Walter Reynolds Farley

Adjunct faculty

Walter Reynolds Farley

Lecturer; Professor Emeritus of Sociology

Reynolds Farley is a research scientist at the Population Studies Center, the Dudley Duncan Professor Emeritus of Sociology, and a lecturer at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Farley's research interests concern population trends in the…

In the Media

Farley comments on shrinking Michigan population

Jan 19, 2023 The Detroit News

The Detroit News: "We have a rather elderly population here in Michigan," said Reynolds Farley, research professor emeritus at the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center. "We've been losing people to other states for almost 20 years, and...

Photo of Ren Farley speaking into a megaphone as he leads a tour of U-M students in downtown Detroit

In the Media

Steep drop in Detroit housing units seems 'quite implausible' - Farley

Sep 23, 2022 Bridge Detroit

Census data shows that more Detroiters own homes than are renting. But, Ren Farley, lecturer at the Ford School, says that data could be flawed due to an undercount in Detroit. “(Hurricane) Katrina didn’t come through Detroit,” Farley said....

News

Morenoff Senate testimony highlights discrepancies in 2020 Detroit Census

Jul 26, 2022

The results of the 2020 Census have generated debate across the country, but perhaps nowhere as intensely as in Detroit. Michigan’s largest city, which has an overwhelming majority of African American and Hispanic residents combined of 85%, may have...

Jeffrey Morenoff testifying to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

News

Farley breaks down 2020 Census

Apr 13, 2022

Last week, the city of Detroit filed a claim with the Census Bureau, arguing its residents were undercounted in 2020. Ford School lecturer Reynolds Farley discussed the undercount. “This census was deficient in Detroit,” he said. “They didn’t...

In the Media

Farley breaks down population trends following pandemic

Mar 25, 2022 News Nation

The COVID-19 pandemic made big cities less attractive, with no events to attend or restaurants to sample. Reynolds Farley, a research scientist at the Population Studies Center, discussed the trend. “Cities growing and declining, that’s strongly...

News

Ford School faculty named among “Top 2% Scientists”

Jan 26, 2022

Stanford University named 16 Ford School faculty on their “Top 2% Scientists” list, representing the most-cited scientists with career and single-year impact in various disciplines. The faculty researchers join over 180,000 scientists...

In the Media

Farley describes impact of falling birth rate in Michigan

Jan 26, 2022 The Detroit News

For the first time since 1900, Michigan's death rate is higher than its birth rate. This could impact everything from the economy to political power to school districts. "Having a smaller population is not inherently bad, but adjusting to that...

In the Media

Farley explains decrease in Michigan population

Aug 16, 2021 Michigan Radio

The state of Michigan has again seen a population decrease following the release of the 2020 census, resulting in a loss of another congressional district. Reynolds Farley, research scientist at the Population Studies Center and a lecturer at the...

News

Michigan's loss of a Congressional district has a variety of impacts - Ford School faculty

Apr 28, 2021

The U.S. Census Bureau announced Michigan will drop from 14 congressional seats to 13 due to sluggish population growth since the last count in 2010. “It does reduce the state’s influence and ability to get things done; not by a lot, but a little...

News

Some Detroit suburbs reckon with history as anti-Black ‘sundown towns’

Jul 20, 2020

An article in Bridge Detroit on July 9 looked at suburbanites engaging with the history and policies of their communities in the wake of Black Lives Matters demonstrations. Some of these suburbs were developed as anti-Black "sundown towns". Ford...

Among the houses in this residential neighborhood, a wall wall erected to segregate by race has been reclaimed and turned into a large community art project.

State & Hill

Ford School faculty news from the spring 2016 edition of State & Hill magazine

May 3, 2016

The Washington Post reports that Robert Axelrod’s The Evolution of Cooperation is one of the ten most assigned books at Ivy League universities. Originally published in 1984, the book explores how cooperation can emerge in a world of self-seeking...

News

Discourse, Ford School faculty in the news roundup from spring 2016 State & Hill magazine

May 1, 2016

“The mantra in Michigan was a job, a better job, a career: Through work you would experience upward mobility. There was never any evidence that was the case.” Kristin Seefeldt on the false promise of U.S. welfare reform, The Atlantic, Dec. 1,...

News

Farley proposes long-term fix to MI’s flawed emergency management system

Feb 8, 2016

In a February 5 guest column for Bridge Magazine, a publication of The Center for Michigan, Reynolds Farley discusses Michigan’s controversial emergency management system and proposes solutions to help underfunded localities. Farley's...

State & Hill

Fall 2015 State & Hill magazine, “Motor City Remix, an iconic American city races forward”

Dec 10, 2015

The fall 2015 issue of State & Hill magazine was mailed to alumni and friends of the Ford School on November 18, 2015. This edition of the magazine, titled “Motor City Remix,” highlighted stories about some of the work Ford School faculty,...