The Case for a Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor

• Many successful innovation areas in the U.S. found the greatest success when their college towns and metropolitan areas work hand-in-hand. 
• The Detroit Metropolitan area has one of the highest overall rates of talent retention in the country but cannot retain those with the most in-demand skills and fields. 
• The Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor area generates nearly $20 billion per year in corporate R&D. 

Watch the session recording below.

During the 2025 Detroit Policy Conference, Creative Class Group’s Richard Florida shared the most significant ideas in his organization’s latest report, “The Case for a Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor,” including the imperativeness of establishing a Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor.  

Combining the Metro Area With the College Towns 

Florida explained that research-focused universities have historically played a crucial catalytic role in various innovative economies in their respective metropolitan areas. For example, Stanford University fueled the development of Silicon Valley and the Bay Area in the 1950s and 1960s—similarly, MIT and Harvard for Boston’s Route 128 innovation complex during the 1960s and 1970s. Now, the University of Texas at Austin is for the city of Austin, and Carnegie Mellon University is for Pittsburgh.  

Florida said that by leveraging institutions like the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Detroit; Michigan State’s Detroit Center; Wayne State University; and various innovation centers, the Detroit Region is primed to integrate technologies such as AI, software, robotics, green energy, and smart infrastructure to transform mobility. 

“If you look at any great innovation region or any great innovation economy, it’s comprised of…a great city and metro area combined with a great college town, and this is why the [Detroit to Ann Arbor] Corridor is so darn important,” he said.  

Unmatched Talent Production, Retention Challenges 

Further, Florida explained that the talent production capability of the major universities within this Detroit-Ann Arbor Corridor, like the University of Michigan, is virtually unrivaled—collectively producing over 100,000 undergraduates and nearly 50,000 graduate students. He revealed that the Detroit Metropolitan area, including Ann Arbor, has one of the highest talent retentions in the country—about 80% of young people stay in this region. However, Florida said the problem is keeping the high-demand talent in Michigan following graduation.  

“Detroit and Ann Arbor sometimes get a bad rep for not retaining talent. That’s only partially true,” he said. “[They] are mostly leaving Michigan, not because they don’t like it here…they tend to leave because the opportunities to work on the most exciting projects or make more money are there.” 

Pioneering With $20 Billion Annually in Corporate R&D 

Florida also revealed that businesses within the Detroit-Ann Arbor Corridor allocated over $20 billion to corporate R&D annually, placing this Corridor among the top performers nationwide, second only to New York, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, and a few others. With this, he suggested that Detroit’s long-standing dedication to inclusive development and place-making presents an opportunity to establish a model for innovation-driven growth that widely distributes its advantages across broader population segments.  

“Look, I can think of no better place on the planet that can pull them together and build a new innovation economy,” he said. “But what can help transform a great industry like automotive as it repositions itself to advance mobility…when you are poised to do in this corridor is pioneer, a new kind of model of innovation which is highly innovative and vibrant based on new technology.”