May 23, 2018
The Citizens Research Council was originally established in 1916 as the Detroit Bureau of Governmental Research. The Bureau played a crucial role in helping Detroit become a world-class city by serving as an independent, nonpartisan agency that kept Detroit residents informed about city operations and helped the state government understand the needs of the state’s largest city.
Even when the Citizens Research Council expanded into a statewide organization in the 1950s, it remained committed to helping shape and influence the development of public policy in Detroit. The importance of our work is highlighted by the role our financial analyses played in helping policy makers navigate the city’s bankruptcy and the school district’s restructuring.
We recreated the Detroit Bureau in 2021 as an arm of the Citizens Research Council, dedicated to public policy research focused on Detroit and the dissemination of accessible research and analysis to Detroit-based stakeholders who can influence policy change.
Through its research, analysis, and communication, the Detroit Bureau will provide facts and data to assist Detroit’s majority Black population and the organizations and municipal leaders who serve that population, and to address structural racism and other systemic inequalities that damage the collective physical, moral, social, and economic well-being of Detroit residents.
