Metro Detroit
Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the official statistical areas designated by the Office of Management and Budget, a federal agency of the United States.
Metro Detroit is known for its automotive heritage, arts, entertainment, popular music, food, cultural diversity, and sports. The area includes a variety of natural landscapes, parks, and beaches, with a recreational coastline linking the Great Lakes. Metro Detroit also has one of the largest metropolitan economies in the U.S. with 17 Fortune 500 companies.
Definitions
The Detroit Urban Area, which serves as the metropolitan area's core, ranks as the 12th most populous in the United States, with a population of 3,776,890 as of the 2020 census and an area of. This urbanized area covers parts of the counties of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne. These counties are sometimes referred to as the Detroit Tri-County Area and had a population of 3,862,888 as of the 2010 census with an area of.The Office of Management and Budget, a federal agency of the United States, defines the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area as the six counties of Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 4,296,250 with an area of.
Detroit–Warren–Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area
The nine county area designated by the OMB as the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area includes the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn MSA and the three additional counties of Genesee, Monroe, and Washtenaw. It had a population of 5,318,744 as of the 2010 census, making it one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, covering an area of. Lenawee County was removed from the CSA in 2000, but added back in 2013.Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area
With the adjacent city of Windsor, Ontario, and its suburbs, the combined Detroit–Windsor area has a population of about 5.7 million. When the nearby Toledo metropolitan area and its commuters are taken into account, the region constitutes a much larger population center. An estimated 46 million people live within a radius of Detroit proper, including the major metropolitan areas of Chicago, Toronto and Cleveland. Metro Detroit is at the center of an emerging Great Lakes Megalopolis.Conan Smith, a businessperson quoted in a 2012 article by The Ann Arbor News, stated the most significant reason Washtenaw County, including Ann Arbor, is not often included in definitions of Metro Detroit is that there is a "lack of affinity that Washtenaw County as a whole has with Wayne County and Detroit or Oakland County and Macomb". Ann Arbor is nearly 43 miles by car from Downtown Detroit, and developed separately as a university city, with its own character. Smith said that county residents "just don't yet see ourselves as a natural part of that region, so I think it feels a little forced to a lot of people, and they're scared about it".
Economy
Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major center of commerce and global trade, most notably as home to America's 'Big Three' automobile companies: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Detroit's six-county Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of about 4.3 million and a workforce of about 2.1 million. In December 2017, the Department of Labor reported metropolitan Detroit's unemployment rate to be 4.2%. The Detroit MSA had a Gross Metropolitan Product of $252.7 billion as of September 2017.File:Pontiac Commercial Historic District B.JPG|thumb|Pontiac Commercial Historic District in Pontiac
File:Military Road Historic District.jpg|thumb|Military Road Historic District in Port Huron
Firms in the region pursue emerging technologies including biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology, and hydrogen fuel cell development.
Metro Detroit is one of the leading health care economies in the U.S., according to a 2003 study measuring health care industry components, with the region's hospital sector ranked fourth in the nation.
Casino gaming plays an important economic role, with Detroit the largest US city to offer casino resort hotels. Caesars Windsor, Canada's largest, complements the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Hollywood Casino in the city. The casino hotels contribute significant tax revenue along with thousands of jobs for residents. Gaming revenues have grown steadily, with Detroit ranked as the fifth-largest gambling market in the United States for 2007. When Casino Windsor is included, Detroit's gambling market ranks either third or fourth.
There are about four thousand factories in the area. The domestic auto industry is primarily headquartered in Metro Detroit. The area is an important source of engineering job opportunities. A rise in automated manufacturing using robotic technology has created related industries in the area.
A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the Detroit–Windsor region and $13 billion in annual production depend on the city's international border crossing.
In addition to property taxes, residents of the City of Detroit pay an income tax rate of 2.50%.
Detroit automakers and local manufacturers have made significant restructurings in response to market competition. GM made its initial public offering of stock in 2010, after bankruptcy, bailout, and restructuring by the federal government. Domestic automakers reported significant profits in 2010, interpreted by some analysts as the beginning of an industry rebound and an economic recovery for the Detroit area.
The region's nine-county area, with its population of 5.3 million, has a workforce of about 2.6 million and about 247,000 businesses. Fourteen Fortune 500 companies are based in metropolitan Detroit. In April 2015, the metropolitan Detroit unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, a rate lower than the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta metropolitan areas.
Metro Detroit has made Michigan's economy a leader in information technology, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing. Michigan ranks fourth nationally in high-tech employment with 568,000 high-tech workers, including 70,000 in the automotive industry.
Michigan typically ranks second or third in overall Research & development expenditures in the United States. Metro Detroit is an important source of engineering and high-tech job opportunities. As the home of the "Big Three" American automakers, it is the world's traditional automotive center and a key pillar of the US economy. In the 2010s, the domestic auto industry accounts, directly and indirectly, for one of ten jobs in the United States, making it a significant component for economic recovery.
File:Headquarters of GM in Detroit.jpg|thumb|left|The General Motors World Headquarters, Renaissance Center in Downtown Detroit.
For 2010, the domestic automakers have reported significant profits indicating the beginning of rebound.
Metro Detroit serves as the headquarters for the United States Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, with Selfridge Air National Guard Base. Detroit Metropolitan Airport is one of America's largest and most recently modernized facilities, with six major runways, Boeing 747 maintenance facilities, and an attached Westin Hotel and Conference Center.
File:ChryslerHQ-highres-colored.jpg|thumb|left|The Chrysler Headquarters in Auburn Hills
Detroit is a major U.S. port with an extensive toll-free expressway system. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the Detroit-Windsor region and $13 billion in annual production depend on Detroit's international border crossing. A source of top talent, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is one of the world's leading research institutions, and Wayne State University in Detroit has the largest single-campus medical school in the United States.
Metro Detroit is a prominent business center, with major commercial districts such as the Detroit Financial District and Renaissance Center, the Southfield Town Center, and the historic New Center district with the Fisher Building and Cadillac Place. Among the major companies based in the area, aside from the major automotive companies, are BorgWarner, Rocket Mortgage, Ally Financial, Carhartt, and Shinola.
IBM and Google are among the technology companies with a major presence in Metro Detroit. HP Enterprise Services makes Detroit its regional headquarters, and one of its largest global employment locations. The metropolitan Detroit area has one of the nation's largest office markets with 147,082,003 square feet. Chrysler's largest corporate facility is its U.S. headquarters and technology center in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, while Ford Motor Company is in Dearborn, directly adjacent to Detroit. In the decade leading up to 2006, downtown Detroit gained more than $15 billion in new investment from private and public sectors.
Tourism
Tourism is an important component of the region's culture and economy, providing about nine percent of the area's two million jobs. About 15.9 million people visit metro Detroit annually, spending about $4.8 billion. Detroit is the largest city or metro area in the U.S. to offer casino resort hotels.Metro Detroit is a tourist destination that easily accommodates super-sized crowds to events such as the Woodward Dream Cruise, North American International Auto Show, Youmacon, the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival, 2009 NCAA Final Four, and Super Bowl XL. The Detroit International Riverfront links the Renaissance Center to a series of venues, parks, restaurants, and hotels. In 2006, the four-day Motown Winter Blast drew a cold weather crowd of about 1.2 million people to Campus Martius Park area downtown.
Detroit's metroparks include fresh water beaches, such as Metropolitan Beach, Kensington Beach, and Stony Creek Beach. Metro Detroit offers canoeing through the Huron-Clinton Metroparks. Sports enthusiasts can enjoy downhill and cross-county skiing at Alpine Valley Ski Resort, Mt. Brighton, Mt. Holly, and Pine Knob Ski Resort.
The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is the only international wildlife preserve in North America that is located in the heart of a major metropolitan area. The Refuge includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie shoreline.
File:HenryFordEstateSWSide.jpg|thumb|Henry Ford's Fair Lane estate in Dearborn
Metro Detroit contains a number of shopping malls, including the upscale Somerset Collection in Troy, Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills, and Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, all of which are draws for tourists.
The region's leading attraction is The Henry Ford, located in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn; it is America's largest indoor-outdoor museum complex.
The recent renovation of the Renaissance Center, and related construction of a state-of-the-art cruise ship dock, new stadiums, and a new RiverWalk, have stimulated related private economic development. Nearby Windsor has a 19-year-old drinking age with a myriad of entertainment to complement Detroit's Greektown district. Some analysts believe that tourism planners have yet to tap the full economic power of the estimated 46 million people who live within a 300-mile radius of Detroit.