Detroit has the potential to anchor a future climate change haven as people migrate away from the a dry and scalding West or a flooded South and East. The city, like many in the Rust Belt, is heavily industrial and has a legacy of not maintaining the cleanliness and ecology of the coastline. The city is also decades behind on infrastructure upgrades to roads, pipes, electrical, etc.

The greatest climate risk for the Great Lakes region is heavy rainfall which leads to flooding. The city and its neighbors have seen these impact already with poor drainage on expressways and a lack of green stormwater runoff infrastructure and too many parking lots. The data here comes from First Street Foundation Flood Model which is a national model that shows the risk of flooding at any location. As the data shows, flood risk varies across the city and the areas like Jefferson Chalmers and Southwest Detroit/Dearborn highlight on the map.