Everything about Detroit Michigan totally explained
Detroit ( ) is the largest city in the
U.S. state of
Michigan and the
seat of
Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the
Detroit River, in the
Midwest region of the
United States. Located north of
Windsor, Ontario, Detroit area is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded in 1701 by the
Frenchman Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac.
It is known as the world's traditional
automotive center — "Detroit" is a
metonym for the American automobile industry — and an important source of popular music, legacies celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames,
Motor City and
Motown. Other nicknames emerged in the
twentieth century, including
Rock City,
Arsenal of Democracy (during
World War II),
The D,
D-Town, "Hockeytown" (a reference to the success and popularity of the
Detroit Red Wings) and
The 3-1-3 (its area code).
In 2006, Detroit ranked as the United States' eleventh
most populous city, with 918,849 residents. At its peak, the city was the fourth largest in the country, but it has rapidly declined in population since the 1960s.
The name
Detroit sometimes refers to the
Metro Detroit area, a sprawling region with a population of 4,467,592 for the
Metropolitan Statistical Area, making it the nation's
eleventh-largest, and a population of 5,405,918 for the nine-county
Combined Statistical Area as of the 2007
Census Bureau estimates. The
Windsor-Detroit area, a critical commercial link straddling the
Canada-U.S. border, has a total population of about 5,900,000.
History
The city name comes from the
Detroit River, meaning "the strait of Lake Erie," linking
Lake Huron and
Lake Erie; in the historical context, the strait included
Lake St. Clair and the
St. Clair River. Traveling up the Detroit River on the ship
Le Griffon (owned by
La Salle), Father
Louis Hennepin noted the north bank of the river as an ideal location for a settlement. There, in 1701, the French officer
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded a settlement called
Fort Détroit, naming it after the
comte de Pontchartrain, Minister of Marine under
Louis XIV. Francois Marie Picoté, sieur de Belestre (Montreal 1719–1793) was the last French military commander at Fort Detroit (1758–1760), surrendering the fort on
November 29 1760 to the British. Detroit's city flag reflects this French heritage. (See
Flag of Detroit, Michigan.)
During the French and Indian War (1760),
British troops gained control and shortened the name to
Detroit.
Several tribes led by
Chief Pontiac,
an
Ottawa leader, launched
Pontiac's Rebellion (1763), including a
siege of Fort Detroit. Partially in response to this, the British
Royal Proclamation of 1763 included restrictions on white settlement in unceded Indian territories. Detroit passed to the
United States under the
Jay Treaty (1796). In 1805, fire destroyed most of the settlement. A river warehouse and brick chimneys of the wooden homes were the sole structures to survive.
From 1805 to 1847, Detroit was the capital of Michigan. As the city expanded, the street layout followed a plan developed by
Augustus B. Woodward, Chief Justice of the
Michigan Territory. Detroit fell to British troops during the
War of 1812 in the
Siege of Detroit, was recaptured by the United States in 1813 and incorporated as a city in 1815. Prior to the
American Civil War, the city's access to the Canadian border made it a key stop along the
underground railroad.
Then a Lieutenant, the future president
Ulysses S. Grant was stationed in the city. His dwelling is still at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. Because of this local sentiment, many Detroiters volunteered to fight during the American Civil War, beginning with the "Iron Brigade" which defended Washington, D.C. early in the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying "Thank God for Michigan!" Following the death of President
Abraham Lincoln,
George Armstrong Custer delivered a eulogy to the thousands gathered near
Campus Martius Park. Custer led the
Michigan Brigade during the American Civil War and called them the "Wolverines."
Detroit's many
Gilded Age mansions and buildings arose during the late 1800s. The city was referred to as the
"Paris of the West" for its architecture, and for Washington Boulevard, recently electrified by
Thomas Edison. Strategically located along the
Great Lakes waterway, Detroit emerged as a transportation hub. The city had grown steadily from the 1830s with the rise of shipping, shipbuilding, and manufacturing industries. In 1896, a thriving carriage trade prompted
Henry Ford to build his first
automobile in a rented workshop on Mack Avenue, and in 1904, the
Ford Motor Company was founded. Ford's manufacturing — and those of automotive pioneers
William C. Durant, the
Dodge brothers, and
Walter Chrysler—reinforced Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital; it also served to encourage
truck manufacturers such as
Rapid and
Grabowsky.
The industry spurred the city's spectacular growth during the first half of the
twentieth century as it drew tens of thousands of new residents, particularly workers from the
Southern United States, and became the fourth largest city in the nation. At the same time, thousands of immigrants from Europe poured into the city, adding to competition for jobs and housing. Detroit is home to the
Lakeside Foundry. Social tensions rose with the rapid pace of growth and pressure on neighborhoods.
With the introduction of
prohibition, smugglers used the river as a major conduit for Canadian
spirits, organized in large part by the notorious
Purple Gang. Strained racial relations were evident in the 1920s trial of Dr.
Ossian Sweet, a black Detroit physician acquitted of murder after he shot into a threatening mob who gathered after his move into an all-white area.
Labor strife climaxed in the 1930s when the
United Auto Workers became involved in bitter disputes with Detroit's auto manufacturers. The labor activism of those years brought notoriety to union leaders such as
Jimmy Hoffa and
Walter Reuther. The 1940s saw the construction of the world's first urban depressed freeway,
the Davison and the industrial growth during
World War II that led to Detroit's nickname as the
Arsenal of Democracy.
The city faced major challenges during the war as tens of thousands of workers migrated to the city to work in the war industries. Many of these migrant workers were blacks and whites from the U.S. south. Housing was difficult to find. The "color blind" promotion policies of the auto plants resulted in racial tension that erupted into
a full-scale riot in 1943.
An extensive freeway system constructed in the 1950s and 1960s not only facilitated
commuting, but was often built in the middle of the traditionally black communities. Many Detroit inner-city neighborhoods endured a painful decline from the 1960s and 1970s leaving some areas of the inner-city with
urban blight. The
Twelfth Street riot in 1967, the construction of new auto plants in Detroit's suburbs, as well as
court-ordered busing accelerated white flight from the city, while many black people were victims of discriminatory loan and sales practices that denied them home ownership in the suburbs.
Commensurate with the shift of population and jobs to its suburbs, the city's tax base had declined. Retailers and small business owners departed the city in the wake of the increased crime rate. Within a few years large numbers of buildings and homes were abandoned, many remaining for decades in a state of decay.
In 1973, the city elected its first black mayor,
Coleman Young. Young's combative style during his five terms in office wasn't well received by many whites, who continued to leave the city in large numbers.
The gasoline crises of
1973 and
1979 impacted the U.S. auto industry as small cars from foreign makers made inroads into the traditional dominance of the domestic
automakers. High-paying manufacturing jobs became scarce.
Heroin and
crack cocaine use afflicted the city with the influence of
Butch Jones, Maserati Rick, and the
Chambers Brothers. Drug-related violence and property crimes rose, and many abandoned homes were demolished as they'd become havens for
drug dealers. Sizable tracts have reverted to a form of
urban prairie with wild animals spotted migrating into the city. "Renaissance" has been a perennial buzzword among city leaders since the
Twelfth Street riot and was reinforced by the construction of the
Renaissance Center in the late 1970s. This complex of skyscrapers, designed as a "city within a city," slowed but was unable to reverse the trend of businesses leaving the city's Downtown until the 1990s.
In 1980, Detroit hosted the
Republican National Convention which nominated
Ronald Reagan to a successful bid for
President of the United States. Four years later, the city again appeared on the national radar, but for unwanted reasons: rioting in the wake of the
Detroit Tigers'
World Series championship left three dead and millions of dollars in property damage.
In the 1990s, the city began to enjoy a revival, much of it centered downtown.
Comerica Tower at Detroit Center (1993) arose on the city skyline. In the ensuing years, three casinos opened in Detroit:
MGM Grand Detroit,
Motor City Casino, and
Greektown Casino which are now adding resorts. New downtown stadiums were constructed for the
Detroit Tigers and
Detroit Lions in 2000 and 2002, respectively; this put the Lions' home stadium in the city proper for the first time since 1974. The city hosted the 2005
MLB All-Star Game, 2006
Super Bowl XL,
2006 World Series and
WrestleMania 23 in 2007, all which prompted many improvements to the downtown area. The city's riverfront is the focus of much development; in 2007, the first portions of the
Detroit River Walk were laid, including miles of parks and fountains. This new
urban development in Detroit is a mainstay in the city's earnest desire to reinvent its economic identity through tourism. Along the river, upscale million dollar condos are going up, such as
Watermark Detroit, some of the most expensive the city has ever seen.
Geography
Topography
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 143.0 square miles (370.2
km²); of this, 138.8 square miles (359.4 km²) is land and 4.2 square miles (10.8 km²) is water. Detroit is the principal city of the
Metro Detroit and
Southeast Michigan regions. The highest elevation in Detroit is in the University District neighborhood in northwestern Detroit, just west of Palmer Park sitting at a height of 670 feet (204 m). Detroit's lowest elevation is along its riverfront, sitting at a height of 579 feet (176 m). Detroit completely encircles the cities of
Hamtramck and
Highland Park. On its northeast border are the wealthy communities of
Grosse Pointe. The
Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge is the only international
wildlife preserve in
North America, uniquely located in the heart of a major metropolitan area. The Refuge includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along of the
Detroit River and
Western Lake Erie shoreline.
The city is crossed by three road systems: the original
French template, radial avenues from a
Washington, D.C.-inspired system, and true
north–south roads from the
Northwest Ordinance township system. The city is north of
Windsor, Ontario. Detroit is the only major city along the U.S.-Canadian border in which one travels south in order to cross into Canada. Detroit has four border crossings: the
Ambassador Bridge and the
Detroit-Windsor Tunnel provide motor vehicle thoroughfare; the
Michigan Central Railway Tunnel provides railroad access to and from Canada. The fourth border crossing is the
Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry, located near the Windsor Salt Mine and
Zug Island. Not far from Zug Island, the southwest part of the city sits atop a salt mine that's below the surface. The Detroit Salt Company mine has over of roads within it.
Climate
Detroit and the rest of southeastern
Michigan have a
continental climate which is influenced by the
Great Lakes. Winters are cold with moderate
snowfall. and nighttime temperatures sometimes dropping below 10 °F (–12 °C), while summers are warm with temperatures sometimes exceeding 90 °F (32 °C). Average monthly precipitation ranges from about two to four
inches (50 to 100
mm). Snowfall, which typically occurs from November to early April, ranges from an average of 1 to 10 inches (3 to 25 cm) a month. The highest recorded temperature was 105.0 °F (40.5 °C) on
July 24 1934, while the lowest recorded temperature was –24.0 °F (–31.1 °C) on
December 22 1872.
Surrounding municipalities
The cities of
Hamtramck and
Highland Park both lie entirely within the boundaries of the city of Detroit.
Cityscape
Architecture
panorama, Detroit's waterfront shows a variety of architectural styles. The
post modern neogothic
spires of the
Comerica Tower at Detroit Center (1993) were designed to blend with the city’s
Art Deco skyscrapers. Together with the
Renaissance Center, they form a distinctive and recognizable skyline. Examples of the
Art Deco style include the
Guardian Building and
Penobscot Building downtown, as well as the
Fisher Building and
Cadillac Place in the
New Center area near
Wayne State University. Among the city's prominent structures are the nation's largest
Fox Theatre, the
Detroit Opera House, and the
Detroit Institute of Arts.
While the downtown and New Center areas contain high-rise buildings, the majority of the surrounding city consists of low-rise structures and single-family homes. Outside of the city's core, residential high-rises are found in neighborhoods such as the East Riverfront extending toward
Grosse Pointe and the
Palmer Park neighborhood just west of Woodward. Neighborhoods constructed prior to
World War II feature the architecture of the times. Wood frame and brick houses in the working class neighborhoods, larger brick homes in middle class neighborhoods, and ornate mansions in neighborhoods such as
Brush Park,
Woodbridge,
Indian Village,
Palmer Woods,
Sherwood Forest, and others. The oldest neighborhoods are along the Woodward and Jefferson corridors, while neighborhoods built in the 1950s are found in the far west and closer to 8 Mile Road. Some of the oldest extant neighborhoods include
Corktown, a working class, formerly Irish neighborhood, and Brush Park. Both are now seeing multi-million dollar restorations and construction of new homes and condos.
Many of the city's architecturally significant buildings are on the
National Register of Historic Places and the city has one of the nation's largest surviving collections of late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings. There are a number of architecturally significant churches, including
St. Joseph Catholic Church and
Saint Anne de Detroit Catholic Church.
There is substantial activity in urban design, historic preservation and architecture A number of downtown redevelopment projects — of which
Campus Martius Park is one of the most notable — have revitalized parts of the city.
Grand Circus Park stands near the
city's theater district,
Ford Field, home of the
Detroit Lions, and
Comerica Park, home of the
Detroit Tigers.
The
Detroit International Riverfront includes a partially completed three and one-half mile riverfront promenade with a combination of parks, residential buildings, and commercial areas from
Hart Plaza to the MacArthur Bridge accessing
Belle Isle (the largest island park in a U.S. city). The riverfront includes
Tri-Centennial State Park and Harbor, Michigan's first urban state park. The second phase is a two mile (3 km) extension from Hart Plaza to the
Ambassador Bridge for a total of five miles (8 km) of parkway from bridge to bridge. Civic planners envision that the riverfront properties condemned under
eminent domain, with their pedestrian parks, will spur more residential development. Other major parks include Palmer (north of
Highland Park), River Rouge (in the southwest side), and
Chene Park (on the east river downtown).
Neighborhoods
National Register of Historic Places such as
Lafayette Park, part of the
Mies van der Rohe residential district. On Saturdays, about 45,000 people shop the city's historic
Eastern Market. The
Midtown and the
New Center area are centered around
Wayne State University and
Henry Ford Hospital. Midtown has about 50,000 residents, yet it attracts millions of visitors each year to its museums and cultural centers; for example, the Detroit Festival of the Arts in Midtown draws about 350,000 people. The University Commons-Palmer Park district in Northwest Detroit is near the
University of Detroit Mercy and
Marygrove College and has historic neighborhoods including Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, and Green Acres.
Culture and contemporary life
Lifestyles for rising professionals in Detroit reflect those of other major cities. This dynamic is luring many younger residents to the downtown area. Luxury high rises such as the three
Riverfront Towers have views of
Hart Plaza and Canada. The
New Center area contains examples of historic housing redevelopment. The
Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel will include a number of luxury condos. The east river development plans include more luxury condominium developments. A desire to be closer to the urban scene has attracted young professionals to take up residence among the mansions of
Grosse Pointe just outside the city. Detroit's proximity to
Windsor, Ontario, provides for spectacular views and nightlife, along with Ontario's 19-and-older drinking age.
Entertainment and performing arts
Live music has been a prominent feature of Detroit's nightlife since the late 1940s, bringing the city recognition under the nickname
Motown. The metropolitan area has two nationally prominent live music venues:
DTE Energy Music Theatre and
The Palace of Auburn Hills. The
Detroit Theatre District is the nation's second largest. Major theaters include the
Fox Theatre, Music Hall, the Gem Theatre,
Masonic Temple Theatre, the
Detroit Opera House, the
Fisher Theatre and
Orchestra Hall which hosts the renowned
Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The
Nederlander Organization, which is the largest controller of
Broadway productions in
New York City originated with the purchase of the
Detroit Opera House in 1922 by the Nederlander Family and continues to operated to this day.
Important music events in the city include: the
Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival, the
Detroit Electronic Music Festival, the Motor City Music Conference (MC2), the Urban Organic Music Conference, the
Concert of Colors, and the hip-hop Summer Jamz festival.
The city of Detroit has a rich musical heritage and has contributed to a number of different genres over the decades leading into the new millennium.
In the 1940s, Detroit's blues scene saw the long-term residency of
John Lee Hooker in the city's Southwest neighborhood of Delray. Hooker, among other important blues musicians migrated North from his home in
Mississippi bringing with him the
Delta Blues to northern city's like Detroit. During the 1950s, the city became a center for jazz, with stars performing in the
Black Bottom neighborhood. Prominent emerging
Jazz musicians of the 1960s included: trumpet player
Donald Byrd who attended Cass Tech and performed with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers early in his career and Saxophonist
Pepper Adams who enjoyed a solo career and accompanied Byrd on several albums. The Graystone International Jazz Museum documents
jazz in Detroit.
Berry Gordy, Jr. founded
Motown Records which rose to prominence during the 1960s and early 1970s with acts such as
Stevie Wonder,
The Temptations,
The Four Tops,
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles,
Diana Ross & The Supremes, the
Jackson 5,
Martha and the Vandellas and
Marvin Gaye. The Motown Sound played an important role in the racial integration of popular music, as it was the first record label owned by an African American to primarily feature African-American artists who achieved crossover success. Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles in 1972 to pursue film production, but the company has since returned to Detroit.
Aretha Franklin is another Detroit R&B star who carried the Motown Sound; however, she didn't record with Berry's Motown Label.
Detroit has also been home to many popular rock bands from the 1960s and 70's. During this period, local and national acts performed regularly at venues such as the
Grande Ballroom and the
Eastown Theater. Popular local bands producing and performing music included artists like: the
MC5,
The Stooges,
Bob Seger,
Amboy Dukes featuring
Ted Nugent,
Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels,
Rare Earth,
Alice Cooper. The group
Kiss emphasized the city's connection with rock in the song
Detroit Rock City and the movie produced in 1999.
In more recent times, Detroit has maintained a thriving music scene that has produced a number of artists who continue to shape music. During the late 1990s and into the new millennium, the band
Sponge has continued to tour and produce music as well as artists such as
Kid Rock and
Uncle Kracker. The city also has an active
garage rock scene that has generated national attention with acts such as:
The White Stripes,
The Von Bondies,
The Dirtbombs,
Electric Six, and more recently by bands like
The Hard Lessons and former P-Funk Allstar drummer Gabe Gonzalez's Funk Band
The Enemy Squad.
Detroit hip hop rose to prominence in the late nineties with the emergence of
Eminem,
Slum Village,
D12,
Anybody Killa,
Insane Clown Posse,
Twiztid,
Blaze Ya Dead Homie,
DJ Clay,
J Dilla,
Obie Trice,
Proof, and
Esham. Detroit Soul artists include
Aaliyah,
Dwele,
Amp Fiddler, and
Kem.
Prominent
Detroit Techno artists include
Juan Atkins,
Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson.
Tourism
Many of the area's prominent museums are located in the historic
cultural center neighborhood around
Wayne State University. These museums include the
Detroit Institute of Arts, the
Detroit Historical Museum,
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Science Center, and the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Other cultural highlights include
Motown Historical Museum,
Tuskegee Airmen Museum,
Fort Wayne, Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID), and the Belle Isle Conservatory. Important history of Detroit and the surrounding area is exhibited at the
The Henry Ford, the nation's largest indoor-outdoor museum complex. The Detroit Historical Society provides information about tours of area churches, skyscrapers, and mansions. The
Eastern Market farmer's distribution center is the largest open-air flowerbed market in the United States and has more than 150 foods and specialty businesses. Other sites of interest are the
Detroit Zoo and the
Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on
Belle Isle.
The city's
Greektown and casino resorts serve as an entertainment hub. Other events include the
Electronic Music Festival typically attracts crowds of over a million visitors. Within downtown,
Campus Martius Park hosts large events such as the Motown Winter Blast. As the world's traditional automotive center, the city hosts the
North American International Auto Show. Held since 1924, America's Thanksgiving Parade is one of the nation's largest.
An important civic sculpture in Detroit is
Marshall Fredericks' "
Spirit of Detroit" at the Coleman Young Municipal Center. The image is often used as a symbol of Detroit and the statue itself is occasionally dressed in sports
jerseys to celebrate when a Detroit team is doing well. A memorial to
Joe Louis at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward Avenues was dedicated on
October 16 1986. The sculpture, commissioned by
Sports Illustrated and executed by
Robert Graham, is a twenty-four foot (7.3 m) long arm with a fisted hand suspended by a pyramidal framework.
River Days, a five day festival on the
International Riverfront, marked the opening of the
River Walk along the east river leading up to the
Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival fireworks with about 3.5 million visitors.
Artist Tyree Guyton created the controversial street art exhibit known as the
Heidelberg Project in the mid 1980s, using junk and abandoned cars, clothing, shoes, vacuum cleaners, and other garbage Guyton found in the neighborhood near and on Heidelberg Street on the near East Side of Detroit.
Sports
Detroit is one of 13 American metropolitan areas that are home to professional teams representing the four major sports in North America. All these teams but one play within the city of Detroit itself (the
NBA's Detroit Pistons and the
WNBA's Detroit Shock both play in suburban
Auburn Hills at
The Palace of Auburn Hills). There are three active major sports venues within the city:
Comerica Park (home of the
Major League Baseball team
Detroit Tigers),
Ford Field (home of the
NFL's Detroit Lions), and
Joe Louis Arena (home of the
NHL's Detroit Red Wings). A 1996 marketing campaign promoted the nickname "
Hockeytown".
In college sports, Detroit's central location within the Mid-American Conference has made it a frequent site for the league's championship events. While the MAC Basketball Tournament moved permanently to Cleveland starting in 2000, the MAC Football Championship Game has been played at Ford Field in Detroit since 2004, and annually attracts 25,000 to 30,000 fans. The
University of Detroit Mercy has a
NCAA Division I program, and
Wayne State University has both NCAA Division I and
II programs. The NCAA football
Motor City Bowl is held at Ford Field each December.
Sailboat racing is a major sport in the Detroit area.
Lake St. Clair is home to many yacht clubs which host regattas.
Bayview Yacht Club, the
Detroit Yacht Club,
Crescent Sail Yacht Club,
Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, The Windsor Yacht Club, and the Edison Boat Club each participate in and are governed by the Detroit Regional Yacht-Racing Association or
DRYA. Detroit is home to many One-Design fleets including, but not limited to, North American 40s, Cal 25s,
C&C 35s,
Crescent Sailboats, Express 27s,
J 120s,
J 105, Flying Scots, and many more.
The
Crescent Sailboat and
L Boat were both designed and built exclusively in Detroit. Detroit also has a very active and competitive junior sailing program.
Since 1916, the city has been home to an
American Power Boat Association Unlimited
hydroplane boat race, held annually (with exceptions) on the Detroit River near Belle Isle. Often, the race is for the APBA Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the Gold Cup (first awarded in 1904, created by Tiffany) which is the oldest active motorsport trophy in the world.
Detroit was the former home of a round of the
Formula One World Championship, which held the
race on the
streets of downtown Detroit from 1982 until 1988, after which the sanction moved from Formula One to
IndyCars until its final run in 2001. In 2007, open-wheel racing will return to Belle Isle with both
Indy Racing League and
American Le Mans Series Racing.
Detroit was given the name "City of Champions" in the 1930s for a series of successes both in individual and in team sport.
Gar Wood (a native Detroiter) won the
Harmsworth Trophy for unlimited powerboat racing on the Detroit River in 1931. In the next year, 1932, Eddie "The Midnight Express" Tolan, a black student from Detroit's
Cass Technical High School, won the 100- and 200-meter races and two gold medals at the
1932 Summer Olympics.
Joe Louis won the heavyweight championship of the world in 1937. Also, in 1935 the Detroit Lions won the NFL championship. The Detroit Tigers have won ten American League pennants (The most recent being in 2006) and four World Series titles. The Detroit Red Wings have won 10
Stanley Cups (The most by an American NHL Franchise), the Detroit Pistons have won three NBA titles, and the Detroit Shock have won two WNBA titles. In 2007,
Detroit was given the nickname "Sports City USA" in recognition of its numerous sports teams with good game statistics and the high amount of dedicated sports fans.
Detroit has the distinction of being the city which has made the most bids to host the Summer Olympics without ever being awarded the games: seven unsuccessful bids for the 1944, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1972 games. It came as high as second place in the balloting two times, losing the 1964 games to Tokyo and the 1968 games to Mexico City.
Detroit has also hosted
WWE WrestleMania 23 held in
Ford Field. Held 20 Years after
WrestleMania III was held in nearby
Pontiac, Michigan
Media
The Detroit Free Press and
The Detroit News are the major daily
newspapers, both
broadsheet publications published together under a
joint operating agreement. Media philanthropy includes the
Detroit Free Press high school journalism program and the Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund of Detroit.
The Detroit
television market is the eleventh largest in the United States; however, these estimates don't include large areas of
Ontario,
Canada (
Windsor and its surrounding area on broadcast and cable, as well as several other cable markets in Ontario, such as the city of
Ottawa) which receive and watch Detroit television stations, so the actual audience ranking may be higher.
Detroit has the eleventh largest
radio market in the United States, though this ranking doesn't take into account Canadian audiences.
Economy
Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major manufacturing center, most notably as home to the
Big Three automobile companies,
General Motors,
Ford, and
Chrysler. The city is an important center for global trade with large international law firms having their offices in both Detroit and Windsor. About 80,000 people work in downtown Detroit.
There are hundreds of offices and plants in the automotive support business including parts, electronics, and design suppliers. The domestic auto industry is primarily headquartered in
Metro Detroit. New vehicle production, sales, and jobs related to automobile use account for one of every ten jobs in the
United States.
The area is also an important source of engineering job opportunities. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the
Windsor-Detroit region and $13 billion in annual production depend on the City of Detroit's international
border crossing.
The Detroit area is accustomed to the economic cycles of the
auto industry. A rise in automated manufacturing using robot technology, inexpensive labor in other parts of the world, and increased competition have led to a steady transformation of certain types of manufacturing jobs in the region. Local complications for the city include higher taxes than the nearby suburbs, with many unable to afford the levies on property In March 2007, metropolitan Detroit's unemployment rate was 6.5%. In the city, the unemployment rate was 14.2% at the end of 2005, leaving Detroit with more than one-third of residents below the poverty line. This is in part attributed to
white flight following
court-ordered busing during the 1970s. Parts of the city have abandoned and burned out shells of buildings. Though the city has struggled with finances, since 2006 it has balanced its budget with more funding available to demolish blighted properties.
The Big Three automakers have collectively lost market share to foreign rivals. However, Detroit's automakers have continued to gain volume from previous decades with the expansion of the American and global automotive markets. In 2003, Cadillac outscored all other luxury automakers in two of three quality surveys by AutoPacific, Strategic Vision, and
J.D. Power.
General Motors led all other automakers in Strategic Vision's Total Quality Index (TQI) for 2006. In 1994, with rising demand for
sport-utility vehicles and
pickup trucks, the industry fought
Clinton administration's efforts to implement an across the board
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) increase. In 2005, the
Bush administration asked Congress for the authority to reform the CAFE standard from a single average to six different size based categories in an effort to resolve the issue. In the late 1990s, Detroit's automakers had gained market share and were enjoying record profits until the recession of 2001 and the subsequent
September 11, 2001 attacks caused a severe decline in the stock market along with a pension and benefit funds crisis. Although retiree health care costs remain a significant issue,
General Motors' investment strategy generated a $17.1 billion surplus in 2007 for its $101 billion U.S pension portfolio, a $35 billion reversal from its $17.8 billion in underfunding. With rising oil prices and war, consumers chose to purchase fewer trucks and SUVs. This negatively impacted the profits of Detroit's automakers. As a result, GM and Ford have implemented their respective turnaround plans. Concern among analysts over restored profits has fueled economic uncertainty in the metro Detroit area.
Initially, GM and Ford had sought to delay the introduction of unprofitable hybrids in favor of the all-fuel cell vehicle; however, with rising
gasoline prices and foreign rivals marketing hybrid cars, Detroit's automakers responded. In 2006,
Ford announced a dramatic increase in production of its
hybrid gas-
electric models, Ford and GM have also promoted
E-85 ethanol capable
flexible-fuel vehicles as a viable alternative to gasoline. General Motors has invested heavily in all
fuel cell equipped vehicles,
Chrysler's focus on
biodiesel may boost sales. Two days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, GM announced it had developed the world's most powerful fuel cell stack capable of powering large commercial vehicles. In 2002, the state of Michigan established NextEnergy, a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to enable commercialization of various energy technologies, especially hydrogen fuel cells. Its main complex is located north of
Wayne State University.
Firms in the suburbs pursue
emerging technologies including
biotechnology,
nanotechnology,
information technology,
cognotechnology, and
hydrogen fuel cell development. The city of Detroit has made efforts to lure the region's growth companies downtown with advantages such as a wireless Internet zone, business tax incentives, entertainment, an
international riverfront, and residential high rises. Thus far, the city has had some success, most notably the addition of
Compuware World Headquarters,
OnStar,
EDS offices at the
Renaissance Center,
PricewaterhouseCoopers Plaza offices adjacent to Ford Field, and the 2006 completion of
Ernst & Young's offices at
One Kennedy Square. However,
Comerica Bank decided to move its headquarters from Detroit to
Dallas in 2007 while maintaining its substantial presence in the region. On November 12, 2007,
Quicken Loans announced its development agreement with the city to move its world headquarters, and 4,000 employees, to downtown Detroit, consolidating its suburban offices, a move considered to be a high importance to city planners to reestablish the historic downtown. The construction sites reserved for development by the agreement include the location of the former Statler on
Grand Circus Park and the former Hudson's location.
Some
Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Detroit include
General Motors, auto parts maker
American Axle & Manufacturing, and
DTE Energy. Detroit is home to
Compuware and the national pizza chain
Little Caesars. Downtown Detroit has major offices for
Electronic Data Systems,
Visteon,
Delphi,
Ford Motor Company,
PricewaterhouseCoopers,
Ernst & Young,
Deloitte Touche,
KPMG, the
Jeep and
Dodge Truck arm of
DaimlerChrysler,
GMAC, and
OnStar. Other major industries include advertising, law, finance, chemicals, and computer software. One of the nation's largest law firms, Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone P.L.C., has offices in both Windsor and Detroit. Compuware's new headquarters, GM's move to the
Renaissance Center, and the State of Michigan's redevelopment of
Cadillac Place in the
New Center district have provided new synergies for the redevelopment of downtown.
Casino gaming plays an important economic role, with Detroit the largest city in the United States to offer casino resorts.
Casino Windsor, Canada's largest, complements the
MGM Grand Detroit,
Motor City Casino, and
Greektown Casino in Detroit. Though the casinos have brought new tax revenue and jobs to the city, the city still has high unemployment. Gaming revenues have grown steadily, with Detroit ranked as the fifth largest gambling market in the USA for 2007. However, when Casino Windsor is included, Detroit's gambling market ranks third or fourth. In 2006, downtown Detroit reported $1.3 billion in restorations and new developments which increased the number of construction jobs in the city. Medical service providers such as the
Detroit Medical Center and
Henry Ford Hospital are major employers in the city.
Media reviews of Detroit's economy tend to reflect the economic cycles. In 2007, Detroit was named among the best big cities to retire by CNN Money Magazine editors. On the other hand, Detroit was named "America's Most Miserable City" by
Forbes in January, 2008 because of the highest rate of violent crime and the second highest unemployment, along with other factors, in a major US city.
Demographics
Metro Detroit suburbs are among the more affluent in the U.S., in contrast to the poorer areas of the inner-city. As of the 2000
census, there were 951,270 people, 336,428 households, and 218,341 families residing in the city. The
population density was 6,855.1 people per square mile (2,646.7/km²). There were 375,096 housing units at an average density of 2,703.0 units per square mile (1,043.6/km²). In 2006, Detroit's population was estimated to be 918,849, a decline of 3.4% since 2000, showing a much smaller exodus from the city than in past decades.
The city's population increased more than sixfold during the first half of the twentieth century, fed largely by an influx of Eastern European,
Lebanese and
Southern migrants to work in the burgeoning automobile industry. However, since 1950 the city saw a major shift in its population to the suburbs. The city population dropped from its peak in 1950 with a population of 1,849,568 to 918,849 in 2006. This is partly attributable to the construction of an extensive freeway system during the 1950s and
white flight.
As of 2006, the city of Detroit was 81.2%
Black American, 14.3%
White American, 2.4%
Asian American, 0.6%
Native American, 0.03%
Pacific Islander American, 2.54% from
other races American, and 1.5% from two or more races. 3.9 percent of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 10.5% of Detroit's population. The city's foreign-born population is at 5.3%.
There were 336,428 households out of which 33.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.7% were
married couples living together, 31.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families, 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.45.
There is a wide age distribution in the city, with 31.1% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.
The median household income in the city was $29,526, and the median income for a family was $33,853. Males had a median income of $33,381 versus $26,749 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $14,717. 26.1% of the population and 21.7% of families were below the
poverty line. Out of the total population, 34.5% of those under the age of 18 and 18.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
The Detroit suburbs in
Oakland County,
Macomb County, and northeastern and northwestern
Wayne County are predominantly
white. Of the African-Americans who live in the metropolitan area, about 70% live within the Detroit city limits. Metro Detroit's ethnic communities are diverse and include descendants of the French founders, as well as
Irish,
Germans,
Scots,
Poles,
Italians,
Greeks,
Albanians,
Armenians,
Jews,
Arabs, and
Lebanese who settled during the city's early twentieth century industrial boom. Metro Detroit has the largest concentration of
Belgians outside of
Belgium; Cadieux Street on the city's east side north of
Grosse Pointe constituted the heart of one of the few distinctly Belgian neighborhoods in the U.S. during the early- and mid-
twentieth century. In Detroit and the metro area, there's a large
Chaldean population and a large concentration of Arab Americans in
Dearborn.
Law and government
strong mayoral" system, with the mayor approving departmental appointments. The council approves budgets but the mayor isn't obligated to adhere to any earmarking. City ordinances and substantially large contracts must be approved by the council. The city clerk supervises elections and is formally charged with the maintenance of municipal records. Municipal
elections for mayor, city council and city clerk are held at four-year intervals, in the year after presidential elections (so that there are Detroit elections scheduled in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, etc.).
Politically, the city consistently supports the
Democratic Party in state and national elections (local election are nonpartisan). According to a study released by the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, Detroit, is the most liberal large city in America, measuring only the percentage of city residents who voted for the Democratic Party. In his 1974 inaugural address, former Mayor
Coleman Young told the city's criminals to "hit
Eight Mile Road" (the most prominent dividing line between Detroit and northern suburbs). When Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick found himself behind in the polls in the 2005 election, his campaign tried to draw attention to the support his opponent,
Freman Hendrix, received in the suburbs. During one debate, Kilpatrick spoke of higher illegal drug use in the suburbs when compared with Detroit. Many opponents have criticized Kilpatrick on the basis that many of his policies facilitate the
gentrification taking place in the city.
Under Mayor Kilpatrick's administration, the city's government has a balanced budget and is seeing new growth in business and tourism. With a decreased population compared to prior decades, the city planned a reduced workforce and more consolidated operations. In addition, Detroit had asked for pay cuts and other "give backs" from the municipal
unions that represent city employees. In the 2000s, Detroit had fought off legislative efforts to turn control of the city-owned Water and Sewer system to the suburbs.
Detroit's courts are state-administered and elections are nonpartisan. The Probate Court for Wayne County are located in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in downtown Detroit. The Circuit Court is located across Gratiot Ave. in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, in downtown Detroit. The city is home to the Thirty Sixth District Court, as well as the First District of the
Michigan Court of Appeals and the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Crime
During the 1970s and 1980s, the city had the label of "murder capital of the world".
(External Link
)(External Link) Although crime in Detroit has declined in recent decades, the city has been perceived as a place of high crime, an image the city has tried to fight using actual statistics. For example, proponents point to a 2006 study, where
crime in one small section of downtown Detroit (
CBD) is much lower than national, state and metro averages. Still, the city's crime ridden sections have brought it notoriety. In 2006, the city had the sixth highest number of violent crimes among the twenty-five largest cities. According to a 2007 analysis, Detroit officials note that about 65 to 70 percent of homicides in the city were confined to a narcotics catalyst. As with many border cities, there's an ongoing problem with
smuggling, including drugs, human trafficking, and illicit commerce aimed at avoiding taxation.
In 2000, the City requested an investigation by the
United States Justice Department into the
Detroit Police Department which was concluded in 2003 over allegations regarding its use of force and civil rights violations. The city proceeded with a major reorganization of the Detroit Police Department. Mayor Kilpatrick is a member of the
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by
New York City mayor
Michael Bloomberg and
Boston mayor
Thomas Menino. On March 24, 2008, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged with nine felonies, making history as the first mayor of Detroit to be charged with a crime while in office.
Education
Colleges and universities
Detroit is home to several institutions of higher learning, including
Wayne State University, a national research university with medical and
law schools in the
Midtown area. Other institutions in the city include the
University of Detroit Mercy with its schools of Law and Dentistry, the
College for Creative Studies,
Lewis College of Business,
Marygrove College, and
Wayne County Community College. The
Detroit College of Law, now affiliated with
Michigan State University, was founded in the city in 1891 and remained there until 1997, when it relocated to
East Lansing. The
University of Michigan was established in 1817 in Detroit and later moved to
Ann Arbor in 1837. In 1959,
another campus was established in neighboring
Dearborn.
Primary and secondary schools
Public schools
With 116,000 students, the
Detroit Public Schools (DPS) district is the largest
school district in Michigan and consists of 220 schools. The city is also served by various
charter schools.
In the mid- to late 1990s, the
Michigan Legislature removed the locally elected board of education amid allegations of mismanagement and replaced it with a reform board appointed by the mayor and governor. The elected board of education was re-established following a city referendum in 2005. The first election of the new eleven-member board of education occurred on
November 8 2005. Due to declining enrollment the city planned to close 95 schools, and the state mandated deficit reduction plan calls for the closure of a total of 110 schools. The State officials report a 61% graduation rate for Detroit's public schools.
Private schools
Detroit is served by various
private schools, as well as parochial
Roman Catholic schools run by the
Archdiocese of Detroit.
Infrastructure
Health systems
Within the city of Detroit, there are over a dozen major hospitals which include the
Detroit Medical Center (DMC),
Henry Ford Health System,
St. John Health System, and the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. The DMC, a regional
Level I trauma center, consists of Detroit Receiving Hospital and University Health Center, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Harper University Hospital, Hutzel Women's Hospital, Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, Sinai-Grace Hospital, and the Karmanos Cancer Institute. The DMC has more than 2,000 licensed beds and 3,000 affiliated physicians. It is also the biggest non-governmental employer in the City of Detroit. The center is staffed by physicians from the
Wayne State University School of Medicine, the largest single-campus medical school in the United States. The metro area has many other hospitals, among which are William Beaumont Hospital, St. Joseph's, and University of Michigan Medical Center, mostly in suburban counties.
Transportation
With its proximity to Canada and its facilities,
ports, major highways, rail connections and international
airports, Detroit is an important transportation hub. The city has three international border crossings, the
Ambassador Bridge,
Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and
Michigan Central Railway Tunnel, linking Detroit to
Windsor, Ontario. The Ambassador Bridge is the single busiest border crossing in
North America, carrying 27% of the total trade between the U.S. and Canada.
Air
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), the area's principal airport, is located in nearby
Romulus and is a hub for
Northwest Airlines and
Spirit Airlines.
Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET), previously called Detroit City Airport, is on Detroit's northeast side. Although
Southwest Airlines once flew from the airport, there's currently only charter service and
general aviation.
Toledo Express Airport in
Toledo, Ohio, is a secondary commercial passenger airport.
Willow Run Airport, in far-western Wayne County near
Ypsilanti, is a general aviation and cargo airport.
Mass transit
Mass transit in the region is provided by bus services. Ridership on the region's mass transit systems increased by 8.4% in 2006. The
Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) provides service to the outer edges of the city. From there, the
Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) provides service to the suburbs. Cross border service between the downtown areas of Windsor and Detroit is provided by
Transit Windsor via the Tunnel Bus.
An
automated guideway transit system known as the
People Mover provides a 2.9 mile (4.6 km) loop in the downtown area and usually operates daily.
Amtrak provides service to Detroit, operating its service between
Chicago and
Pontiac. Baggage can't be checked at this location; however, up to two suitcases in addition to any "personal items" such as briefcases, purses, laptop bags, and infant equipment are allowed on board as carry-ons. The
current passenger facility is north of downtown. The
J.W. Westcott II, which delivers mail to
freighters on the Detroit River, is the world's only floating post office.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) has analyzed the feasibility of a Detroit-
Ann Arbor commuter line, which would provide an added option for daily commuters between the two regional hubs. The proposed system would be funded by a
$100 million federal grant that's secured based on the results of the study.
Major highways
Metro Detroit has an extensive freeway system administered by the
Michigan Department of Transportation. The city is at the crossroads for three
Interstate Highways. Detroit is connected via
Interstate 75 and
Interstate 96 to
Kings Highway 401 and to major
Southern Ontario cities such as
London, Ontario and the
Greater Toronto Area along
Highway 401. Upon construction and completion of a third border crossing, Detroit and the surrounding area would have a third direct link to the
400-Series freeway network, and have a direct connection to Kings Highway 401, eliminating (or greatly diminishing) the traffic jams that plague the
Ambassador Bridge, and the
Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. The
Blue Water Bridge near
Sarnia, Ontario is another major commercial border crossing.
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I-75 (Chrysler and Fisher Freeways) is the region's main north-south route, serving Flint, Pontiac, Troy, and Detroit, before continuing south (as the Fisher Freeway) to serve many of the communities along the shore of Lake Erie. |
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I-94 (Ford Freeway) runs east-west through Detroit and serves Ann Arbor to the west (where it continues to Chicago) and Port Huron to the northeast. The stretch of the current I-94 freeway from Ypsilanti to Detroit was one of the first American limited-access freeways. Henry Ford built it to link his factories at Willow Run and Dearborn during World War II. It was called the Willow Run Expressway. |
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I-96 runs northwest-southeast through Livingston County and (as the Jeffries Freeway) has its eastern terminus in downtown Detroit. |
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I-275 runs north-south from I-75 in the south to the junction of I-96 and I-696 in the north, providing a bypass through the western suburbs of Detroit. |
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I-375 is a short spur route in downtown Detroit, an extension of the Chrysler Freeway. |
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I-696 (Walter Reuther Freeway) runs east-west from the junction of I-96 and I-275, providing a route through the northern suburbs of Detroit. Taken together, I-275 and I-696 form a semi-circle around Detroit. |
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US-12 eastbound ends in downtown Detroit. Westbound, US 12 serves the western suburbs and routes toward Ypsilanti. |
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US-24 ends north of Pontiac at I-75. Southbound, US 24 serves suburban Detroit and Monroe before crossing into Ohio. |
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M-1 (Woodward Ave.) northbound ends in Pontiac. Southbound, the highway routes to directly to downtown Detroit. |
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M-3 routes north along Gratiot Avenue. |
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M-5 follow the route of old US 16 on Grand River Avenue. |
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M-8 is the Davison Freeway. Opened in 1942, this was the first modern limited-access urban freeway in America. |
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M-10: The John C. Lodge Freeway) runs largely parallel to I-75 from Southfield to downtown, and connects with I-75 via Jefferson Avenue. |
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M-39 Southfield Freeway (M-39)Best known as the "Southfield Freeway," M-39 runs north-south from Southfield to Allen Park from I-94. North of 10 Mile, the freeway ends and continues as Southfield Road into Birmingham. |
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M-53 runs along Van Dyke & Gratiot Avenues. |
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M-85 routes along Fort Street, along the Detroit River. |
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M-97 routes along Hoover Street. |
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M-102 is better known as 8 Mile Road. |
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M-153 routes to neighboring Dearborn. |
Sister cities
Detroit has seven
sister cities:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Detroit Michigan'.
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