Difference between revisions of "Detroit, Michigan" - New World Encyclopedia

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{{Images OK}}{{Submitted}}{{Approved}}{{Copyedited}}
 
{{Infobox Settlement
 
{{Infobox Settlement
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|official_name           = City of Detroit
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<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions —>
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|settlement_type          = City
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|official_name           = Detroit
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|nickname                 = The&nbsp;Motor&nbsp;City, Motown, Hockeytown, Rock&nbsp;City, The&nbsp;D<!--5 is enough! DO NOT ADD ANYMORE. The article covers them!-->
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|native_name_lang        = fr
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|motto                   = "Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus"<br />(Latin for, "We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes")
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|settlement_type        = City
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|image_skyline            = Thomaspaine'smontageofDetroit request2.jpg
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|image_skyline          = Detroit Montage.jpg
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|imagesize                =
+
|imagesize              = 250px
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|image_caption            =
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|image_caption          = Images from top to bottom, left to right: [[Downtown Detroit]] skyline, [[Spirit of Detroit]], [[Greektown Historic District|Greektown]], [[Ambassador Bridge]], [[Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument]], [[Fox Theatre (Detroit)|Fox Theatre]], and [[Comerica Park]].
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|image_flag              = Flag of Detroit, Michigan.svg
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|image_flag              = Flag of Detroit, Michigan.svg
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|image_seal               = Detroit seal.jpg
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|image_seal              = Detroit seal.jpg
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|image_map                = Wayne_County_Michigan_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Detroit_highlighted.svg
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|nickname               = The Motor City, Motown, Renaissance City, The D, Hockeytown, The Automotive Capital of the World, Rock City, The 313
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|mapsize                 = 250x200px
+
|motto                   = ''Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus''<br /><small>([[Latin]]: We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes)</small>
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|map_caption             = Location in Wayne County, Michigan
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|image_map               = Wayne_County_Michigan_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Detroit_highlighted.svg
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|image_map1              =  
+
|mapsize                 = 250x200px
−
|mapsize1                =  
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|map_caption             = Location within [[Wayne County, Michigan]] and the state of [[Michigan]]
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|map_caption1            =  
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|latd  = 42 |latm  = 19 |latNS  = N
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|subdivision_type        = Country
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|longd = 83 |longm = 02 |longEW = W
−
|subdivision_type1        = State
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|coordinates_display    = yes
−
|subdivision_type2        = County
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|coordinates_footnotes  = <ref name="GNIS">[https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/summary/1617959 Feature Detail Report for: Detroit] ''Geographic Names Information System'' (GNIS). Retrieved February 23, 2022.</ref>
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|subdivision_name        = United States
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|pushpin_map            =  
−
|subdivision_name1        = Michigan
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|pushpin_map_caption    =  
−
|subdivision_name2       = Wayne
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|coordinates_region      = US-MI
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|established_title       = Founded
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|subdivision_type       = Country
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|established_date        = 1701
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|subdivision_name       = {{flag|United States of America}}
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|established_title2       = Incorporation
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|subdivision_type1      = State
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|established_date2        = 1806
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|subdivision_name1       = {{flag|Michigan}}
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|government_type          = Mayor-Council
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|subdivision_type2      = [[List of counties in Michigan|County]]
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|leader_title            = Mayor
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|subdivision_name2      = [[Wayne County, Michigan|Wayne]]
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|leader_name              = Kenneth Cockrel Jr.
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|established_title      = Founded
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|leader_title1            = City Council
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|established_date        = 1701
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|leader_name1            = {{Collapsible list
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|established_title2      = Incorporated
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|title       = Members' List
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|established_date2       = 1806
−
|frame_style = border:none; padding: 0;
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|government_footnotes    = <!-- for references: use<ref> tags —>
−
|title_style = <!-- (optional) —>
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|government_type        = [[Mayor-council government|Mayor-Council]]
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|list_style  = text-align:left;display:none;
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|leader_title            = [[Mayor]]
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|1          = {{nowrap|&bull;Monica Conyers - Council President}}
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|leader_name            = [[Mike Duggan]]
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|2          =&bull;JoAnn Watson
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|leader_party            = [[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]
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|3          =&bull;Sheila Cockrel
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|area_footnotes          = <!-- for references: use<ref> tags -->
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|4=&bull;Barbara-Rose Collins
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|unit_pref              = US
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|6=&bull;Alberta Tinsley-Talabi
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|area_magnitude         = 1 E8
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|7=&bull;Martha Reeves
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|area_total_sq_mi       = 143.0
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|8=&bull;Brenda Jones
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|area_land_sq_mi         = 138.8
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|9=&bull;Kwame Kenyatta
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|area_water_sq_mi       = 4.2
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|10=&bull;''Vacant seat''
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|area_urban_sq_mi       = 1295
−
}}
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|area_metro_sq_mi        = 3913
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|elevation_footnotes    =<ref name="GNIS">[https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/summary/1617959 Feature Detail Report for: Detroit] ''Geographic Names Information System'' (GNIS). Retrieved February 23, 2022.</ref>
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|area_magnitude           = 1 E8
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|elevation_ft            = 600
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|area_total_sq_mi         = 143.0
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| population_footnotes           = <ref name="QuickFacts">[https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/detroitcitymichigan/POP010220 QuickFacts: Detroit city, Michigan] ''United States Census Bureau''. Retrieved February 23, 2022.</ref>
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|area_total_km2          = 370.2
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| population_as_of                = 2020
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|area_land_sq_mi         = 138.8
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| population_total               = 639111
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|area_land_km2            = 359.4
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| population_rank                = 27th in the United States<br />1st in Michigan
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|area_water_sq_mi         = 4.2
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| population_metro_footnotes      =  
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|area_water_km2          = 10.8
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| population_metro               = 4392041 (14th)
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|area_urban_sq_mi         = 1295
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| population_density_sq_mi       = 4606.87
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|area_urban_km2          = 3354
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| population_density_km2         = 1778.72
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|area_metro_km2          = 10135
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| population_demonym              = Detroiter
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|area_metro_sq_mi        = 3913
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| population_note                 =  
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|population_as_of        = 2007
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|timezone               = [[Eastern Time Zone (North America)|EST]]
−
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="metro">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/SUB-EST2007.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places Over 100,000, Ranked by July 1, 2006 Population: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=2007-06-28}}</ref>
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|utc_offset             = −5
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|population_total         = 916952
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|timezone_DST           = [[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]]
−
|population_urban        = 3903377
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|utc_offset_DST         = −4
−
|population_metro         = 4467592
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|postal_code_type       =
−
|population_density_sq_mi = 6856
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|postal_code             =
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|population_density_km2   = 2647
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|area_code               = [[Area code 313|313]]
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|population_note         =
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|blank_name              = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
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|timezone                 = EST
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|blank_info              = 26-22000{{GR|2}}
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|utc_offset               = -5
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|blank1_name            = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
−
|timezone_DST             = EDT
+
|blank1_info            = 1617959<ref name="GNIS" />
−
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
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|blank2_name             = Major airport
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|postal_code_type         =  
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|blank2_info            = [[Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport]] (DTW)
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|postal_code             =  
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|website                 = [http://www.detroitmi.gov/ DetroitMI.gov]
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|area_code               = 313
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|footnotes               =
−
|latd = 42 |latm = 19 |lats = 53.76 |latNS = N
 
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|longd = 83 |longm = 2 |longs = 51 |longEW = W
 
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|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name= elevation>{{cite web |url={{Gnis3|1617959}} |title=USGS detail on Detroit |accessdate=2007-02-18 }} </ref>
 
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|elevation_ft             = 600
 
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|elevation_m              = 183
 
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|website                 = [http://www.detroitmi.gov/ detroitmi.gov]
 
−
|blank_name               = FIPS code
 
−
|blank_info              = 26-22000{{GR|2}}
 
−
|blank1_name              = GNIS feature ID
 
−
|blank1_info              = 1617959{{GR|3}}
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
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'''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 [[Midwestern United States|Midwest region]] of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major<ref>Of cities over 100,000 in population. A few smaller cities like Niagara Falls, New York, also are north of Canada.</ref> U.S. city that looks south to [[Canada]].  
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'''Detroit''' is the largest city in the [[U.S.]] state of [[Michigan]] and the [[county seat|seat]] of Wayne County. It is located in southeastern Michigan on the [[Detroit River]] opposite the city of Windsor, [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]. The Detroit River connects [[Lake Erie]] and [[Lake St. Clair]], contributing to the city's important role as a major port city.
  
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"Detroit" is a word almost universally associated with the American [[Automobile|automotive]] industry &mdash. The city is also an important source of popular music, legacies celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames, ''Motor City'' and ''Motown''.
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"Detroit" is a word almost universally associated with the American [[Automobile|automotive]] industry. The city is also an important contributor of [[popular music]] legacies, celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames, ''Motor City'' and ''Motown.''  
  
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At its peak, the city was the fourth largest in the country, but since 1950 the city has seen a major shift in its population to the suburbs. In fact, the name ''Detroit'' sometimes refers to the Metro Detroit area, a sprawling region with a population of 4,467,592.<ref name=CensusMSA>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/CBSA-est2007-annual.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007|publisher=US Census Bureau|accessmonthday=September 9|accessyear=2008}}</ref> The Detroit-Windsor area, a critical commercial link straddling the Canadian-U.S. border, has a total population of about 5,700,000.<ref>[http://www.citypopulation.de/World.html World Agglomerations] Retrieved on September 3, 2007.</ref>
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The city was once the fourth largest in the United States, but since 1950 it experienced a major shift in population to the suburbs. The name ''Detroit'' is commonly used to refer to the Metro Detroit area, a sprawling region with a population of 4,467,592. The Detroit-Windsor area, a critical commercial link straddling the Canadian U.S. border, has a total population of nearly 5,700,000. The city is home to roughly 50 percent of the state's population.
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{{toc}}
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As part of an effort to revive its economy, Detroit began offering [[Casino|casino gaming]], the largest city in the United States to do so. Detroit now ranks as the fifth largest [[gambling]] market in the United States. Though the casinos brought new [[tax]] revenue and jobs to the city, [[unemployment]] remained high.  
  
 
==Geography==
 
==Geography==
 
===Topography===
 
===Topography===
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[[Image:Large Detroit Landsat.jpg|thumb|200px|A simulated-color satellite image of Detroit, with Windsor across the river, taken on NASA's Landsat 7 satellite.]]
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[[Image:Large Detroit Landsat.jpg|thumb|300px|left|A simulated-color satellite image of Detroit, with Windsor across the river, taken on NASA's Landsat 7 satellite.]]
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[[Image:The dtw.JPG|left|thumb|200px|Detroit skyline along the Detroit River.]]
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[[Image:James Scott Fountain - Detroit skyline.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A view of the city from Belle Isle Park.]]
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According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 143.0 square miles (370.2 km²). The highest elevation is in northwestern Detroit, at a height of 670&nbsp;feet (204&nbsp;m). Detroit's lowest elevation is along its riverfront, at a height of 579&nbsp;feet (176&nbsp;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 [[island]]s, coastal [[wetland]]s, marshes, [[shoal]]s, and waterfront lands along {{convert|48|mi|km|0}} of the [[Detroit River]] and western [[Lake Erie]] shoreline.
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According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 143.0 square miles (370.2 km²). The highest elevation is in northwestern Detroit, at a height of 670&nbsp;feet (204&nbsp;m). Detroit's lowest elevation is along its riverfront, at a height of 579&nbsp;feet (176&nbsp;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 [[wetland]]s, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along {{convert|48|mi|km|0}} of the Detroit River and western [[Lake Erie]] shoreline.
 
  
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===Climate===
 
 
Detroit and the rest of southeastern [[Michigan]] have a continental climate that is influenced by the [[Great Lakes]]. Winters are cold with moderate [[snow|snowfall]], while summers are warm with temperatures sometimes exceeding 90&nbsp;°F (32&nbsp;°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 1 to 10&nbsp;inches (3 to 25&nbsp;cm) per month.
 
Detroit and the rest of southeastern [[Michigan]] have a continental climate that is influenced by the [[Great Lakes]]. Winters are cold with moderate [[snow|snowfall]], while summers are warm with temperatures sometimes exceeding 90&nbsp;°F (32&nbsp;°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 1 to 10&nbsp;inches (3 to 25&nbsp;cm) per month.
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==History==
 
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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, along with 51 additional French-Canadians, founded a settlement called Fort Ponchartrain du ''Détroit'', naming it after the comte de Pontchartrain, Minister of Marine under [[Louis XIV]]. France offered free land to attract families to Detroit, which grew to 800 people in 1765, the largest city between [[Montreal]] and [[New Orleans]]. 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.
 
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During the French and Indian War (1760), [[Kingdom of Great Britain|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, a fire destroyed most of the settlement. A river warehouse and brick chimneys of the wooden homes were the sole structures to survive.
 
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[[Image:Map image detroit.jpg|left|thumb|Detroit in the 1880s]]
 
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From 1805 to 1847, Detroit was the capital of Michigan. As the city expanded, the street layout plan developed by Augustus B. Woodward, Chief Justice of the Michigan Territory was followed. 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.
 
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Prior to the [[American Civil War]], the city's access to the Canadian border made it a key stop along the [[underground railroad]].<ref>Blockson, Charles and Chase, Henry (April 2005). 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 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''.
 
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During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many of the city's [[Gilded Age]] mansions and buildings arose. Detroit 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. In 1904 he founded the [[Ford Motor Company]]. Ford's manufacturing—and those of automotive pioneers [[William C. Durant]], the [[Dodge]] brothers, [[Packard]], and [[Walter Chrysler]]—reinforced Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital; it also served to encourage [[truck]] manufacturers such as [[Rapid (truck manufacturer)|Rapid]] and [[GMC (automobile)|Grabowsky]].
 
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With the introduction of [[Prohibition]], smugglers used the river as a major conduit for Canadian [[alcohol|spirits]], organized in large part by the notorious [[The Purple Gang|Purple Gang]].<ref>Nolan, Jenny (June 15, 1999).[http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=181 How Prohibition made Detroit a bootlegger's dream town]. Michigan History, ''The Detroit News''. Retrieved on November 23, 2007.</ref>  Strained racial relations were evident in the 1920s trial of Dr. [[Ossian Sweet]], a black Detroit physician acquitted of murder. A man died when shots were fired from Ossian's house into a threatening mob of whites who gathered to try to force him out of an all-white neighborhood.<ref>Zacharias, Patricia (February 12, 2001). [http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=201 'I have to die a man or live a coward'—the saga of Dr. Ossian Sweet]. Michigan History, ''The Detroit News''. Retrieved on November 23, 2007.</ref>
 
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[[Image:Cadillac Assembly Plant Amsterdam Street historic - Detroit Michigan.jpg|thumb|left|Cadillac Motor Co..(c.1910)<br /> Cass Ave. at Amsterdam St.]]
 
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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''.
 
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Industry spurred spectacular growth during the first half of the twentieth century as the city drew tens of thousands of new residents, particularly workers from the [[Southern United States|South]], to became the nation's fourth largest. At the same time, tens of thousands of European immigrants poured into the city. Social tensions rose with the rapid pace of growth. The ''color blind'' promotion policies of the auto plants resulted in racial tension that erupted into a full-scale riot in 1943.
 
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[[Image:Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Monument.jpg|thumb|200px|Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument of the Civil War with the old Detroit City Hall.]]
 
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Consolidation during the 1950s, especially in the automobile sector, increased competition for jobs. An extensive freeway system constructed in the 1950s and 1960s had facilitated [[commuting]]. The Twelfth Street riot in 1967, as well as [[Desegregation busing|court-ordered busing]] accelerated white flight from the city. Commensurate with the shift of population and jobs to its suburbs, the city's tax base eroded. In the years following, Detroit's population fell from a peak of roughly 1.8 million in 1950 to about half that number today.
 
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The gasoline crises of 1973 and 1979 impacted the U.S. auto industry as small cars from foreign makers made inroads. [[Heroin]] and [[crack cocaine]] use afflicted the city with the influence of Butch Jones, Maserati Rick, and the Chambers Brothers. ''Renaissance'' has been a perennial buzzword among city leaders, 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.
 
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In 1980, Detroit hosted the Republican National Convention which nominated [[Ronald Reagan]] to a successful bid for [[President of the United States]]. By then, nearly three decades of crime, drug addiction, and inadequate policies had caused areas like the Elmhurst block to decay. During the 1980s, abandoned structures were demolished to reduce havens for [[drug dealer]]s with sizable tracts of land reverted to a form of [[urban prairie]].
 
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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, under new leadership, three casinos opened in Detroit: MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino, which have now added permanent resorts and Greektown Casino, which is scheduled to open its permanent resort at the end of 2009 . 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.
 
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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. Some city limit signs, particularly on the Dearborn border say "Welcome to Detroit, The Renaissance City Founded 1701."
 
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==Cityscape==
 
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[[Image:Detroit Night Skyline.JPG|750px|center|thumb|<center>[[Detroit International Riverfront]] at night during the Season of [[Super Bowl XL]].</center>]]
 
  
 
===Cityscape===
 
===Cityscape===
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[[Image:DavidStottsitsamongDetroittowers.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Detroit's skyline at Hart Plaza.]]
 
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{{main|Architecture of metropolitan Detroit}}
 
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[[Image:Penobscot.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Penobscot Building (1928) left, with the Dime Building (1912).]]
 
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[[Image:DetroitStJoseph.JPG|thumb||left|150px|St. Joseph Catholic Church (1873) is a notable example of Detroit's fine ecclesial architecture.]]
 
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[[Image:JMRDetroit1.jpg|thumb|150px|Wayne County Building (1897) downtown by John and Arthur Scott.]]
 
  
 
The Detroit International Riverfront includes a partially completed 3.5-mile riverfront promenade with a combination of parks, residential buildings, and commercial areas. The riverfront includes Tri-Centennial State Park and Harbor, Michigan's first urban state park. The second phase is a 2-mile (3 km) extension to the Ambassador Bridge for a total of 5 miles (8 km) of parkway. Civic planners envision that the riverfront properties condemned under [[eminent domain]], with their pedestrian parks, will spur more residential development.
 
The Detroit International Riverfront includes a partially completed 3.5-mile riverfront promenade with a combination of parks, residential buildings, and commercial areas. The riverfront includes Tri-Centennial State Park and Harbor, Michigan's first urban state park. The second phase is a 2-mile (3 km) extension to the Ambassador Bridge for a total of 5 miles (8 km) of parkway. Civic planners envision that the riverfront properties condemned under [[eminent domain]], with their pedestrian parks, will spur more residential development.
  
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===Neighborhoods===
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====Neighborhoods====
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[[Image:Seminole-Indian Village.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Historic homes in the Indian Village neighborhood on the east side.]]
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[[Image:Detroit Night Skyline.JPG|400px|thumb|right|[[Detroit International Riverfront]] at night during the Season of [[Super Bowl XL]].]]
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The Midtown and the New Center areas 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 [[museum]]s and cultural centers; for example, the Detroit Festival of the Arts 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.
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The Midtown and the New Center areas 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 [[museum]]s and cultural centers; for example, the Detroit Festival of the Arts 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.
  
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==Culture==
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==History==
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[[Image:DetroitDownBrushSt.JPG|200px|thumb|right|Renaissance Center with giant decal for the 2005 MLB All-Star Game.]]
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[[Image:Map image detroit.jpg|thumb|400px|Detroit in the 1880s]]
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Lifestyles for rising professionals in Detroit reflect those of other major cities. This dynamic is luring many younger residents to the downtown area and its luxury high rises. Detroit's proximity to Windsor, Ontario, provides for spectacular views and nightlife, along with Ontario's 19-and-older drinking age.
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[[Image:Cadillac Assembly Plant Amsterdam Street historic - Detroit Michigan.jpg|thumb|400px|Cadillac Motor Co..(c. 1910)<br /> Cass Ave. at Amsterdam St.]]
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[[Image:JMRDetroit1.jpg|thumb|300px|Wayne County Building (1897) downtown by John and Arthur Scott.]]
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[[Image:Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Monument.jpg|thumb|300px|Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument of the Civil War with the old Detroit City Hall.]]
  
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===Entertainment and performing arts===
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The city name comes from the Detroit River ({{lang-fr|l'étroit du Lac Érié}}), meaning ''the strait of Lake Erie,'' linking [[Lake Huron]] and [[Lake Erie]]. Traveling up the Detroit River, Father [[Louis Hennepin]] noted that the north bank of the river was an ideal location for a settlement. In 1701, [[Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac]], along with 51 additional French-Canadians, founded a settlement. [[France]] offered free land to attract families to Detroit, which grew to 800 people in 1765, the largest city between [[Montreal]] and [[New Orleans]]. The French surrendered the fort in 1760 to the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] during the [[French and Indian War]].
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[[Image:Foxdetroitmarqueenightshot2.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Fox Theatre lights up 'Foxtown' in downtown Detroit]]
 
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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 Theater District is the nation's second largest. Major theaters include the Detroit Opera House and Orchestra Hall, which hosts the renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  
 
  
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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.  
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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.
  
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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.
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Detroit passed to the [[United States]] under the [[Jay Treaty]] (1796). In 1805, a [[fire]] destroyed most of the settlement.  
  
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In the 1940s, blues artist [[John Lee Hooker]] became a long-term resident, bringing the [[Mississippi]] [[Delta Blues]] to northern cities like Detroit. During the 1950s, the city became a center for [[jazz]].
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From 1805 to 1847, the rebuilt Detroit was the capital of [[Michigan]]. Detroit fell to British troops during the [[War of 1812]], was recaptured by the United States in 1813, and incorporated as a city in 1815.  
  
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[[Image:Hilberry Theatre WSU - Detroit Michigan.jpg|thumb|Hilberry Theatre at Wayne State University.]]
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Prior to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the city's access to the [[Canada|Canadian]] border made it a key stop along the [[underground railroad]]. Many Detroiters volunteered to fight during the Civil War, beginning with the ''Iron Brigade'' that defended [[Washington, D.C.]], early in the war.  
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Berry Gordy, Jr. founded Motown Records, which rose to prominence during the 1960s and early 1970s with acts such as [[Stevie Wonder]], [[The Temptations]], [[Diana Ross & The Supremes]], and [[Marvin Gaye]]. The Motown Sound played an important role in the crossover appeal with popular music, since it was the first record label owned by an [[African American]] to primarily feature African-American artists. 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, though she did not record with the Motown Label.
 
  
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Detroit's musical history includes many popular rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s. 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, and 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 the 1980s, Detroit was an important center of the hardcore punk rock underground, with many nationally known bands coming out of the city and its suburbs.
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During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many of the city's [[Gilded Age]] mansions and buildings arose. Detroit was referred to as the ''Paris of the West'' for its [[architecture]], and for Washington Boulevard, recently [[electricity|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.
  
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In recent times, the city has produced a number of influential artists. From the late 1990s into the new millennium, the band Sponge toured and produced music, with artists such as Kid Rock and Uncle Kracker. The city has an active garage rock genre that has generated national attention with acts such as: The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, The Dirtbombs, Electric Six, The Hard Lessons, and The Enemy Squad. Detroit has also been cited as the birthplace of techno music. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson.
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In 1896, a thriving carriage trade prompted [[Henry Ford]] to build his first [[automobile]] in a rented workshop on Mack Avenue. In 1904 he founded the [[Ford Motor Company]]. Ford's manufacturing—and those of automotive pioneers [[William C. Durant]], the [[Dodge]] brothers, [[Packard]], and [[Walter Chrysler]]—reinforced Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital; it also served to encourage [[truck]] manufacturers such as [[Rapid (truck manufacturer)|Rapid]] and [[GMC (automobile)|Grabowsky]].  
  
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===Tourism===
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With the introduction of [[Prohibition]], [[smuggling|smugglers]] used the river as a major conduit for Canadian [[alcohol|spirits]], organized in large part by the notorious Purple Gang.
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[[Image:DIAhall2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Detroit Institute of Arts]]
 
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[[Image:Greektown detroit.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Greektown in Detroit]]
 
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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, and the Detroit Science Center. Important history of Detroit and the surrounding area is exhibited at the The Henry Ford, the nation's largest indoor-outdoor museum complex. The Eastern Market farmer's distribution center is the largest open-air flowerbed market in the United States and has more than 150 food and specialty businesses. Other sites of interest are the Detroit [[Zoo]] and the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle.
 
  
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The city's Greektown and casino resorts serve as an entertainment hub. Annual summer events include the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Detroit International Jazz Festival, and Woodward Dream Cruise. 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.
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Strained racial relations were evident in the 1920s trial of Dr. [[Ossian Sweet]], a black Detroit physician acquitted of murder. A man died when shots were fired from Ossian's house into a threatening mob of whites who gathered to try to force him out of an all-white neighborhood.
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[[Image:Tastefest Detroit 2006.jpg|thumb|150px|right|CityFest in the New Center with Cadillac Place in the background.]]
 
  
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[[Image:Heidelberg Project - Dotty Wotty House.jpg|thumb|left|150px|''Dotty-Wotty House''-a part of the Heidelberg Project.]]
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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]].
  
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===Sports===
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Industrial growth during [[World War II]] led to Detroit gaining the nickname the ''Arsenal of Democracy.'' [[Industry]] spurred spectacular growth during the first half of the twentieth century as the city drew tens of thousands of new residents, particularly workers from the [[Southern United States|South]], to became the nation's fourth largest. At the same time, tens of thousands of [[Europe]]an immigrants poured into the city. Social tensions rose with the rapid pace of growth. The ''color blind'' promotion policies of the auto plants resulted in racial tension that erupted into a full-scale riot in 1943.
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[[Image:Ford Field Super Bowl XL night.jpg|200px|thumb|Looking towards Ford Field the night of Super Bowl XL.]]
 
  
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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. 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 [[National Football League|NFL's]] Detroit Lions), and Joe Louis Arena (home of the [[National Hockey League|NHL's]] Detroit Red Wings).  
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Consolidation during the 1950s, especially in the automobile sector, increased competition for jobs. An extensive freeway system constructed in the 1950s and 1960s facilitated [[commuting]]. The Twelfth Street riot in 1967, as well as court-ordered busing to end [[Racial segregation|racial segregation]] accelerated white flight from the city.
  
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[[Sailboat]] racing is a major sport in the Detroit area. Lake St. Clair is home to many yacht clubs, which host regattas.  
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Commensurate with the shift of population and jobs to its suburbs, the city's tax base eroded. In the years following, Detroit's population fell from a peak of roughly 1.8 million in 1950 to about half that number by the end of the century.
  
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[[Image:Tigers opening day2 2007.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Comerica Park 2007]]
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The [[gasoline]] crises of 1973 and 1979 impacted the U.S. auto industry as small cars from foreign makers made inroads. [[Heroin]] and [[Cocaine|crack cocaine]] use afflicted the city. ''Renaissance'' has been a perennial buzzword among city leaders, 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.
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Since 1916, the city has been home to an American Boat Racing Association Unlimited [[hydroplane]] boat race, held annually (with exceptions) on the Detroit River near Belle Isle.  
 
  
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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 11 [[Stanley Cup]]s (the most by an American NHL franchise), and the Detroit Pistons have won three NBA titles.
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In 1980, Detroit hosted the [[Republican National Convention]], which nominated [[Ronald Reagan]] to a successful bid for [[President of the United States|president]]. By then, nearly three decades of [[crime]], [[drug]] [[addiction]], and inadequate policies had caused whole areas to decay. During the 1980s, abandoned structures were demolished to reduce havens for drug dealers, with sizable tracts of land reverted to a form of urban prairie.
  
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===Media===
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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, under new leadership, three [[casino]]s opened in Detroit: MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino, which now have permanent resorts, and Greektown Casino, which is scheduled to open its permanent resort at the end of 2009.
  
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''The Detroit Free Press'' and ''The Detroit News'' are the major daily [[newspaper]]s, both publications published together under a joint operating agreement.  
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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 [[park]]s and [[fountain]]s. This new urban development in Detroit is a mainstay in the city's desire to reinvent its economic identity through [[tourism]]. Along the [[river]], upscale million-dollar [[condominium]]s are going up, some of the most expensive the city has ever seen.
  
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The Detroit [[television]] market is the eleventh largest in the United States, according to estimates that do not include audiences located in [[Canada]] that receive and watch Detroit television stations.
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==Law and government==
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The city government is run by a mayor and nine-member city council and clerk elected on an at-large nonpartisan ballot. Since 1974, Detroit has had a "strong mayoral" system, with the mayor approving departmental appointments. The council approves budgets but the mayor is not 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 [[election]]s for mayor, city council and city clerk are held at four-year intervals, in the year after presidential elections.
  
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Detroit has the eleventh largest [[radio]] market in the United States, though this ranking as well does not take into account Canadian audiences.
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Detroit's courts are state-administered and elections are nonpartisan. 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.
  
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==Economy==
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===Politics===
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{{main|Economy of metropolitan Detroit}}
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[[Image:Guardianbuilding.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The historic Guardian Building is Wayne County headquarters]]
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[[Image:Detriotecon.jpg|left|thumb|370px|]][[Image:GM headquarters in Detroit.JPG|200px|thumb|The [[Renaissance Center]] is General Motors' world headquarters]]
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Politically, the city consistently supports the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in state and national elections.  
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Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major manufacturing center, most notably as home to the [[Big Three automobile manufacturers|Big Three]] automobile companies, [[General Motors]], [[Ford]], and [[Chrysler]]. There are about four thousand factories in the area, many of which are related to the auto industry.<ref>World Book Inc., Volume 5. 2008.</ref>The city is an important center for global trade with large international law firms having their offices in both Detroit and Windsor. About 80,500 people work in downtown Detroit, comprising 21% of the City's employment.<ref>Henion, Andy (03-22-2007).City puts transit idea in motion.''The Detroit News''. Retrieved on May 14, 2007.</ref><ref name=Marketprofile>The Urban Markets Initiative, Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, The Social Compact Inc., University of Michigan Graduate Real Estate Program, (October 2006).[http://www.downtowndetroit.org/ddp/newsroom/Downtown_Detroit_in_Focus.pdf Downtown Detroit in Focus: A Profile of Market Opportunity].''Detroit Economic Growth Corporation'' and ''Downtown Detroit Partnership''. Retrieved on June 14, 2008.</ref>  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.<ref> Detroit Regional Chamber (2006) [http://www.detroitchamber.com/detroiter/articles.asp?cid=7&detcid=531 Detroit/Windsor Border Update: Part I-Detroit River International Crossing Study] Retrieved on April 8, 2007.</ref>
 
  
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The Detroit area is accustomed to the economic cycles of the [[automaker|auto industry]].<ref>Flint, Jerry (September 9, 1996). [http://faculty.ncwc.edu/denders/eng112/sample_summary.htm Can Detroit Weather a Downturn?]. ''Forbes'', found at faculty.ncwc.edu/denders/eng112/sample_summary.htm</ref> 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.<ref>Josar, David (May 27, 2005). [http://www.detnews.com/2005/metro/0505/27/A01-195630.htm Neighborhood rebirth stalls: High property taxes burden Detroit homeowners]. ''Detroit News''.</ref> In June 2008, metropolitan Detroit's unemployment rate was 9.7%.<ref>Bureau of Labor Statistics (8/2008). [http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.t01.htm Table 1. Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and metropolitan area ]. ''U.S. Department of Labor''.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/detr-s02.shtml|title=One-Third of Detroit's population lives below the poverty line|author=Walsh, David|publisher=World Socialist Websight|accessdate=2007-07-22}}</ref> This is in part attributed to [[white flight]] following [[desegregation busing|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.
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Urban development in Detroit has been an important issue. In 1973, the city elected its first [[African American|black]] mayor, [[Coleman Young]]. Despite development efforts, his combative style during his five terms in office was not well received by many whites. Mayor Dennis Archer (in office 1994 - 2001), a former Michigan Supreme Court Justice, refocused the city's attention on redevelopment with a plan to permit three [[casino]]s downtown.
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[[Image:DetroitClub.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Over a century of Detroit business leaders have belonged to the Detroit Club.]]
 
  
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In spite of foreign competition for market share, Detroit's automakers have continued to gain volume from previous decades with the expansion of the American and global automotive markets. 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 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.<ref>Sloan, Allan (April 10, 2007).[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901262.html GM's High-Performance Pension Machine] ''Washington Post'', D02.</ref> In 1994, with rising demand for [[sport-utility vehicle]]s and [[pickup truck]]s, the industry fought [[Bill Clinton|Clinton administration's]] efforts to implement an across the board [[Corporate Average Fuel Economy]] (CAFE) increase.<ref>Woellert, Lorraine (March 3, 2001). [http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jul2001/nf2001073_060.htm Why Detroit May Swallow Some Bitter CAFE]. ''Business Week''.</ref> In 2005, the [[George W. Bush|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.<ref>Associated Press (August 24, 2005).[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166573,00.html] ''Fox News''. Retrieved on April 15, 2007.</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/podcasts/cruisecontrol/cruise_control_01_28_06_a.htm Ford's Way Forward] ''Business Week Cruise Control Radio'' Retrieved on April 2, 2007.</ref>
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===Crime===
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Although [[crime]] in Detroit has declined in recent decades, the city has continued to have a high rate of violent crimes. This incidence of crime in parts of the city has brought it notoriety. The city has tried to shake its crime-laden image for the city center, where crime has been shown to be much lower than national, state, and metropolitan averages.<ref>Jessica Byrd, [https://michiganchronicle.com/2015/05/20/detroit-crime-perception-vs-reality/ Detroit Crime: Perception vs. Reality] ''Michigan Chronicle'', May 20, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2022.</ref> As with many border cities, there is an ongoing problem with [[smuggling]], including [[drug]]s, [[human trafficking]], and illicit commerce aimed at avoiding [[taxation]].
  
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[[Image:Comericatower.jpg|right|thumbnail|200px|[[Comerica Tower]] in the city's financial district.]]
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==Economy==
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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 Motor Company|Ford]] announced a dramatic increase in production of its [[Hybrid vehicle|hybrid]] [[petrol|gas]]-[[electric]] models,<ref>Dorinda Elliott (January 30, 2006). "Can This Man Save The American Auto Industry?" ''Time Magazine''.</ref> Ford and GM have promoted [[E-85]] ethanol capable [[flexible-fuel vehicle]]s as a viable alternative to gasoline. General Motors has invested heavily in all [[fuel cell]] equipped vehicles,<ref> Kiley, David (June 13, 2001). [http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2001-06-13-gm-hydrogen.htm GM buys stake in firm tapping hydrogen power]. ''USA Today''.</ref> [[Chrysler Corporation|Chrysler's]] focus on [[biodiesel]] may boost sales. Two days after the September 11 attacks, GM announced it had developed the world's most powerful fuel cell stack capable of powering large commercial vehicles.<ref>[http://www.gm.com/company/news_events/press_releases/ GM announces world's most powerful fuel cell stack (September 13, 2001)]. ''GM Press Release''.</ref> 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]].
 
  
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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 [[Detroit River Walk|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.<ref>Howes, Daniel (November 12, 2007).[http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071112/UPDATE/711120450/1361 Quicken moving to downtown Detroit].''The Detroit News''. Retrieved on November 12, 2007.</ref> 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.<ref>Loc. cit.</ref>
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[[Image:GM headquarters in Detroit.JPG|300px|thumb|The Renaissance Center is General Motors' world headquarters]]
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[[Image:Compuware1.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Compuware World Headquarters]]]]
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[[Image:DetroitClub.jpg|thumb|400px|Over a century of Detroit business leaders have belonged to the Detroit Club.]]
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[[Image:Comericatower.jpg|right|thumbnail|300px|Comerica Tower in the city's financial district.]]
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[[Image:Compuware1.jpg|thumb|400px|Compuware World Headquarters]]
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[[Image:MGMGrand Detroit1.jpg|thumb|400px|MGM Grand Detroit.]]
  
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Some [[Fortune 500]] companies headquartered in Detroit include [[General Motors]], auto parts maker [[American Axle|American Axle & Manufacturing]], and [[DTE Energy Co.|DTE Energy]].<ref>[http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/states/M.html Fortune)]. ''CNNMoney.com''. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.</ref> 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|Dodge Truck]] arm of [[Chrysler]], [[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 & 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.
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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]]. There are about four thousand [[factory|factories]] in the area, many of which are related to the auto industry. The city is an important center for global [[trade]] with large international law firms having their offices in both Detroit and [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]]. About 80,500 people work in downtown Detroit, comprising 21 percent of the city's employment. The area is also an important source of [[engineering]] job opportunities.  
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[[Image:MGMGrand Detroit1.jpg|thumb|200px|[[MGM Grand Detroit]].]]
 
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[[Casino game|Casino gaming]] plays an important economic role, with Detroit the largest city in the United States to offer casino resorts. [[Caesars Windsor]], Canada's largest, complements the [[MGM Grand Detroit]], [[MotorCity 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.<ref> See the Change (2006) [http://www.theworldiscoming.com/seethechange.html TheWorldisComing.com]. City of Detroit Partnership. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.</ref> Medical service providers such as the [[Detroit Medical Center]] and [[Henry Ford Hospital]] are major employers in the city.  
 
  
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Media reviews of Detroit's economy tend to reflect the economic cycles. In 2007, [[Neighborhoods_in_Detroit,_Michigan#Downtown|downtown Detroit]] was named among the best big city neighborhoods in which to retire by CNN Money Magazine editors.<ref> Bigda, Carolyn, Erin Chambers, Lawrence Lanahan, Joe Light, Sarah Max, and Jennifer Merritt.[http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0710/gallery.bpretire.moneymag/18.html Detroit Best place to retire: Downtown]. CNN Money Magazine''. Retrieved on October 22, 2007.</ref>
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The Detroit area is accustomed to the economic cycles of the [[auto industry]]. A rise in automated manufacturing using [[robotics|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.
  
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===Unemployment and poverty===
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In the city, the unemployment rate was 14.2 percent at the end of 2005, leaving Detroit with more than one-third of its residents below the [[poverty]] line. This is in part attributed to white-flight following court-ordered busing to end [[Racial segregation|racial segregation]] in the schools 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.
  
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===Auto industry===
 +
Despite foreign competition for market share, Detroit's automakers continued to gain volume with the expansion of the American and global automotive markets. In the late 1990s, Detroit's automakers were enjoying record profits until the [[recession]] of 2001 caused a severe decline in the [[stock market]] along with a pension and benefit funds crisis.
  
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==Demographics==
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With rising [[petroleum|oil]] prices in 2007–2008, consumers chose to purchase fewer trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Widespread layoffs, a credit crunch, and loss of consumer confidence in the U.S. economy in 2008 also contributed to plummeting [[profit]]s for Detroit's Big Three automakers.
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[[Image:Incomemap.jpg|thumb|left|280px|Per capita income by location. Dotted line represents city boundary.]]
 
  
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Metro Detroit suburbs are among the more affluent in the United States, in contrast to lower incomes found within the city limits. A 2007 report shows the city of Detroit's median household income at $34,512, a 12 percent increase over the census estimate.<ref name=Detroitstudy>Reppert, Joe (October 2007).[http://www.socialcompact.org/pdfs/DetroitDrillDownReport.pdf Detroit Neighborhood Market Drill Down]. ''Social Compact''. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref>
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===Emerging technologies===
 +
Firms in the suburbs are pursuing 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, with some success. In 2007, Quicken Loans announced its development agreement with the city to move its world headquarters, and 4,000 employees, to downtown Detroit.
  
−
The city's population increased more than sixfold during the first half of the twentieth century, fed largely by an influx of Eastern European, [[Lebanon|Lebanese]], and [[Southern United States|Southern]] migrants to work in the burgeoning automobile industry. Since 1950, however, the city has seen a major shift in its population to the suburbs. The city's population dropped from its peak in 1950 of 1,849,568 to 916,952 in 2007. This is partly attributable to the construction of an extensive freeway system during the 1950s and white flight.
+
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 Chrysler, GMAC, and OnStar. Other major industries include [[advertising]], [[law]], [[finance]], [[chemical]]s, and [[computer]] [[software]]. One of the nation's largest law firms, Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone P.L.C., has offices in both Windsor and Detroit. Compuware's new headquarters, GM's move to the Renaissance Center, and Michigan's redevelopment of Cadillac Place in the New Center district have provided new synergies for the redevelopment of downtown.
  
−
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). The racial makeup of the city was 81.6% black, 12.3% white, 1.0% [[Asia]]n, 0.3% [[Native American]], 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.5% other races, 2.3% two or more races, and 5.0 percent Hispanic. The city's foreign-born population is at 4.8%.
+
Medical service providers such as the Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Hospital are also major employers in the city.  
  
−
There were 336,428 households out of which 33.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.7% were [[Marriage|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.  
+
===Casinos===
 +
[[Casino|Casino gaming]] plays an important economic role, with Detroit the largest city in the United States to offer casino resorts. Caesars Windsor, [[Canada]]'s largest, complements the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity 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]].  
  
−
In the 2000 census, 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, and 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.
+
==Transportation==
 +
[[Image:DPMoverRenCenstop.jpg|thumb|400px|People Mover train comes into the Renaissance Center station]]
 +
With its proximity to [[Canada]] and its facilities, [[port]]s, major [[highway]]s, [[railway|rail]] connections, and international [[airport]]s, 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]]. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), the area's principal airport, is located in nearby Romulus.
  
−
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.  
+
The city is at the crossroads for three Interstate highways. Construction and completion of a third border crossing would eliminate (or greatly diminish) the traffic jams that plague the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
  
−
Metro Detroit's ethnic communities are diverse and include descendants of the French founders, as well as Irish, Germans, Scots, Poles, Italians, Greeks, Serbians, Turks, 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. Nearby Dearborn has a sizable concentration of [[Arab|Arab Americans]].
+
==Demographics==
 +
At its peak, Detroit was the fourth largest in the country, but since 1950 the city has seen a major shift in its population to the suburbs. Metro Detroit suburbs are among the more affluent in the [[United States]], in contrast to lower incomes found within the city limits.  
  
−
==Law and government==
+
The city's population increased more than sixfold during the first half of the twentieth century, fed largely by an influx of [[Eastern Europe]]an, [[Lebanon|Lebanese]], and [[Southern United States|Southern]] migrants to work in the burgeoning [[automobile]] [[industry]]. Since 1950, however, the city has seen a major shift in its population to the suburbs. The city's population dropped from its peak in 1950 of 1,849,568 to 916,952 in 2007. This is partly attributable to the construction of an extensive freeway system making commuting easier during the 1950s, and white flight.
−
[[Image:Colemanyoungbldgdetroit.JPG|thumb|left|150px|Coleman A. Young Municipal Center houses the City of Detroit offices.]]
 
−
[[Image:Guardianbuilding.jpg|thumb|right|150px|The historic Guardian Building is Wayne County headquarters]]
 
  
−
The city government is run by a mayor and nine-member city council and clerk elected on an at-large nonpartisan ballot. Since 1974, Detroit has had a "strong mayoral" system, with the mayor approving departmental appointments. The council approves budgets but the mayor is not 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 [[election]]s for mayor, city council and city clerk are held at four-year intervals, in the year after presidential elections.
+
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 percent live within the Detroit city limits.  
  
−
Detroit's courts are state-administered and elections are nonpartisan. 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.
+
Metro Detroit's ethnic communities are diverse and include descendants of the French founders, as well as Irish, Germans, Scots, Poles, Italians, Greeks, Serbians, Turks, 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 [[Belgium]]. Nearby [[Dearborn, Michigan|Dearborn]] has a sizable concentration of [[Arab|Arab Americans]].
  
−
===Politics===
+
==Education==
−
Politically, the city consistently supports the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in state and national elections. Detroit is the most liberal large city in America, according to a study released by the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, which measured the percentage of city residents who voted for the Democratic Party.
 
  
−
In 2000, the city requested an investigation by the [[United States Justice Department]] into the Detroit Police Department over allegations regarding its use of force and civil rights violations. The city conducted a major reorganization of the department.
+
[[Image:Detroit Library.jpg|thumb|400px|Detroit Public Library]]
 +
[[Image:Old Main WSU - Detroit Michigan.jpg|thumb|400px|Old Main, a historic building at Wayne State University]]
  
−
Urban development in Detroit has been an important issue. In 1973, the city elected its first black mayor, Coleman Young. Despite development efforts, his combative style during his five terms in office was not well received by many whites. Mayor Dennis Archer, a former Michigan Supreme Court Justice, refocused the city's attention on redevelopment with a plan to permit three [[gambling|casinos]] downtown.
+
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 and [[private school]]s, as well as parochial [[Roman Catholic]] schools run by the Archdiocese of Detroit.
  
−
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigned September 19, 2008, after being charged with eight felonies on March 24, 2008, and reaching a plea agreement.
+
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 Detroit College of Law, now affiliated with Michigan State University.
−
===Crime===
 
  
−
Although [[crime]] in Detroit has declined in recent decades, the city had the sixth highest number of violent crimes among the twenty-five largest cities in 2006.<ref name=UCR>[http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_06.html FBI UCR table 6]. Retrieved on February 13, 2008.</ref> This incidence of crime in parts of the city has brought it notoriety. The city has tried to shake its crime-laden image for the city center, where [[crime]] has been shown to be much lower than national, state, and metro averages.<ref name=MIC>Booza, Jason C. (July 26, 2006).[http://www.tedconline.com/uploads/Downtown_Detroit_Crime_Study_2006.pdf Reality v. Perceptions: An Updated Analysis of Crime and Safety in Downtown Detroit]. Michigan Metropolitan Information Center, ''Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies''. Retrieved on January 21, 2008.</ref>  According to a 2007 analysis, Detroit officials note that about 65 to 70 percent of [[homicide]]s in the city were confined to a [[narcotics]] catalyst.<ref name=analysis>Shelton, Steve Malik (January 30, 2008).[http://www.michronicleonline.com/articlelive/articles/2322/1/Top-cop-urges-vigilance-against-crime/Page1.html Top cop urges vigilance against crime]. ''Michigan Chronicle''. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.</ref> As with many border cities, there is an ongoing problem with [[smuggling]], including [[drug]]s, [[human trafficking]], and illicit commerce aimed at avoiding taxation.
+
==Culture==
 +
[[Image:DetroitDownBrushSt.JPG|400px|thumb|right|Renaissance Center with giant decal for the 2005 MLB All-Star Game.]]
 +
[[Image:Greektown detroit.jpg|thumb|350px|Greektown in Detroit]]
 +
[[Image:DIAhall2.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Detroit Institute of Arts]]
  
−
==Education==
+
===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 Theater District is the nation's second largest. Major theaters include the [[Detroit Opera House]] and [[Orchestra Hall]], which hosts the renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
  
 +
The city of Detroit has contributed to a number of different genres over the decades leading into the new millennium. In the 1940s, blues artist [[John Lee Hooker]] became a long-term resident, bringing the [[Mississippi]] [[blues|Delta Blues]] to northern cities like Detroit. During the 1950s, the city became a center for [[jazz]].
  
−
===Primary and secondary schools===
+
[[Berry Gordy, Jr.]] founded [[Motown Records]], which rose to prominence during the 1960s and early 1970s with acts such as [[Stevie Wonder]], [[The Temptations]], [[Diana Ross]] and the [[Supremes]], and [[Marvin Gaye]]. The Motown Sound played an important role in the crossover appeal with popular music, since it was the first record label owned by an [[African American]] to primarily feature African-American artists. Gordy moved Motown to [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] in 1972 to pursue film production, but the company has since returned to Detroit.
−
[[Image:Detroit Library.jpg|thumb|200px|Detroit Public Library.]]
 
−
With 88,000 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 and private schools, as well as parochial [[Roman Catholic]] schools run by the Archdiocese of Detroit.
 
  
−
===Colleges and universities===
+
Detroit's musical history includes many popular rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, Detroit was an important center of the hardcore [[punk rock]] underground, with many nationally known bands coming out of the city and its suburbs. In recent times, the city has produced a number of influential artists. The city has an active garage rock genre that has generated national attention. Detroit has also been cited as the birthplace of [[techno music]].
−
[[Image:Old Main WSU - Detroit Michigan.jpg|thumb|Old Main, a historic building at Wayne State University.]]
 
−
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 Detroit College of Law, now affiliated with Michigan State University. The University of Michigan was established in 1817 in Detroit and moved to Ann Arbor in 1837. In 1959, University of Michigan–Dearborn was established in neighboring Dearborn.
 
  
−
==Transportation==
+
===Tourism===
−
With its proximity to Canada and its facilities, [[port]]s, major highways, [[railroad|rail]] connections, and international [[airport]]s, 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 percent of the total trade between the United States and [[Canada]].<ref>[http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/freight_analysis/ambass_brdg/ambass_brdge_ovrvw.htm Ambassador Bridge Crossing Summary (May 11, 2005)]. ''U.S. Department of Transportation''. Retrieved on April 8, 2007.</ref>
+
Many of the area's prominent [[museum]]s 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]], and the Detroit [[Science]] Center. Important history of Detroit and the surrounding area is exhibited at the [[Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village]], the nation's largest indoor-outdoor museum complex, with emphasis on [[American Culture]]. One prominent recent acquisition was the [[bus]] made famous by [[Rosa Parks]].
  
−
====Air====
+
===Sports===
−
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), the area's principal airport, is located in nearby Romulus.
+
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. 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 [[National Football League|NFL's]] Detroit Lions), and Joe Louis Arena (home of the [[National Hockey League|NHL's]] Detroit Red Wings).  
  
−
====Mass transit====
+
[[Sailboat]] racing is a major sport in the Detroit area. [[Lake St. Clair]] is home to many [[yacht]] clubs, which host [[regatta]]s.
−
[[Image:DPMoverRenCenstop.jpg|thumb|left|200px|People Mover train comes into the Renaissance Center station]]
 
−
[[Mass transit]] in the region is provided by bus services. Ridership on the region's mass transit systems increased by 8.4 percent in 2006.<ref>Foran, Janet - MDOT (March 22, 2007).[http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/masstransit11.aspx Mass tranit ridership jumps in Southeast Michigan]. ''Metromode''. Retrieved on July 31, 2007.</ref>  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, completed in 1987, provides daily service around a 2.9&nbsp;mile (4.6&nbsp;km) loop downtown.
 
  
−
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.
+
==Looking to the future==
 +
Despite the new developments downtown, Detroit has the highest home foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, with over 67,000 foreclosed properties, 65 percent of which remain vacant. Consequently, the city was awarded $47.1 million by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as its share of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. This legislation aimed to foster market recovery and stabilize neighborhoods.
  
−
In a separate proposal, DDOT is pursuing a plan to bring light rail rapid transit. In March 2008, it was announced that a line is being planned for Woodward Avenue that will cost $372 million and is tentatively scheduled to begin operation by 2013.
+
Detroit faced several challenges even prior to this crisis, including a shrinking population, a market where the supply of housing exceeded the demand, a declining tax base, older housing stock, and an old infrastructure system. The city's goal is to focus on demolitions, with the hope that eliminating blighted structures in the nine targeted neighborhoods, for future development or alternative land uses, will have a stabilizing impact on those neighborhoods most severely impacted by foreclosure and abandonment. The city expects this process will result in reversal of the decline of housing values, significant elimination of blighted and abandoned structures, and stimulation of other investment in and around the target neighborhoods.
  
−
====Major highways====
+
==Gallery==
−
Metro Detroit has an extensive freeway system administered by the Michigan Department of Transportation. The city is at the crossroads for three Interstate highways. Construction and completion of a third border crossing would eliminate (or greatly diminish) 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.
+
<gallery>
−
==Looking to the future==
+
Image:DavidStottsitsamongDetroittowers.jpg|Detroit's skyline at Hart Plaza.
 +
Image:DetroitStJoseph.JPG|St. Joseph Catholic Church (1873) is a notable example of Detroit's fine ecclesial architecture.
 +
Image:Penobscot.jpg|Penobscot Building (1928) left, with the Dime Building (1912).
 +
Image:The dtw.JPG|Detroit skyline along the Detroit River.
 +
Image:James Scott Fountain - Detroit skyline.jpg|A view of the city from Belle Isle Park.
 +
Image:Foxdetroitmarqueenightshot2.jpg|Fox Theatre lights up 'Foxtown' in downtown Detroit
 +
Image:Tigers opening day2 2007.jpg|Comerica Park 2007
 +
Image:Ford Field Super Bowl XL night.jpg|Looking towards Ford Field the night of Super Bowl XL
 +
</gallery>
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
−
{{reflist|2}}
+
<references/>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
−
*{{Cite book | author=Bak, Richard | year=2001 | title=Detroit Across 3 Centuries | publisher=Thompson Gale | isbn=1585360015}}
+
*Bak, Richard. ''Detroit Across 3 Centuries.'' Detroit: Thompson Gale, 2001. ISBN 1585360015
−
*{{Cite book | author=Burton, Clarence M | year=1896 | title=Cadillac's Village: A History of the Settlement, 1701–1710 | publisher=Detroit Society for Genealogical Research | isbn=0-943112-21-4}}
+
*Burton, Clarence M. ''Cadillac's Village: A History of the Settlement, 1701–1710.'' Detroit: Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, 1896. ISBN 0943112214
−
*{{Cite book | author=Burton, Clarence M | year=1912 | title=Early Detroit: A sketch of some of the interesting affairs of the olden time | publisher=Burton Abstracts | id={{OCLC|926958}}}}
+
*Burton, Clarence M. ''Early Detroit: A sketch of some of the interesting affairs of the olden time.'' Burton Abstracts, 1912. {{OCLC|926958}}
−
*{{Cite book | author=Chafets, Zev | title=Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit | publisher=[[Random House]] | year=1990 | isbn=0-394-58525-9}}
+
*Chafets, Zev. ''Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit.'' New York: Random House, 1990. ISBN 0394585259
−
*{{Cite book | author=Farley, Reynolds, et al. | title=Detroit Divided | publisher=Russell Sage Foundation Publications | year=2002 | isbn=0-87154-281-1}}
+
*Farley, Reynolds, et al. ''Detroit Divided.'' Russell Sage Foundation Publications, 2002. ISBN 0871542811
−
*{{Cite book | author=Farmer, Silas | year=1889 | title=History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan | publisher=Omnigraphics Inc; Reprint edition (October 1998) | isbn=1-55888-991-4}}
+
*Farmer, Silas. ''History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan.'' Omnigraphics, Inc. Reprint edition, 1998 (original 1889). ISBN 1558889914
−
*{{Cite book | author=Gavrilovich, Peter and Bill McGraw | title=The Detroit Almanac | year=2000 | publisher=[[Detroit Free Press]] | isbn=0-937247-34-0}}
+
*Gavrilovich, Peter and Bill McGraw. ''The Detroit Almanac.'' Detroit Free Press, 2000. ISBN 0937247340
−
*{{Cite book | author=Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher | title= AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture| year=2002 | publisher= [[Wayne State University Press]] | isbn=0-8143-3120-3}}
+
*Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher. ''AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture.'' Wayne State University Press, 2002. ISBN 0814331203
−
*{{Cite book | author=Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A.| title=Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition | year= 1980| publisher= Wayne State University Press| isbn = 0-8143-1651-4}}
+
*Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. 1980. ''Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide, Revised Ed''. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0814316514.
−
*{{Cite book | author=Parkman, Francis | title=The Conspiracy of Pontiac | year=1994 | publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] | isbn=0-8032-8737-2}}
+
*Parkman, Francis. ''The Conspiracy of Pontiac.'' University of Nebraska Press, 1994 (original 1989). ISBN 0803287372
−
*{{Cite book | author=Poremba, David Lee | title=Detroit: A Motor City History (Images of America) | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | year=2003 | isbn=0-7385-2435-2}}
+
*Poremba, David Lee. ''Detroit: A Motor City History. (Images of America).'' Arcadia Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0738524352
−
*Powell, L. P (1901). "Detroit, the Queen City," ''Historic Towns of the Western States'' (New York).
+
*Powell, Lyman Pierson. "Detroit, the Queen City." In [https://books.google.com/books?id=dScUAAAAYAAJ&dq= ''Historic Towns of the Western States.''] New York: G. P. Putnam's sons, 1901. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
−
*{{Cite book | author= [[Robert Sharoff|Sharoff, Robert]] | title=American City: Detroit Architecture| publisher=Wayne State University Press| year=2005| isbn=0-8143-3270-6}}
+
*Sharoff, Robert. ''American City: Detroit Architecture.'' Wayne State University Press, 2005. ISBN 0814332706
−
*{{Cite book | author=Sobocinski, Melanie Grunow | title= Detroit and Rome: building on the past | publisher=Regents of the University of Michigan| year=2005 | isbn=0933691092}}
+
*Sobocinski, Melanie Grunow. ''Detroit and Rome: Building on the past.'' Ann Arbor: Regents of the University of Michigan, 2005. ISBN 0933691092
−
*{{Cite book | author=Sugrue, Thomas J | title=The Origins of the Urban Crisis | publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] | year=1998 | isbn=0-691-05888-1}}
+
*Sugrue, Thomas J. ''The Origins of the Urban Crisis.'' Princeton University Press, 1998. ISBN 0691058881
−
*{{Cite book| author=Woodford, Arthur M.|title=This is Detroit 1701–2001|publisher=Wayne State University Press| year=2001|isbn=0-8143-2914-4}}
+
*Woodford, Arthur M. ''This is Detroit: 1701–2001.'' Wayne State University Press, 2001. ISBN 0814329144
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
−
{{sisterlinks|Detroit, Michigan}}
+
All links retrieved January 29, 2024.
−
{{Portal|Michigan|Flag_of_Michigan.svg}}
 
−
'''Municipal government and local Chamber of Commerce'''
 
−
*[http://www.detroitmi.gov/ City of Detroit official website]
 
−
*[http://www.visitdetroit.com/ Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau]
 
−
*[http://www.detroitchamber.com Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce]
 
  
−
'''Visitor's Guide'''
+
* [http://www.detroitmi.gov/ City of Detroit].
−
*{{wikitravelpar|Detroit}}
+
* [http://detroit1701.org/Detroit_Homepage.html Detroit - The History and Future of the Motor City].
 +
* [http://www.econclub.org/ Detroit Economic Club].
 +
* [http://www.detroithistorical.org Detroit Historical Society].
 +
* [http://www.detroitnews.com/ The Detroit News].
 +
* [http://www.detroitriverfront.org/ Detroit Riverfront Conservancy].
 +
* [http://downtowndetroit.org/ Downtown Detroit Partnership].
 +
* [http://experiencedetroit.com/ Experience Detroit].
 +
* [http://www.guide2detroit.com/ Guide2Detroit].
 +
* [http://midtowndetroitinc.org/ Midtown Detroit].
  
−
'''Historical research and current events'''
 
−
*[http://www.aerialpics.com/ Aerialpics]
 
−
*[http://www.cityscapedetroit.org/ Cityscape Detroit]
 
−
*[http://detroit1701.org/Detroit_Homepage.html Detroit1701]
 
−
*[http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/franco_ontarian/detroit.htm French Ontario in the 17th and 18th Centuries - Detroit]
 
−
*[http://www.econclub.org/ Detroit Economic Club]
 
−
*[http://www.°C.org/ Detroit Economic Growth Corporation]
 
−
*[http://www.detroitentertainmentdistrict.com/ Detroit Entertainment District]
 
−
*[http://www.detroithistorical.org Detroit Historical Museums & Society]
 
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*[http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=METRO07 Detroit News Rearview Mirror]
 
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*[http://www.detroitriverfront.org/ Detroit Riverfront Conservancy]
 
−
*[http://www.downtowndetroit.org/ddp/home.htm Downtown Detroit Partnership]
 
−
*[http://experiencedetroit.com/ Experience Detroit]
 
−
*[http://www.guide2detroit.com/ Guide2Detroit]
 
−
*[http://www.newcenter.com/ New Center Council]
 
−
*[http://www.naias.com/ North American International Auto Show]
 
−
*[http://www.theworldiscoming.com/seethechange.html The World is Coming]
 
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*[http://myspace.com/cityofdetroit Myspace City of Detroit]
 
  
 
[[Category:United States]]
 
[[Category:United States]]
 
[[Category:Geography]]
 
[[Category:Geography]]
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{{Credit|255937617}}
+
[[Category:Cities]]
 +
{{Credit|Detroit,_Michigan|255937617}}

Latest revision as of 10:07, 29 January 2024

Detroit
Images from top to bottom, left to right: Downtown Detroit skyline, Spirit of Detroit, Greektown, Ambassador Bridge, Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Fox Theatre, and Comerica Park.
Images from top to bottom, left to right: Downtown Detroit skyline, Spirit of Detroit, Greektown, Ambassador Bridge, Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Fox Theatre, and Comerica Park.
Flag of Detroit
Flag		 Official seal of Detroit
Seal
Nickname: The Motor City, Motown, Renaissance City, The D, Hockeytown, The Automotive Capital of the World, Rock City, The 313
Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus
(Latin: We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes)
Location within Wayne County, Michigan and the state of Michigan
Location within Wayne County, Michigan and the state of Michigan
Coordinates: 42°19′N 83°02′W
Country Flag of United States United States of America
State Flag of Michigan Michigan
County Wayne
Founded 1701
Incorporated 1806
Government
 - Type Mayor-Council
 - Mayor Mike Duggan (D)
Area
 - City 143.0 sq mi (370.4 km²)
 - Land 138.8 sq mi (359.5 km²)
 - Water 4.2 sq mi (10.9 km²)
 - Urban 1,295 sq mi (3,354 km²)
 - Metro 3,913 sq mi (10,134.6 km²)
Elevation [1] 600 ft (183 m)
Population (2020)[2]
 - City 639,111
 - Density 4,606.87/sq mi (1,778.72/km²)
 - Metro 4,392,041 (14th)
Time zone EST (UTC−5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC−4)
Area code(s) 313
FIPS code 26-22000GR2
GNIS feature ID 1617959[1]
Major airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
Website: DetroitMI.gov

Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. It is located in southeastern Michigan on the Detroit River opposite the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The Detroit River connects Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, contributing to the city's important role as a major port city.

"Detroit" is a word almost universally associated with the American automotive industry. The city is also an important contributor of popular music legacies, celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames, Motor City and Motown.

The city was once the fourth largest in the United States, but since 1950 it experienced a major shift in population to the suburbs. The name Detroit is commonly used to refer to the Metro Detroit area, a sprawling region with a population of 4,467,592. The Detroit-Windsor area, a critical commercial link straddling the Canadian U.S. border, has a total population of nearly 5,700,000. The city is home to roughly 50 percent of the state's population.

As part of an effort to revive its economy, Detroit began offering casino gaming, the largest city in the United States to do so. Detroit now ranks as the fifth largest gambling market in the United States. Though the casinos brought new tax revenue and jobs to the city, unemployment remained high.

Geography

Topography

A simulated-color satellite image of Detroit, with Windsor across the river, taken on NASA's Landsat 7 satellite.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 143.0 square miles (370.2 km²). The highest elevation is in northwestern Detroit, at a height of 670 feet (204 m). Detroit's lowest elevation is along its riverfront, 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 48 miles (77 km) of the Detroit River and western Lake Erie shoreline.

Detroit and the rest of southeastern Michigan have a continental climate that is influenced by the Great Lakes. Winters are cold with moderate snowfall, 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 1 to 10 inches (3 to 25 cm) per month.

Cityscape

The Detroit International Riverfront includes a partially completed 3.5-mile riverfront promenade with a combination of parks, residential buildings, and commercial areas. The riverfront includes Tri-Centennial State Park and Harbor, Michigan's first urban state park. The second phase is a 2-mile (3 km) extension to the Ambassador Bridge for a total of 5 miles (8 km) of parkway. Civic planners envision that the riverfront properties condemned under eminent domain, with their pedestrian parks, will spur more residential development.

Neighborhoods

Detroit International Riverfront at night during the Season of Super Bowl XL.

The Midtown and the New Center areas 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 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.

History

Detroit in the 1880s
Cadillac Motor Co..(c. 1910)
Cass Ave. at Amsterdam St.
Wayne County Building (1897) downtown by John and Arthur Scott.
Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument of the Civil War with the old Detroit City Hall.

The city name comes from the Detroit River (French: l'étroit du Lac Érié), meaning the strait of Lake Erie, linking Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Traveling up the Detroit River, Father Louis Hennepin noted that the north bank of the river was an ideal location for a settlement. In 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, along with 51 additional French-Canadians, founded a settlement. France offered free land to attract families to Detroit, which grew to 800 people in 1765, the largest city between Montreal and New Orleans. The French surrendered the fort in 1760 to the British during the French and Indian War.

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, a fire destroyed most of the settlement.

From 1805 to 1847, the rebuilt Detroit was the capital of Michigan. Detroit fell to British troops during the War of 1812, was recaptured by the United States in 1813, and incorporated as a city in 1815.

Prior to the Civil War, the city's access to the Canadian border made it a key stop along the underground railroad. Many Detroiters volunteered to fight during the Civil War, beginning with the Iron Brigade that defended Washington, D.C., early in the war.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many of the city's Gilded Age mansions and buildings arose. Detroit 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. In 1904 he founded the Ford Motor Company. Ford's manufacturing—and those of automotive pioneers William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, Packard, 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.

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. A man died when shots were fired from Ossian's house into a threatening mob of whites who gathered to try to force him out of an all-white neighborhood.

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.

Industrial growth during World War II led to Detroit gaining the nickname the Arsenal of Democracy. Industry spurred spectacular growth during the first half of the twentieth century as the city drew tens of thousands of new residents, particularly workers from the South, to became the nation's fourth largest. At the same time, tens of thousands of European immigrants poured into the city. Social tensions rose with the rapid pace of growth. The color blind promotion policies of the auto plants resulted in racial tension that erupted into a full-scale riot in 1943.

Consolidation during the 1950s, especially in the automobile sector, increased competition for jobs. An extensive freeway system constructed in the 1950s and 1960s facilitated commuting. The Twelfth Street riot in 1967, as well as court-ordered busing to end racial segregation accelerated white flight from the city.

Commensurate with the shift of population and jobs to its suburbs, the city's tax base eroded. In the years following, Detroit's population fell from a peak of roughly 1.8 million in 1950 to about half that number by the end of the century.

The gasoline crises of 1973 and 1979 impacted the U.S. auto industry as small cars from foreign makers made inroads. Heroin and crack cocaine use afflicted the city. Renaissance has been a perennial buzzword among city leaders, 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. By then, nearly three decades of crime, drug addiction, and inadequate policies had caused whole areas to decay. During the 1980s, abandoned structures were demolished to reduce havens for drug dealers, with sizable tracts of land reverted to a form of urban prairie.

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, under new leadership, three casinos opened in Detroit: MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino, which now have permanent resorts, and Greektown Casino, which is scheduled to open its permanent resort at the end of 2009.

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 desire to reinvent its economic identity through tourism. Along the river, upscale million-dollar condominiums are going up, some of the most expensive the city has ever seen.

Law and government

The city government is run by a mayor and nine-member city council and clerk elected on an at-large nonpartisan ballot. Since 1974, Detroit has had a "strong mayoral" system, with the mayor approving departmental appointments. The council approves budgets but the mayor is not 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.

Detroit's courts are state-administered and elections are nonpartisan. 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.

Politics

The historic Guardian Building is Wayne County headquarters

Politically, the city consistently supports the Democratic Party in state and national elections.

Urban development in Detroit has been an important issue. In 1973, the city elected its first black mayor, Coleman Young. Despite development efforts, his combative style during his five terms in office was not well received by many whites. Mayor Dennis Archer (in office 1994 - 2001), a former Michigan Supreme Court Justice, refocused the city's attention on redevelopment with a plan to permit three casinos downtown.

Crime

Although crime in Detroit has declined in recent decades, the city has continued to have a high rate of violent crimes. This incidence of crime in parts of the city has brought it notoriety. The city has tried to shake its crime-laden image for the city center, where crime has been shown to be much lower than national, state, and metropolitan averages.[3] As with many border cities, there is an ongoing problem with smuggling, including drugs, human trafficking, and illicit commerce aimed at avoiding taxation.

Economy

The Renaissance Center is General Motors' world headquarters
Over a century of Detroit business leaders have belonged to the Detroit Club.
Comerica Tower in the city's financial district.
Compuware World Headquarters
MGM Grand Detroit.

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. There are about four thousand factories in the area, many of which are related to the auto industry. The city is an important center for global trade with large international law firms having their offices in both Detroit and Windsor. About 80,500 people work in downtown Detroit, comprising 21 percent of the city's employment. The area is also an important source of engineering job opportunities.

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.

Unemployment and poverty

In the city, the unemployment rate was 14.2 percent at the end of 2005, leaving Detroit with more than one-third of its residents below the poverty line. This is in part attributed to white-flight following court-ordered busing to end racial segregation in the schools 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.

Auto industry

Despite foreign competition for market share, Detroit's automakers continued to gain volume with the expansion of the American and global automotive markets. In the late 1990s, Detroit's automakers were enjoying record profits until the recession of 2001 caused a severe decline in the stock market along with a pension and benefit funds crisis.

With rising oil prices in 2007–2008, consumers chose to purchase fewer trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Widespread layoffs, a credit crunch, and loss of consumer confidence in the U.S. economy in 2008 also contributed to plummeting profits for Detroit's Big Three automakers.

Emerging technologies

Firms in the suburbs are pursuing 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, with some success. In 2007, Quicken Loans announced its development agreement with the city to move its world headquarters, and 4,000 employees, to downtown Detroit.

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 Chrysler, 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 & Stone P.L.C., has offices in both Windsor and Detroit. Compuware's new headquarters, GM's move to the Renaissance Center, and Michigan's redevelopment of Cadillac Place in the New Center district have provided new synergies for the redevelopment of downtown.

Medical service providers such as the Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Hospital are also major employers in the city.

Casinos

Casino gaming plays an important economic role, with Detroit the largest city in the United States to offer casino resorts. Caesars Windsor, Canada's largest, complements the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity 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.

Transportation

People Mover train comes into the Renaissance Center station

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. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), the area's principal airport, is located in nearby Romulus.

The city is at the crossroads for three Interstate highways. Construction and completion of a third border crossing would eliminate (or greatly diminish) the traffic jams that plague the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.

Demographics

At its peak, Detroit was the fourth largest in the country, but since 1950 the city has seen a major shift in its population to the suburbs. Metro Detroit suburbs are among the more affluent in the United States, in contrast to lower incomes found within the city limits.

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. Since 1950, however, the city has seen a major shift in its population to the suburbs. The city's population dropped from its peak in 1950 of 1,849,568 to 916,952 in 2007. This is partly attributable to the construction of an extensive freeway system making commuting easier during the 1950s, and white flight.

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 percent 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, Serbians, Turks, 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 Belgium. Nearby Dearborn has a sizable concentration of Arab Americans.

Education

Detroit Public Library
Old Main, a historic building at Wayne State University

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 and private schools, as well as parochial Roman Catholic schools run by the Archdiocese of Detroit.

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 Detroit College of Law, now affiliated with Michigan State University.

Culture

Renaissance Center with giant decal for the 2005 MLB All-Star Game.
Greektown in Detroit
Detroit Institute of Arts

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 Theater District is the nation's second largest. Major theaters include the Detroit Opera House and Orchestra Hall, which hosts the renowned Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

The city of Detroit has contributed to a number of different genres over the decades leading into the new millennium. In the 1940s, blues artist John Lee Hooker became a long-term resident, bringing the Mississippi Delta Blues to northern cities like Detroit. During the 1950s, the city became a center for jazz.

Berry Gordy, Jr. founded Motown Records, which rose to prominence during the 1960s and early 1970s with acts such as Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Marvin Gaye. The Motown Sound played an important role in the crossover appeal with popular music, since it was the first record label owned by an African American to primarily feature African-American artists. Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles in 1972 to pursue film production, but the company has since returned to Detroit.

Detroit's musical history includes many popular rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, Detroit was an important center of the hardcore punk rock underground, with many nationally known bands coming out of the city and its suburbs. In recent times, the city has produced a number of influential artists. The city has an active garage rock genre that has generated national attention. Detroit has also been cited as the birthplace of techno music.

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, and the Detroit Science Center. Important history of Detroit and the surrounding area is exhibited at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, the nation's largest indoor-outdoor museum complex, with emphasis on American Culture. One prominent recent acquisition was the bus made famous by Rosa Parks.

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. 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).

Sailboat racing is a major sport in the Detroit area. Lake St. Clair is home to many yacht clubs, which host regattas.

Looking to the future

Despite the new developments downtown, Detroit has the highest home foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, with over 67,000 foreclosed properties, 65 percent of which remain vacant. Consequently, the city was awarded $47.1 million by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as its share of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. This legislation aimed to foster market recovery and stabilize neighborhoods.

Detroit faced several challenges even prior to this crisis, including a shrinking population, a market where the supply of housing exceeded the demand, a declining tax base, older housing stock, and an old infrastructure system. The city's goal is to focus on demolitions, with the hope that eliminating blighted structures in the nine targeted neighborhoods, for future development or alternative land uses, will have a stabilizing impact on those neighborhoods most severely impacted by foreclosure and abandonment. The city expects this process will result in reversal of the decline of housing values, significant elimination of blighted and abandoned structures, and stimulation of other investment in and around the target neighborhoods.

Gallery

  • Detroit's skyline at Hart Plaza.

  • St. Joseph Catholic Church (1873) is a notable example of Detroit's fine ecclesial architecture.

  • Penobscot Building (1928) left, with the Dime Building (1912).

  • Detroit skyline along the Detroit River.

  • A view of the city from Belle Isle Park.

  • Fox Theatre lights up 'Foxtown' in downtown Detroit

  • Comerica Park 2007

  • Looking towards Ford Field the night of Super Bowl XL

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Feature Detail Report for: Detroit Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  2. ↑ QuickFacts: Detroit city, Michigan United States Census Bureau. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  3. ↑ Jessica Byrd, Detroit Crime: Perception vs. Reality Michigan Chronicle, May 20, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2022.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bak, Richard. Detroit Across 3 Centuries. Detroit: Thompson Gale, 2001. ISBN 1585360015
  • Burton, Clarence M. Cadillac's Village: A History of the Settlement, 1701–1710. Detroit: Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, 1896. ISBN 0943112214
  • Burton, Clarence M. Early Detroit: A sketch of some of the interesting affairs of the olden time. Burton Abstracts, 1912. OCLC 926958
  • Chafets, Zev. Devil's Night: And Other True Tales of Detroit. New York: Random House, 1990. ISBN 0394585259
  • Farley, Reynolds, et al. Detroit Divided. Russell Sage Foundation Publications, 2002. ISBN 0871542811
  • Farmer, Silas. History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan. Omnigraphics, Inc. Reprint edition, 1998 (original 1889). ISBN 1558889914
  • Gavrilovich, Peter and Bill McGraw. The Detroit Almanac. Detroit Free Press, 2000. ISBN 0937247340
  • Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher. AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press, 2002. ISBN 0814331203
  • Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. 1980. Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide, Revised Ed. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0814316514.
  • Parkman, Francis. The Conspiracy of Pontiac. University of Nebraska Press, 1994 (original 1989). ISBN 0803287372
  • Poremba, David Lee. Detroit: A Motor City History. (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0738524352
  • Powell, Lyman Pierson. "Detroit, the Queen City." In Historic Towns of the Western States. New York: G. P. Putnam's sons, 1901. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  • Sharoff, Robert. American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press, 2005. ISBN 0814332706
  • Sobocinski, Melanie Grunow. Detroit and Rome: Building on the past. Ann Arbor: Regents of the University of Michigan, 2005. ISBN 0933691092
  • Sugrue, Thomas J. The Origins of the Urban Crisis. Princeton University Press, 1998. ISBN 0691058881
  • Woodford, Arthur M. This is Detroit: 1701–2001. Wayne State University Press, 2001. ISBN 0814329144

External links

All links retrieved January 29, 2024.

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