Detroit Highways and the Case for Reparations

In 2023, the Detroit Reparations Task Force partnered with University of Michigan Poverty Solutions to document the impact of redlining and highway construction on the city. The Center’s role on this project was to map changes in property values and homeownership rates over time to provide a better visual representation of where wealth was in Detroit, and where wealth moved in the region after highway construction.

The interactive storymap, Detroit Development 1940-2010, is the result of this work. Here you can view the changes in Detroit property values over time, through the introduction of highways that tore up majority Black and formerly redlined neighborhoods. Convenient transportation to the suburbs slowly drained the city of wealth and population, and the storymap includes the escalating pace of school closures that followed.

Interactive Map: Detroit Development from 1940 to 2010

View the map in a new window.