Too broken to live in, too expensive to fix: Detroit's unique housing crisis

Detroit has a housing problem. But in this city, compared with others across the country, the issue isn’t about a lack of housing — it’s the fact that too many existing homes need critical repairs.

Tens of thousands of Detroiters live in substandard housing. The stock often has leaky roofs, electrical problems — things that, if they’re not functioning, make a home unlivable. The city has spent tens of millions of dollars on home repairs. But that number is not nearly enough to meet the need, which totals over $1 billion.

What is the scale and scope of the home repair needs? And, how did we get here? Briana Rice is a civic life reporter at Outlier Media. She’s among the reporters who worked on Outlier’s “Beyond Repair” series. It explores Detroit’s home repair crisis.

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