Lack of Mass Transit Makes Michigan a Less Desirable Place to Live

CONTRIBUTED REPORTING

Many roads in Michigan are filled with potholes and there are so many repairs underway that, some say, the orange barrel has become the new state flower. (Photo by Melani Bonilla)

Marlon Williams, a 28-year-old blue-collar worker in Benton Harbor, in southwest Michigan, never considers taking a bus to work, even though it would save him a lot of money. There are only two short bus lines in his town, and they don’t come very often. “Sometimes you just wanna go, go, go, instead of wait,” he said.

Residents in Benton Harbor, Detroit, Ann Arbor and other Michigan cities share Williams’s disappointment with the public transit system. 

Research shows that people between 24 and 44 years old view transit convenience as the most important criteria for deciding where to live. Michigan is one of the slowest growing states in the country. And state data shows the trend is likely to continue, and even result in an overall population decline of 1.3 percent between 2022 and 2050.

“Lack of public transportation is one of the reasons people don’t want to live here,” said Assad Turfe, deputy county executive of Wayne County, which includes Detroit.