Metro Detroit

Metro Detroit is a major U.S. metropolitan area encompassing the city of Detroit, including Pontiac, and other outlying cities, villages, and townships. Applications of population definitions for the area vary, including up to ten counties in Michigan, and traditionally the cities of Flint and Ann Arbor which are included in the current definition for the combined metropolitan statistical area. Metro Detroit communities and businesses almost universally recognize Ann Arbor and Flint as integrated into the Metro Detroit economy. Windsor, Ontario to the extent that it can be, is increasingly considered part of the metro area, since many Canadians work in Metro Detroit. Many from Toledo, Ohio also work in Metro Detroit. The Detroit-Warren-Flint Combined Statistical Area, consisting of nine counties, has a population of 5.4 million, when Windsor, Ontario and other nearby Canadian cities are included the total reaches 5.9 million, and when Toledo Ohio is included the population jumps to 6.5 million. An estimated 46 million people live within a 300 mile radius of Metro Detroit.

Metro Detroit continues to be a leading corporate location. In 2004, led by Metro Detroit, Michigan ranked 2nd nationally in new corporate facilities and expansions. Metro Detroit has made Michigan’s economy a leader in information technology, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing. Michigan ranks 3rd in overall Research & Development investment expenditures in the U.S. The domestic Auto Industry accounts directly and indirectly for one of every ten jobs in the U.S.

Detroit City

Los Angeles may have perfected urban sprawl, but Detroit invented it. Following the dictates of the auto industry, Detroit abandoned its efficient streetcar system in the 1950s and built a network of freeways. Many fine city neighborhoods never recovered and an adequate mass transit system was never built to replace the trolleys. The old spoke pattern of main roads (Jefferson, Gratiot, Woodward, Grand River, Michigan and Fort) emanating from downtown was eclipsed by the freeway system, and these main thoroughfares suffered declines that are yet to be reversed.

Although the landscape is mostly flat, recreational opportunities abound, most of them centered on water. To the northeast of the city sprawls Lake St. Clair, a shallow but large lake filled with boats and fish. The Detroit River is a resource that the city has never fully exploited, though a system of parks and greenways is now gradually taking shape. To the south, the western end of Lake Erie has marshes and great fishing spots. Inland lakes dot western and northern Oakland County, which lies to the city’s northwest and has the region’s hilliest terrain; here the battle over sprawl is most intense. The area boasts three major river systems: the Clinton, the Rouge, and the Huron, which drain a vast area. The wonderful Metro parks system provides a ring of family-friendly recreation sites around the region, all of them accessible within an hour’s drive.

Downtown

In the 1950s, downtown Detroit was such a bustling area of shops, theaters, restaurants, and night life that residents of dreary, staid Toronto rode trains to Detroit for weekend excursions. In subsequent decades, the two cities switched places, but now Detroit is making a comeback.

The old downtown of grand movie houses and department stores is all but vanished, but lively areas have sprung up around the perimeter of the aging banking-and-commerce center. The north end of downtown is the latest hot spot. Comerica Park, a new baseball stadium for the Detroit Tigers, opened in 2000. The National Football League Detroit Lions, who abandoned downtown in the 1970s for suburban Pontiac, are set to return to Ford Field, being built adjacent to Comerica Park. Nearby is the glamorous Fox Theater, the renovated crown jewel of the city’s opulent movie houses, as well as the aptly-named Gem Theater, a Second City comedy theater, the Music Hall, and an assortment of restaurants and bars.

On the eastern edge of downtown is Greektown, once just a block of Greek restaurants, now the center of Detroit nightlife, with eateries, bistros and clubs. One of Detroit’s three temporary casinos is drawing additional people to the area. Adjacent is the restaurant and bar area known as Bricktown, and near that is towering Renaissance Center. East of the Renaissance Center, along Jefferson Avenue, new housing and retail developments are taking shape beyond the eateries and clubs of the warehouse district known as Rivertown.

Other pockets of activity include Cobo Convention Center and Joe Louis Arena, home to the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings, and the western outskirts, where two more temporary casinos have opened. Most of downtown’s sites are linked by the People Mover elevated train system. Three permanent casinos are scheduled to open on the eastern fringes of downtown in 2003.

Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor has a total population of 114,024, not including approximately 42,000 college students with permanent residences elsewhere. Named for the spouses of the city’s founders and for the stands of trees in the area, Ann Arbor is best known as the location of the main campus of the University of Michigan, which moved there from Detroit in 1837.

The city’s economy, which was once noted for production of agricultural implements, carriages, furniture, pianos and organs, pottery, and flour, is now dominated by education, high-tech, and biotechnology. Average home prices and property taxes are well above the state and national medians. The city is also well known locally as a destination for dining out and entertainment, as it contains a wide and eclectic variety of restaurants and performance venues.

Flint

Flint is located along the Flint River about 60 miles northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fourth largest city in Michigan.

The auto industry continues its exodus from Flint as does the population and sources of revenue. The massive Buick City factory was closed in 1999 and demolished three years later. Unable to pay its debts, the city was placed into receivership by the state of Michigan in 2002, with a financial manager effectively replacing the mayor. In 2004, local control was resumed.

Pontiac

Pontiac is named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 66,337. Considered a satellite city of Detroit, it is surrounded by affluent Metro Detroit suburbs. Although in the midst of these suburbs, Pontiac itself is an urban center with a significant manufacturing sector.

The city is probably best known for the prominent General Motors manufacturing plants and the GM automobile make, Pontiac, which was first produced in (and named after) the city. Also of note in the city is the Pontiac Silverdome, the stadium in which the Detroit Lions played until 2002. Super Bowl XVI also was held there. Regionally, the city is known for the Arts, Beats and Eats Festival, a widely attended summer festival featuring an art show, musical concert venues, and a sampling of food from numerous regional restaurants.

Windsor

One of the few places in the United States where one can travel south into Canada is from downtown Detroit. By tunnel or bridge it’s easy to reach Windsor, Ontario, whose clubs and restaurants are an integral part of the metro Detroit entertainment scene. The popular Windsor Casino served as the impetus for Detroit to start building its own casinos.