Available land at reasonable prices, new industry drawn to the region, jobs at Detroit Metro Airport, and access to freeways. One of the bigger losers in Wednesday's census was Taylor. The downriver community lost about 5,000 people. Yet the city's mayor looked to future with hope. Pitoniak stressed that losing some residents was, in fact, good in some respects.
Problems are sure to develop in communities with a shrinking population, officials say.
Once considered rural, Canton has exploded in size since 1990. The township's population grew to 76,366 from about 57,000 a decade earlier. Census trackers estimate that the township will grow to nearly 100,000 by the year 2020. Canton's population in the early 1970s was less than 10,000. The Detroit News Ross Hauk stands in front of the home where he was born.