Southfield, Michigan
Encyclopedia : S : SO : SOU : Southfield, Michigan
Southfield is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Detroit Metropolitan Area (Southeast Michigan Area). As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 78,296. Southfield Township is adjacent to the city on the north side.
History
Southfield was surveyed in 1817 according to the plan by Michigan territorial governor Lewis Cass. The first settlers came from Birmingham and Royal Oak, Michigan, as well as the states of New York and Vermont. The city was founded by John Daniels in 1823. It was first organized as a township on July 12, 1830. Southfield took its name from its location in the "south fields" of Bloomfield Township. A post office was established in 1833 and the first town hall built in 1873. The Southfield Fire Department was formed on April 6, 1942 and the Southfield Police Department in 1953.A portion of the township incorporated as a city on April 28, 1958. The current city hall was built in 1964 as part of the new Civic Center complex, which also became home to Southfield's police headquarters. The Civic Center was expanded in 1971 to include a sports arena with swimming pool. Evergreen Hills Golf Course was added in 1972, and in 1978, a new public safety building, the Southfield Pavilion and a new court building were added. In 2003, an expanded and redesigned Southfield Public Library opened to the public on the Civic Center grounds, featuring state-of-the-art facilities. Outside the Civic Center complex, Southfield also has municipal parks and recreation facilities which were largely developed in the 1970s, including Beech Woods Recreation Center and John Grace Community Center.
Today
Today, Southfield is home to 700 acres (2.8 km²) of park land, a nationally recognized public school district, eight colleges including Lawrence Technological University, Oakland Community College, and 26 million square feet of office space, and a 20-screen movie theater. Southfield is also the media center for the Detroit area, boasting studios and broadcast facilities for several television stations including WXYZ-TV and WJBK-TV.
Southfield has become a commercial center for the area, with some estimates indicating that Southfield's 26 million square feet of available office space is more than the amount available in the city of Detroit itself. Several internationally-recognized corporations have been headquartered in Southfield, including Federal-Mogul, Lear Corporation, and American Motors. Today, more than eighty Fortune 500 businesses have offices in Southfield.
Southfield's skyline is a mix of skyscrapers built in the 1970s and 1980s and many mid- and low-rise buildings built over the decades. Northland Center, built in 1952, claims to be the oldest suburban shopping mall in the United States. The John C. Lodge Freeway (M-10) is among the first urban to suburban highways constructed in the United States. Today, "the Lodge" connects downtown Detroit to "The Mixing Bowl," the sprawling interchange of I-696, US-24/Telegraph Rd, the Lodge, Northwestern Highway, Lahser Road and Franklin Road, located in Southfield.
The city, rich in racial and ethnic diversity, elected its first African-American and first female mayor, Brenda L. Lawrence, in 2001.
Geography
Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 78,296 people, 33,987 households, and 19,780 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,152.5/km² (2,984.6/mi²). There were 35,698 housing units at an average density of 525.5/km² (1,360.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 38.83% White, 54.22% African American, 0.20% Native American, 3.09% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.64% from other races, and 2.99% from two or more races. 1.19% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.Of the city's 33,987 households, 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.8% were non-families. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 3.01.
The age distribution in the city's population was spread out with 21.6% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. In terms of gender distribution, for every 100 females there were 84.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $51,802, and the median income for a family was $64,543. Males had a median income of $48,341 versus $37,949 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,096. About 5.8% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.
Local Government
- City Officials
- *Mayor Brenda L. Lawrence
- *City Administrator Dale Iman
- *City Clerk Nancy Banks
- *City Treasurer Irv Lowenberg
- *City Council
- **Sylvia Jordan (President)
- **Joan Seymour (President Pro-Tem)
- **Myron Frasier
- **Donald Fracassi
- **Sydney Lantz
- **William Lattimore
- **Kenson Siver
- State Officials
- *State Senator Gilda Z. Jacobs
- *State Representative Paul Condino
External links
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