About this episode

Published December 9th, 2025, 07:46 pm

As Detroit has been changing over the last decade, one word has come up again and again to describe the city: gentrification. 

Sharon Cornelissen is the author of “The Last House on the Block: Black Homeowners, White Homesteaders, and Failed Gentrification in Detroit.” She lived in Detroit's Brightmoor neighborhood for years, and says that while American cities pay a lot of attention to gentrification, they should focus more on population decline and disinvestment.

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The Metro

Why cities should focus on depopulation, not gentrification

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32m