A Typology of Neighborhood Change in Mid-Sized Industrial Counties in Michigan, 1970-2010

Keywords: deindustrialization, neighborhood change, Michigan, small cities
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

This study examines neighborhood socioeconomic change in five Michigan counties (Bay, Genesee, Kalamazoo, Kent, and Saginaw) affected by deindustrialization between 1970-2010. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, four neighborhood typologies were identified. Only 52.5 percent of neighborhoods remained in the same classification over the four decades. In 1970, 65.8 percent of neighborhoods were classified as middle-class compared to 44.5 percent by 2010; suggesting erosion of the middle-class neighborhood. Struggling tracts were found in the suburbs of all counties by 2010, an indicator of suburbanization of poverty. By 2010, Kalamazoo and Kent Countries displayed elements of the ‘patchwork metropolis’ (Florida and Adler 2017), a mixture of wealthy and poor neighborhoods throughout the city. Conversely, Saginaw/Bay and Genesee Counties maintained remnants of the classic concentric zone model. This suggests that neighborhood spatial structure in the 21st century is affected by how well a county has adapted to deindustrialization.