Most big Michigan cities shrinking

This is what you get when unions rule.

WASHINGTON -- Michigan's core cities saw their populations shrink between 2000 and 2004 as city dwellers continued their trek to the suburbs and rural townships, U.S. Census Bureau data released today show.

Demographic experts say Michigan's internal population shift follows national trends as residents flee cities for the so-called exurbs -- the region lying beyond both the city and the suburbs.

``If you only look at the cities in the Rust Belt, you get a distorted picture of how the economy is going,'' said William Frey, a University of Michigan demographer and an analyst with the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy group. ``The exurbs are growing, and the cities are emptying out. The desire for more space and bigger houses for the same amount of money is the same kind of suburban dream that we've had in this country for many years.''

Take a look at the population figures of big cities in the southern states ie. Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee etc. you know, those states where unions are weak or non-existent.