Metro Detroit job sprawl worst in U.S.; many jobs beyond reach of poor
Metro Detroit job sprawl worst in U.S.; many jobs beyond reach of poor
If it seems like it’s taking longer than ever to get to your job in metro Detroit, there’s a good reason.
A new study finds that metro Detroit is the nation’s most sprawled job market, with 77% of jobs located at least 10 miles from the downtown core.
Combined with an earlier Brookings Institution study on access to public transit, a portrait emerges of a metro area where many jobs are beyond the reach of low-income residents who lack transportation options and often live inside the city.
Besides potentially adding to commute times, a decentralized job market adds to pollution levels.
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Among specific findings in the Brookings study:
■ Between 2007 and 2010, the years of the Great Recession and its aftermath, 97 of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas lost employment within 35 miles of downtown. Metro Detroit lost 25% of its jobs during that period because of the recession.
■ Jobs sprawl continues nationwide.
Of the top 100 metro areas, 91 ended the decade with a lower share of jobs within three miles of downtown than in 2000.
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Beyond employment size, political fragmentation — the number of jurisdictions within a region — plays a big role in where jobs are found. Jobs tend to locate farther from the city center in places like metro Detroit that have more political units, possibly because employers are taking advantage of competition among communities for lower tax rates.
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Cities that adopted urban growth boundaries to hem in suburban sprawl, like Honolulu and Salt Lake City, tend to see jobs more concentrated near the urban core.
http://www.freep.com/article/20130418/BUSINESS06/304180118/jobs-sprawl-Detroit-Brookings-Institution
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