Count on it: Detroit census count won't be pretty

The Detroit News reports:

Detroit is bracing for bad news this week as the federal government prepares to release detailed Census 2010 figures for Michigan cities. Nobody expects the count to be pretty, but there's speculation over how ugly it might be.

The city's population topped out at around 1.8 million in the 1950s, when a number of social, economic and political factors precipitated a multi-decade decline. By 2000, the time of the last official count, Detroit's population stood at 951,270.

Mayor Dave Bing has been tempering expectations for 2010 Census results, saying he expects the city's population will probably reach "800,000 to 850,000, max." But demographers say even that estimate may be overly optimistic.

Will Detroit come out with Chicago size population losses? Tuesday afternoon is big number for Detroit.