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When you think of a city with an international flavor, with a diversity of ethnic culture, major universites, museums, quality entertainment, and year round tourist attractions, Detroit probably would not come to mind. That would be a terrible oversight on your part though, because Detroit is all this and much more.
Detroit is known as the Motor City, home to the world's automobile industry. More recently it gained fame as the home of the "Motown Sound" that changed the course of American popular music. Yet it has most recently been identified more with the ills that plague old "blue collar" urban centers. While the city struggled through the shift in economics that plagued almost all American industrial cities, such as crime, poverty, and the loss of jobs and population, the city never lost some of its most appealing attributes. This fact along with the growth of new attractions and development has made Detroit an example of urban rebirth of which the whole is a testament to the people of this city.
Detroit has many long standing jewels, but among its greatest is its Cultural Center. Located less than a mile from the downtown business district, sandwiched between two major freeways is the Detroit's Cultural Center. Within its boundaries there Cultural Center exist; Wayne State University, the Detroit Art Museum,the Detroit Historical Museum, the Museum of African American History, the Detroit Science Museum, the Children's Museum, Orchestra Hall, the Bonstel and Monteith Theatres of Wayne State University, and the University Medical Center. As one of three major centers of commerce and entertainment within the core of the city, this area offers a rich variety of culture and entertainment all within mile of Downtown. The Cultural Center Area is centered along the city's main corridor Woodward Avenue and is located about equidistant between downtown and the New Center Area.
The New Center Area is the home of Detroit's Broadway connection the Fisher Theater. Located in the Fisher Building, which is a high rise office building which houses one of the nation's top clear channel AM radio stations WJR. Also in the Area is the home public television in Detroit WTVS. Until this year the hub of the New Center was the World headquarters of the General Motors Corporation, The GM Building, but General Motors is moving its offices to downtown and the City of Detroit is taking over the GM Building as its new City Hall. Also in the area are Unisys and the Henry Ford Medical Center. But probably the point of greatest interest to visitors in this area is the Motown Museum. Located approximately two blocks from the Ford Hospital, the Museum is the original site of the Motown Studios where all the recording artist of Motown recorded their hits. The Museum is the house that was modified into a studio that created the sound that changed American music.
Detroit's third center, the downtown business district, has undergone what can only be called a total rebuilding. In the past 25 years their has been an almost total reshaping of the area. Many of the old landmark buildings like the Hudson's Department Store building have been demolished, while other such as the David Stott and David Whitney Buildings have undergone a facelift and refurbishing of their classic designs. Yet it is the new attraction that have exploded on the downtown scene that has change things the most.
Two new stadiums one for major league baseball's Tigers, already finished and the other for the NFL's Lions scheduled for completion within the next year, sit in the middle of what is now a world class entertainment district. With the downtown theatre district within two blocks of both stadia, sports fans can mix with theatre and concert goers at shows at the Fox, State, and Gem Theaters. The Detroit Opera House and the Music Hall theater complete the circle of entertainment in the two block from the site of the stadiums. But this area is just the begining, using the Downtown People Mover, you can travel above the traffic directly to many of the business and entertainment sites, including the Greek Town, Warehouse, and Bricktown Restaurant areas. When you think of a city with an international flavor, with a diversity of ethnic culture, major universites, museums, quality entertainment, and year round tourist attractions, Detroit probably would come to mind. That would be a terrible oversight on your part though, because Detroit is all this and much more.
During the summer Detroit is the home to serveral events including the Detroit Grand Prix (on Belle Isle), the International Freedom Festival(throughout Detroit and Windsor)which annually creates one of the largest best attended fireworks displays in the world, The Montreaux-Detroit Jazz Festive, and weekly ethnic festivals (which routinely draw over 1 million vistors a weekend during the summer). Detroit's location makes it the busiest international border crossing point in the United States, if not the world. With two crossing points the Ambassador Bride and the downtown Windsor Tunnel access to Canada is both easy and convenient. Detroit city Parks and Recreation Department also has four major parks/venues along the Detroit River; Belle Isle, an island park of over 2 square miles situated in the middle of the Detroit River. It is a classic urban park, easily accessible yet outside the rush of city life. With a public golf course, a zoo,riding stables, an aquarium,boat morings, canoe rental,swimming and spacious picnic areas, Belle Isle is both beautiful and functional. Also on the riverfront is Chene Park, an open air concert venue, Hart Plaza the center for weekly summer ethnic festivals and concerts, and Ambassador Park at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge. Downtown Detroit also is the site for three Casinos, a number of Hotels, and one of the largest convention complexes in the world, the Cobo Center/Joe Louis Area Complex.
Detroit is known as the Motor City, home to the world's automobile industry. More recently it gained fame as the home of the "Motown Sound" that changed the course of American popular music. Yet it has also recently been associated more with the ills that plague old "blue collar" urban centers. While the city struggled through the shift in economics that plagued almost all American industrial cities, such as crime, poverty, and the loss of jobs and population, the city never lost some of its most appealing attributes,and gained some new ones. Detroit has one of the highest ratios of individual home ownership in America. Its international flavor and community, added with its unique connection and access to Canada, and many attraction outside the city limits yet within the Metropolitan area, make Detroit special. These facts along with the growth of new attractions and development has made Detroit an example of urban rebirth of which the whole is a testament to the people of this city.
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