When Michigan can’t ensure safe drinking water in a major city and can’t figure out how to educate children in its biggest school district, it’s safe to say that our state’s vaunted “comeback” is incomplete –– if we’re being generous.
But even beyond the Flint water crisis and Detroit Public Schools’ myriad woes, cracks in Gov. Rick Snyder’s “comeback” claim have started to show.
U.S. census data released in December painted a sobering picture. In the last five years, three-quarters of Michigan cities and villages have had median income declines. Two-thirds of municipalities saw an increase in the share of people living in poverty.