However, legal separation from its bigger, sister city could not prevent its economic fate from being intertwined with it, as well as with that of the American automobile industry. The decline of that industry, which had kept Hamtramck’s economy healthy through much of the 20th century, coupled with the Great Recession of the early 21st, has had a tremendous impact on the entire southeast Michigan region – Detroit and Hamtramck, included. In fact, both metropolises are considered to be “distressed communities,” with Detroit the most distressed city in America. But, unlike some other nearby locales, whose populations were decreasing along with the region’s slumping economy, Hamtramck’s actually began an uptick in 1990s.
Today, it is still growing, while becoming one of the most ethnically diverse and international cities in the American Midwest. Its population of 22,000 is made up of its older Polish community as well as newer immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Bosnia, Ukraine, Albania, and elsewhere. This latest wave of new residents has changed the nature of Hamtramck – in 2015, it became the first city in the country with a Muslim majority on its City Council, and its economy has moved from reliance on its General Motors plant to many small commercial and entrepreneurial businesses.
