harsh climate
• Bad neighborhood quality

Possible solutions

Positive

The government of Michigan could pass a series of right-to-work laws that could allow more residents to acquire jobs. Another solution would be to cut down on expensive government mandates. Cutting the taxes on single business enterprises and making cutbacks in the $40 million USD budget that would equal the loss of extra tax revenue is another solution that will get people back in Michigan (and working again).

Laid-off workers in the automobile industry have been retraining themselves for new jobs; which may create growth in other sectors of the economy like education. The other economic sectors may find economic recovery plans of their own in the near future. However, it is not guaranteed that people will move back to Michigan once jobs become plentiful again.

Florida and Texas have been reported to be the most popular places for Michigan emigrants to find new jobs; securing an opportunity to escape poverty that is rapidly disappearing from their former home state. Unemployment is the main factor in driving people out of Michigan. New careers and warmer climates are also attracting some to the state of Nevada; which enjoyed the highest population growth in the 2010 United States Census. Retirement and better educational opportunities are driving Michigan emigrants out of the state; as Michigan's retirement homes and colleges fall into decay due to lack of government funding.

Negative

One report suggested there were efforts to consider bulldozing swaths of the city of Flint and "razing entire districts and returning the land to nature" in an effort called shrink to survive. This concept is formally known as planned shrinkage; most of the houses being demolished in Flint will eventually be transformed back into forests and meadows. People had to deal with decline in Flint for decades while the rest of the country considered it to be a social taboo. The economic conditions in Flint made it economically feasible to destroy abandoned buildings; unlike Toronto, Canada where they hold historic status and cannot be demolished. More than 5000 houses are set to be demolished in Flint due to safety reasons and to raise property values on the houses that are left intact.

There are also plans in Detroit to contract the urban sprawl by transforming its current urban grid into a collection of small urban centers surrounded by a rural setting. Allowing cities to shrink must happen in a sustainable way; rather than a destructive pattern. Detroit wants to demolish 10000 abandoned buildings in accordance to their Residential Demolition Program. The inner suburban regions of Detroit are also facing massive reconstruction after the economic woes of the late-2000s began. Another element to this story are the losses of jobs in the automobile industry that are driving the people out the city. Sections of Detroit have become urban farms due to the abandoning industries and commercial business that once made up the greater metropolitian area. Entire blocks and neighborhoods have been converted back into prairie, complete with pheasants, grouse, and the occasional coyote. While the return of the natural wildlife and the lowered pollution levels have helped to increase the quality of life in Detroit slightly, it does not help to create jobs for the people who live in the city.