Map: Detroit Bus Frequency 2026

This is the map that I think of when anyone has a grand plan for Detroit, like demolishing part of the Renaissance Center. Imagine what $2.2 Billion could do for regional transit and economic activity.

“I think every major city in America has some form of regional transportation but us, which is a shame.” – Dan Gilbert
(Detroit Economic Club, September 2024)

The single most effective strategy for bolster economic growth and social mobility for Detroiters and the entire metro region would be to build reliable regional transit. There are less than 7 bus routes in Detroit that are “reliable” with less than 10 minute frequency. The Connect 10 routes were an important concept from DDOT to improve frequency and reliability, but we really need to do more and the regional leaders who hold the power know it.

“Why do I care about transit? Just ask young people.” – Dan Gilbert
(Citing a survey where 73% of millennials ranked regional transit as their No. 1 community priority)

  1. Mothball the RenCen, good luck to the private interests that now own it. The regional priority should not be a possible ferris wheel Downtown, but getting 4 million to and from economic opportunities across the region that are accessible and affordable.
  2. Invest in regional transit. I would willing ride a Dan Gilbert financed “Rocket” branded bus that shows up on time, frequently.
  3. Encourage other corporate entities to invest in specific bus routes (Rocket line from the airport, GM line along Van Dyke, LEAR line along Gratiot, Penske line on Grand River, etc.)
  4. Universities setting up downtown should offer regional bus rapid transit that also connects to their facilities across the city (UM line along I-94 connecting Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Downtown Detroit, MSU line along I-96 connecting East Lansing, Flint, and their campuses in NW Detroit, Fisher Building, and Henry Ford Health)

The alternative could also be requiring every data center to invest in bus rapid transit that connects two communities in the region. The hyperscale developments along with the size of the RenCen project are wildly out of proportion to the basic economic drivers missing in our region. Workers need to get to and from employers easily and efficiently, businesses need to know that the 4 million people in the region are connected – not dependent on the number of parking garages, and young people need to know that opportunity exists in a place where transportation costs don’t break the budget.

“Imagine if you have regional transportation going to the airport, back from the airport, east to west, north to south, it would completely change the region. The economic boom would be the biggest one we’ve ever seen in this area.” – Dan Gilbert
(Detroit Economic Club, September 2024)

Map: Metro Detroit Ancestry 2024

The New York Times put together this interesting map of ancestry data from the American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. You can easily find the well-known pockets of racial-ethnic populations in Detroit, but the metro region provides some nuance as to where many immigrant population migrated to outside of Detroit. The Grosse Pointes are very English, further east is very Polish. Detroit’s Chaldean populations moved northward to Sterling Heights and Bloomfield. Indian populations centered in Novi and Madison Heights. Southfield remains a strong Black majority city just outside of Detroit.

Map: Detroit Consulates and Most Common Place of Birth of Foreign Born Residents

I happened to walk past the Consulate of Iceland on Kercheval Avenue in Grosse Pointe Farms and that got me wondering how many consulates are in the Detroit area or how those get decided. I tested this data collection and mapping exercise with AI assistance. Google Gemini put together a list of consulates, but it was a short list because I learned that there is a difference between a consulate and an honorary consulate. Gemini gathered a few outdated consulate locations that I had to manually check, but overall it was a quick process that reduced my own time putting together a list and geocoding the locations. The map is color coded by “most common continent of birth” among foreign born residents.

  • Purple = Asia (including Middle East)
  • Green = Europe
  • Orange = Latin America
  • Blue = North America
  • Yellow = Africa

A consulate is a diplomatic representative for a specific city or region working under an Embassy. Typically large cities have consulates for various countries while the Embassy is most likely located in the capital, Washington D.C. Honorary Consulates are usually independent individuals working part-time on behalf of a particular country to fulfill consular duties, but with limited powers. I learned that the Consulate of Iceland was an honorary consulate even though it had a bronze placard outside the building.

The consulates that I mapped are all listed as “Detroit” specific missions, yet only six were located within Detroit’s borders: Canada, Italy, United Kingdom, Romania, and the Bahamas. The highest number of consulates were located in Southfield (n=8) followed by Bloomfield Hills (n=5). There were also some surprising mismatches in location of consulates compared to populations of people from those countries. The Consulate of Yemen is located in Dearborn which makes sense with a high number of Yemeni people living there, but the Consulate of Mexico is located in Warren perhaps to be a middle ground between Detroit and other Mexican population clusters like Pontiac?

Reliance on Honorary Consulates

  • Dominance of Honorary Representation: Out of 39 diplomatic missions, 32 (82.1%) operate as Honorary Consulates or Honorary Consulates General, while only 7 (17.9%) are career diplomatic posts (Consulates or Consulates General).
  • Career Consulates Focus on Key Trade & Population Partners: Full career missions are maintained by Canada, Japan, Italy, Mexico, Iraq, Lebanon, and North Macedonia.
  • Operational Impact: The heavy reliance on honorary consuls indicates that many foreign governments leverage local corporate executives, attorneys, and community figures to handle bilateral trade advocacy and passport/visa queries rather than funding full-time embassy staffs.

Suburban Diplomatic Hubs

  • Southfield as the Leading Suburban Hub: Southfield hosts the highest number of offices with 8 consulates (20.5% of total), including full Consulates General for Iraq, Lebanon, and North Macedonia.
  • Detroit Core Retains High-Impact Offices: Downtown/City of Detroit holds 6 consulates (15.4%), including crucial economic and career posts for Canada, Japan, and Italy, as well as honorary consulates for the United Kingdom, Romania, and the Bahamas.
  • Bloomfield Hills & Suburbs: Bloomfield Hills comes in second with 5 consulates (focused primarily on European honorary posts such as Finland, Poland, Iceland, and Luxembourg), followed by Dearborn with 3 missions (Belgium, Slovenia, Yemen).

European and Automotive Industry Partners

  • Heavy European Presence: European nations represent 27 out of 39 missions (69.2%), reflecting deep historic immigration ties and manufacturing partnerships.
  • Americas & Asia-Pacific: Latin Americas account for 3 missions (7.7%), Asia-Pacific represents 3 missions (7.7%), the Middle East accounts for 3 missions (7.7%), and Africa is represented by 1 mission (2.6%).
  • Economic Alignment: Major automotive manufacturing centers (e.g., Japan, Germany, Canada, Italy, South Korea, Mexico) maintain active representations, reinforcing Metro Detroit’s status as an international automotive and mobility hub.

Map: Share of Homes without Air Conditioning in Detroit

Dr. Larissa Larsen’s was quoted in the Washington Post about impacts of extreme heat in Detroit.

Roughly a third of the city’s residents live in homes that are 80 years or older, said Larissa Larsen, professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan. Those homes can become heat traps during hot stretches because they lack proper insulation and newer windows. Some of the homes are made of brick, which absorbs heat during the day and radiates it in the evening instead of allowing the home to cool down.

Event: Detroit GIS Day 2026

The annual “Detroit Loves Maps” day or Detroit GIS Day is coming up! We are excited to have Richard Sadler from Michigan State University as our keynote. He is the health geographer who helped prove the spatial connection between children’s blood lead levels and unsafe drinking water in the Flint Water Crisis. Dr. Sadler has multiple exciting projects that intersect spatial and geographic phenomena with health equity.

Check out the full list of panels, lightning talks, and workshops! or propose your own talk!

Register, submit, or sponsor!

detroitgisday.com

Registration is open for the conference day and for virtual workshops throughout the Geography Awareness Week on Open Data 101, Tableau for Mapping, ArcGIS Online, and QGIS.

Use the registration link to submit a 10 min lightning talk or to submit a to the Map Gallery to show off your maps.

We’re very appreciative of the sponsorship support from ReGrid, OHM Advisors, and Data Driven Detroit along with our hosts at the UM LEAPS program at Marygrove. If you would like to reach the local GIS, geospatial, data, mapping, urban planning and architecture community consider sponsoring GIS Day!