Detroit

Detroit , United states

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Fueled by a mid-1990s car industry boom, the Motor City is staging a comeback from its long-running economic decline. As the birthplace of Motown and a national centre of African American culture, Detroit is primed to become the new star of the Rust Belt.

Area: 360 sq km
Population: 1 million
Country: USA
Time Zone: GMT/UTC -5 (Eastern Time)
Telephone Area Code: 313 (inner suburbs), 517 (south central), 734 (southwestern), 248 (northwestern)

Orientation

Detroit is situated in the flat plains of southeast Michigan, located strategically on the Detroit River immediately north of Windsor, Canada - one of very few places where a Canadian city is south of its US neighbor. Not surprisingly, Detroit serves as a major gateway to the Great White North. It also holds the distinction of being the largest metro area on any international border in the world. Detroit is just northwest of Lake Erie and not far from Lake St Clair (the two of which are connected by the Detroit River). Chicago is 275 miles (440km) west, or five hours by car.

Detroit's downtown is dominated by the Renaissance Center (RenCen), seven huge circular glass towers along the Detroit River. The RenCen is surrounded by revitalized historic neighborhoods such as Greektown, all connected via an elevated train called the People Mover. Woodward Ave, the city's lifeline, runs north and south and was the first paved concrete highway in the country (it's now just a road). All other roads radiate from the center of downtown, where many of them connect to full-blown highways named after one auto industry executive or another. The prolificacy of roads is intentional - if you hope to leave your hotel, plan on doing some driving.

Detroit

When to Go

Detroit is best visited in fall or spring, when the Detroit River is a recreation option and Michigan's foliage is at its most vibrant. During these seasons, the city's museums and sights are less crowded than in summer. Detroit is freezing cold in winter and unbearably humid in summer, with the height of discomfort hitting in July.

Events

The International Freedom Festival is held in tandem with the Canadian city of Windsor as a joint celebration of Canada's Dominion Day (July 1) and the USA's Independence Day (July 4). Fireworks are set off from the Detroit River. The African World Festival, held the third weekend of August, shouts 'Africa' with music, art and food shared along Detroit's riverfront. One of the country's most prestigious jazz festivals, the Montreux Detroit Jazz Festival, is held over 5 days in September.

Public Holidays
-
Dec 25 - Christmas Day
Nov 24 - Thanksgiving Day
Nov 11 - Veterans’ Day
Oct 10 - Columbus Day
Sep 5 - Labor Day
Jul 4 - Independence Day
Jun 14 - Flag Day
May 30 - Memorial Day
Feb 21 - Presidents’ Day
Jan 17 - Martin Luther King Day
Jan 1 - New Year’s Day

Detroit

Attractions

Cultural Center

A few miles north of downtown is the Cultural Center, a cluster of world class galleries and museums. The collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts spans 5000 years, but its pièce de résistance is a Diego Rivera mural called Detroit Industry, which takes up all four walls of a large interior garden court. Rivera painted the 27 fresco panels in 1932 to depict the auto industry and contrast the area's natural resources with its factories. Little did he know that times would get tough for both the industry and its workers a few decades later. The Ford Motor Company's plant at River Rouge (south of Detroit) served as a model for parts of the mural. The Detroit Historical Museum, a couple of doors away, fills in the blanks of Detroit's earlier days. Its exhibits include Detroit at work, a chronology of the auto industry and recreated Detroit streets from the 1840s, 1870s and early 1900s.

Detroit was an important station along the Underground Railroad, a rough and tumble network of escape routes used by abolitionists and African-American slaves who traveled from America's southern states, through the US north and into Canada. The Second Baptist Church of Detroit was the city's first African-American church and served as a leading 'station' on the Underground Railroad in the mid-1800s. Today it gives tours of the crawl spaces where the slaves were hidden on their journey. The Museum of African American History is the world's largest African-American historical and cultural museum with exhibits, classes, a library and theatre. The museum is in the heart of the Cultural Center, one block from the Institute of Arts and near the Detroit Science Center, a space dedicated to scientific interaction and featuring an IMAX theatre.

Detroit Zoo

Opened in 1928, the Detroit Zoo was one of the first to have barless animal exhibits, developing a system of moats and other natural barriers to keep hungry lions, tigers and bears away from grandma and the kids. The Penguin House is the most fun of all.

The zoo's goal is to provide a natural habitat for its animals, who number in the thousands and include over 50 endangered and threatened species, as well as two that are extinct in the wild. Over a million people visit the zoo every year. The zoo also has a reputation for technological savvy, with state of the art graphical kiosks accompanying many of the lounging animals.

Eastern Market

Eastern Market is a gigantic semi-covered farmers' market, held every Saturday rain or shine, that sells everything from goats to olive oil. It attracts farmers and consumers from as far as Florida, plus Martha Stewart devotees in fur coats and panhandlers singing the blues. There's no better place in Detroit for people watching or picnic packing. The area surrounding the market is also great for cheap eats. The market lies on the northeast outskirts of downtown.

Motown Museum

After a short video introduction to Motown's history, you're off on a tour through the original recording studio, passing through rooms full of photos, album covers, newspaper clippings, gold records and Michael Jackson's black hat and sequined glove. Though a trifle kitschy, it's hard to resist the history and good times that the Motown sound represents.

Rivertown

While walking through much of downtown Detroit can be like touring a not-so-amusing ghost town, the eastern area along the riverfront is a vibrant and rather attractive section of the city with lots to see and do. Detroit's black circular glass Renaissance Center (RenCen) is full of offices, hotels, restaurants and shops. From the top, it has a stupendous view of the Great Lakes, Michigan's prairies and nearby Canada - worth a peruse either from the revolving restaurant or the free viewing deck.

Walking distance from the glitzy RenCen is Greektown, a packed 8-block hub of Mediterranean life, full of traditional Greek restaurants, fresh-baked baklava bakeries, bustling coffeehouses and ouzerias. There's also an active Greek orthodox church that's quite easy on the eyes.

Detroit

Off the Beaten Track

Ann Arbor

Trendy Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan, the 'Harvard of the Midwest,' top 10 in virtually every academic field (and athletic competition). College athletics fans know the city well. Home to the maize-and-blue enthused, otherwise known as Michigan Wolverine fans, a football game on a Saturday afternoon here will not soon be forgotten. Ann Arbor ('A-squared' in local parlance) is an attractive, vibrant community that oozes a particular free spirit; in the Midwest it's similar to Madison, Wisconsin, as both are islands known for their tolerance of somewhat off-centre culture.

Battle Creek

To an American, 'Battle Creek' conjures the image of breakfast cereal. Home of Kellogg's Company, purveyors of famed corn flakes, Battle Creek got its start thanks to the company. The company's start is worth noting, too. Battle Creek was the site of the Seventh Day Adventist Church's Western Health Institute, a system of sanitariums and spas (opened in 1866) designed to promote health through a regimen of hydrotherapy, exercise and vegetarianism.

One can't help but notice Kellogg's Cereal City USA, what with the giant Tony the Tiger (the cartoon character who represents Kellogg's Frosted Flakes - 'They're Grrrreat!') smiling down on the city centre. It's a look at the production of corn flakes - from assembly line all the way through marketing - in a hands-on way. Three theatres show a dizzying array of cereal-oriented films.

Battle Creek was also the home of ardent abolitionist Sojourner Truth, a freed slave who passionately spoke out against slavery and possibly, assisted escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad. She's buried in Oak Hill Cemetary.

Henry Ford Museum

Few could ignore the historical impact of one of first industrial artifacts of the 20th Century: the first ever Henry Ford automobile. The museum remains much as Ford originally planned and is - surprise! - a massive shrine to the automobile and its impact on America. The Wienermobile used in 1936 by Oscar Meyer hot dogs is a particular knockout.

Henry Ford and 11 associates opened the Ford Motor Company in 1903. They kicked off their tiny operation in a converted Detroit wagon shop and employed 10 people. Today, Ford is the second largest car and truck maker in the world, and 370,000 people work for the company.

Ford was born and raised in Dearborn, a small town not far from Detroit. In 1915, he moved himself and parts of the company back to his home town and a decade and a half later opened the doors to this sprawling museum complex dedicated to the 'the spirit of innovation in America'. Here the cult and culture of the car is beaten to a pulp and the museum's grounds are congested with full-size highway billboards, fast food neon signs, a gas station, diner and other roadside attractions.

The Henry Ford Museum is in Dearborn, 8mi (12km) southwest of Detroit on Hwy 12. The SMART bus service can get you there, but you're better off driving yourself. It would make Henry proud.

Windsor, Canada

Most people make the jaunt over to Windsor, a safer, more sedate city than Detroit, to sit inside smoke-filled rooms and gamble their money away. But puritans can take heart knowing that the city also has some beautiful riverfront parks and a couple of interesting historical sites. Located in the southernmost part of Canada, extremely close to the US border, Windsor was the final stop on the Underground Railroad. Testimony to this is the John Freeman Walls Historic Site and Underground Railroad Museum, which is owned and operated by descendants of fugitive slaves.

Windsor, Ontario is across the Detroit River, southeast of Detroit. The Windsor-Detroit Tunnel and exquisite Ambassador Bridge provide two options for the 10-minute drive between the two cities. US citizens entering Canada need to carry proof of citizenship; Canadians coming to Detroit should also bring ID.

Detroit

Activities

The wide Detroit River provides a good berth for summertime sailing and boating - dodging the constant freighters transporting stuff from the north is a sport in itself. Belle Isle, the pretty Detroit River island just a stone's throw from downtown, has a 5 mile (8km) road around its circumference that's good for running and cycling. Georgian Bay, which bulges out of the northeastern corner of Lake Huron, about a half day's drive from Detroit, has some incredible scuba diving. Hundreds of ships have been lost on its shoals over the decades. Lake Michigan's Manitou Passage is another good diving spot.

Detroit

History

Lots of people know that Cadillacs come from Detroit. But what they probably don't know is that Detroit came from a Cadillac. Enterprising French trader and explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac stumbled upon what is now Detroit in 1701, figuring it would make a good base from which to send furs to Canada. Cadillac named his new find Ville d'Etroit (City of the Strait) because the Detroit River connects Lake St Clair with Lake Erie, and from that point on the town grew steadily, using its river as an economic channel to the world.

Detroit might have remained little more than a stomping ground for trader types had it not been for an ambitious industrialist named Henry Ford. Born on a farm in nearby Dearborn, Ford left for Detroit to establish the Ford Motor Company in 1903. Within five years he was mass producing cars and perfecting the assembly line. The assembly line inspired another Detroit innovation known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), who kicked off the industrial union movement from the 'Motor City'. Driven by the automobile's success, Detroit was the first city to have a paved concrete road (in 1909), the first to install a traffic light (in 1915) and the USA's first to have an urban freeway (in 1942).

Pre-car, Detroit was an important station along the Underground Railroad, a network of escape routes used by abolitionists and African-American slaves who travelled from America's southern states, through the US north and into Canada. Said to have been in place as early as the colonial period, the height of Underground Railroad activity was between 1830 and 1865. Detroit was a major escape route because of its proximity to the Canadian border. The new arrivals brought with them the beginnings of jazz and blues music. From the late 1800s on, African-American musicians played an important role in Detroit's entertainment scene, and the city was the first to have an integrated musicians' union. Mississippi transplant John Lee Hooker recorded his first blues hits here in the 1940s. Hooker and his peers paved the way for Motown - the biggest American music phenomenon of this century and African-American Detroit's ticket to the big leagues.

But Detroit's prominence on the world music stage didn't prevent the city from imploding. While everyone was dancing in the streets, businesses - following Ford's earlier lead - started fleeing for the suburbs, and middle-class whites followed in painful numbers. Detroit lost nearly a million residents between the 1950s and 1980s and, as the auto industry downturned, hyper unemployment set in, disproportionately affecting African-American men. Along the way, bloody race riots in 1967 and a cruel recession during the 1970s were just a few of the nails in the coffin.

The pickup in the American autmobile manufacturing industry in the past decade has proven to be something of a boon for Detroit. It may never be able to match its glory days, but Detroit is a city on the upswing - blue-collar but rich in cultural output. Musically, the city's rock scene is spawning a string of bands as influential as the Motown studio was in the 1960s. The city's rich history, riverfront locale and considerable dedication to rejuvenation will really take hold of you, if given the chance.

Detroit

Getting There & Away

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, 32km (20mi) southwest of Detroit, is the primary regional air centre, offering direct flights to most major cities in the country. Northwest Airlines uses Detroit as a major hub and routes many of its European flights through Metro Airport, making it easy for overseas travellers to spend some time in Michigan before moving onward. Shuttle service from the airport to downtown Detroit can be arranged at the terminals.

Greyhound provides bus service to more than 40 cities throughout Michigan, including destinations in the Upper Peninsula, as well as to other Midwest states. Amtrak trains run daily to Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Chicago. The Chicago-bound train stops in Ann Arbor.

Getting Around

It's important to remember that Detroit is built by and for cars and visitors are expected to conform. Handfuls of major highways pass in and out of the city, all named after Ford, Chrysler or some other auto company executive. The good news is that driving in Detroit is fairly easy and parking is a breeze. The same can't be said of catching a bus. D-DOT buses technically serve the city and suburbs, but not even a die-hard Detroiter can testify that these buses actually exist. Service is spotty, at best.

A downtown trolley runs along major downtown streets to and from the Renaissance Center. The People Mover is a quick, easy way around downtown's more pleasant sites on a 5km (3mi) elevated track. A SMART bus service travels to Greenfield Village, the Detroit Zoo and points outside of downtown. Taxis are fairly easy to hail on the street.