"The only person who thought my moving to Detroit was a good idea was my accountant," Maria Urquidi says, laughing.
Urquidi is the first example in a story by Donna Terek and David Guralnick in The Detroit News that describes the wide range of people who are moving into Detroit.
Urquidi was attracted by the affordability of her classic Mies Van der Rohe townhouse in Lafayette Park. Urquidi, 62, says she "retired to Detroit" from the bucolic Hudson River Valley of New York. "My kids think I'm nuts."
And that's the reaction most newcomers to Detroit heard when they announced to friends and family they were moving to Detroit, the largest broke city in America.
The latest Census Bureau population estimate for Detroit was 688,701 as of July 1, 2013 — the same month the city filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Considering the city's population trend over the past six decades, it's a good bet the total population is less now. Still, some people are moving into the city. The question they hear: Why?
Why deal with blight, crime, violence, poor schools, spotty services, neighbors who don't pay their taxes and a dozen other reasons not to move in?
Terek and Guralnick classify the newcomers into these categories:
- Urban explorers
- Property seekers
- Native sons and daughters
- Entrepreneurs
- Empty-nesters
"I came for the architecture," Urquidi said, "but I'm staying for the people."
Urquidi says Detroit is a great place for retirees and purchased the URL retire2detroit.org to set up a website encouraging others to follow her lead. Just like the young professionals trying to make a difference in Detroit, "They also have a lot of time and energy and interest," Urquidi said.
