Detroit: A City on the Rise: Greektown and Mexicantown

The great news for the city of Detroit keeps on coming, but a couple spots that aren’t as talked about.  These two areas are Greektown and Mexicantown.  These two areas aren’t talked about much because they don’t really need to be revitalized; they already exist and both are quite successful.

The area of Greektown is located along Monroe Ave. between Brush Street and St. Antoine Street.  It is basically a commercial district with many Greek themed restaurants, a casino/hotel, a couple churches and another separate hotel.  You can find the area in the northeast part of the downtown area.

Greektown was first settled back in the 1830s by German immigrants surprisingly, but as they began to move out in the early 20^th century, Greek immigrants moved in and instilled their culture into the small tight-knit community.  Since then, it has been all Greek and it has been great for the downtown area.  It is one of the few areas downtown that people will tell you they feel safe going.

A list of restaurants in the Greektown Historic District includes: The Golden Fleece, Laikon Café, Cyprus Taverna, Pegasus Taverna, Pizza Papalis, The Old New Parthenon, Astoria Pastry Shop, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Fishbones, Mosaic, End Zone, Coldstone, Europa, Plaka Café, Monroe St. Steakhouse and Shotz Bar.  That doesn’t even include the restaurants and bars inside the Greektown Casino.  The prices range from a cheap night out to an expensive, exquisite night out.  The food is always good; it is authentic right down to the Greek flags that line the street.

Some of the more famous Greek food served in the district include: Saganaki (flaming cheese), Scordalia (beets and garlic sauce), Lamb, Grape Leaves, Spinach Cheese Pie, and Baklava.  Any of the food stated above is cooked and is authentic as you can get it other than being in Greece.

The two churches that are located within the district are the St. Mary Roman Catholic Church and the Second Baptist Church.  The Athenium Suite Hotel is also located within the boundaries.  Both churches are separately on the National Register of Historic Places.  Greek music is almost always playing outdoors as well and has a stop on the People Mover.  You can find all the information you need about the Greektown Historic District on Wikipedia and search Greektown Historic District and the casino at www.greektowncasino.com

Mexicantown is located in the southwest area of Detroit, not exactly downtown, but definitely has some cuisine that you will never forget.  If you can’t get on a plane and fly to Mexico for some authentic food, this area will take its place.

The area of Mexicantown is located along Vernor Highway from Clark Street to Ste. Ann Street, one block north of the Ambassador Bridge.  So if you’re going to or from Canada, Mexicantown is a great place to stop.  A few of the restaurants in Mexicantown include: Mexican Village, Evie’s Tamales, El Zocalo, and Xochimilco.

Mexican food is more common than Greek food in the area outside of Mexicantown, but the real authentic food is definitely in the southwest part of Detroit.  All of the authentic Mexican food you can think of is probably served at a number of the restaurants there.  From botanas, to enchiladas, chimichangas and just a plain taco and chips and dip, the food and the experience is something that can go a long way.

Vernor Highway is basically Main Street of Mexicantown and driving up and down you will see many colors, many restaurants, and a vibrant area of Detroit that is very successful.  There are many more restaurants than those stated above for Mexicantown and I encourage anyone looking for a great meal, that’s totally different from what you may eat, both of these districts have historic and cultural value, but also some great cuisine.

Sometimes when you head out to eat, you just want to eat, but make the experience so much more enjoyable by making a trip out to Greektown or Mexicantown because you won’t just eat food, pay for it and leave.  You will enjoy the experience of the authentic cuisine, the architecture and people that you meet.  These places can’t let you down in any factor and it will be something you won’t forget.  Next week we will talk about the Foxtown area, and some of the entertainment you can find in the city.

Feel free to check out my other articles at http://michiganjournal.org/

Detroit: A City on the Rise: Detroit Institute of Arts and Library

When you have a redevelopment of many buildings in the city of Detroit, it’s nice to see that there are two still standing and also functional.  Both of these buildings have a purpose and because people still use them, means that Detroit is far from dead, or ever being dead.  I am speaking about the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Public Library.  Even though the Library system in the city is having some problems financially, the main library in the Midtown Cultural Center area near the Wayne State University Campus is alive and well.  In fact, the DIA had an upgrade in 2007, right before the recession started which also means that people still have money to spend to check out art or spend their free time, reading a book, and checking out all the collections each building has.

The Detroit Institute of Arts is located at 5200 Woodward Ave. in the Midtown Cultural Center of Detroit.  It’s located near the Wayne State University Campus and accessible to anyone from members (free) to adults with an audio tour ($10).  It’s very cheap and a great place to check out.  First off, the DIA was established in 1885, and the current building was built in 1927 by Paul Philippe Cret.  It’s a Beaux Arts, Italian Renaissance style building, shaped like a giant E.  It is the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States and has an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars.  The first painting was donated in 1883 and has a collection of over 65,000 works.  It covers 658,000 sq ft., with the expansion in 2007 that added 58,000 sq ft.

Over 100 galleries of art are displayed in the museum with over 600,000 visitors since the renovations were completed in November of 2007.  Instead of having displays based on artist, they are now arranged based on galleries of different origins and ethnicities.  For example there used to be a Vincent Van Gogh gallery, but his art is now displayed in the Modern Art Gallery.  Other galleries include the Islamic, Native American, African American and Egyptian.

One of the most famous works in the museum is actually frescoes painted on its walls.  The curator of the time commissioned artist Diego Rivera to paint a mural on two of the walls depicting the auto industry of Detroit.  He ended up painting all available space in the courtyard, which was covered after the murals were done.

One final note on the building is that it is so well designed and set up, that other museums in the country and around the world are coming to Detroit to see the example set for by the DIA.  For more information on the DIA, go to www.dia.org.

The Detroit Public Library is located directly across the street from the DIA at 5201 Woodward Ave. in the Midtown Cultural Center Area of Detroit, once again a couple blocks away from Wayne State University.  It’s the second largest library system in Michigan, only to the University of Michigan with one main library and 23 other branches around the city.  The main building was built in 1921 by architect Cass Gilbert in Italian Renaissance style and opened that same year.  Gilbert also designed the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington D.C. and the Minnesota State Capital.

The library system serves over 918,000 people and has a collection of over 7.5 million articles of knowledge in the system.  The collection includes books, magazines, records, CDs, videos, DVDs, and other electronic materials.  A couple notable collections include the Ernie Harwell Online Exhibit and the Burton Historical Collection.  You can find all the information to the main library and other branches at www.detroit.lib.mi.us

As the city of Detroit makes its way back through redevelopment, check out the museum district around the Wayne State University area as it can provide some great information, help you with projects in class and of course helps the city of Detroit as it rises once again.  As we head back downtown for next week’s article, the area of Greektown will be discussed with how it came to be and how it’s important for the success of the city.

Feel free to check out my other articles at http://michiganjournal.org/

Detroit: A City on the Rise: Grand Circus Park

One of the areas in Detroit that is seeing some great development, especially in the Downtown area, is Grand Circus Park.  One week after talking about the Somerset CityLoft and retail shopping in the downtown area; living in the city, the development of more businesses and a hotel are reshaping what used to be one of the larger theatre districts in the city.  Detroit still has the largest theatre district in the country, but the buildings around Grand Circus Park now have new life, or at least will have new life very soon.  A few of the buildings included in the revival of Grand Circus Park are the Broderick Tower, Madison Theatre Building, and the David Whitney Building (not to be confused with the Whitney Restaurant).

The Broderick Tower, once called the Eaton Tower is located on the corner of Woodward at 10 Witherell St.  It was built by Theodore Horation Eaton Jr., an importer and dealer in chemicals and dyes in 1926 and opened two years later.  The building stands 368 feet high encompassing 35 floors.  It was built to house offices for doctors, dentists, and businesses among many others.

Eaton owned the building until David Broderick, who was an insurance broker, bought the tower in 1945 and renamed it after himself.  He created the Sky Top Club on the 33^rd floor as a private club to entertain guests and clients until his death in 1957.  The building would change ownership a couple of times between 1963 and 1976 until a family by the last name of Higgins bought the building and still have ownership today.

The Broderick Tower is a key building on the edge of Grand Circus Park leading toward the center of the city at Campus Martius, and it is currently being renovated into a mixed use building for residential living, retail, offices and restaurants.  The crew that is handling the restoration and renovation of the historic building is Motown Construction Partners L.P., which is led by Fred Beal, owner of J.C. Beal Construction, along with Kraemer Design Group, Strategic Energy Systems, Soils and Materials Engineers, and NTH Engineers.

The first four floors will contain retail, business offices and restaurants.  Floors 5-34 will be residential with high end apartments, lofts and suites at the top.  The renovation began with the financing secured in December of 2010, and the expected finish date of September 2012.  You can find all the information needed about the up and coming new Broderick Tower and www.brodericktower.com.

The Madison Theatre Building sits right next to the Broderick Tower at 1555 Broadway St., and is currently owned by Quicken Loans Chairman, Dan Gilbert.  He has a major prescience in the city since moving many of his employees from the Livonia offices, to downtown, but we will talk about that later in the month.  The building was built separately from the theatre itself and was designed by renowned architect C. Howard Crane, who also designed the Fox Theatre, Olympia Stadium, Fillmore (State Theatre), Detroit Opera House, and Orchestra Hall among others.

It was built in 1917 and had a capacity of 1,806 people.  The theatre had a great run as one of the best in the city, and was even the first theatre in Michigan to show a full-length talking picture 10 years after it opened.  The show was “The Jazz Singer,” and more than half a million people were able to see it within three months.  As the years wore on and more cinemas and movie theatres opened in the suburbs, the theatre district died and only a few remained.  Unfortunately, the theatre portion of the Madison building was not saved and demolished in 2000, with a surface level parking lot now sitting where the theatre once stood.

Luckily the office building portion was saved and the ground floor of the building has been in use since being bought by Lawson Reality in the early 21^st century.  Angelina’s Italian Bistro occupies the ground floor, Witherell St. side, while Stub Hub occupies the Broadway St. entrance.  The upper floors are now being renovated thanks to Quicken Loans, who purchased the building from Broadway Property Partners LLC; in early 2011 has plans to bring more employees downtown to work in the building.

Gilbert also has his first tenant signed to the building, Skidmore Studios, a graphic design company that plans to occupy 10,000 sq ft. of office space for 23 employees, who until recently had their offices in Royal Oak.  The building still has office space available and with Gilbert at the helm, the building should be filled quickly.  To learn more about the Madison Theatre Building, visit www.historicdetroit.org and search Madison Theatre Building.

The final building that is going to be key to the revival of Grand Circus Park is the David Whitney Building.  It is located at 1553 Woodward Ave. on the corner of Washington Blvd.  It was built in 1915 with 19 floors and renovated in 1959 all for office space.  It has a four story lobby and was named after the lumber baron of the area, David Whitney.  After rough times in the city, tenants abandoned the building and it has been empty since 2000.  Up until recently, there were no plans for renovation but with the recent boom of hotels and upscale apartments and lofts being renovated and built in the city, one group hopped on the bandwagon and thought of the Whitney Building as a great mixed use project.

Roxbury Group and Trans Inn Management both bought into the building, along with the Detroit Downtown Development Authority (DDDA), have plans to renovate the building into a high-end boutique hotel, along with retail, office space and residences.  The plan is to have the first floor as commercial use, second, third and fourth floor as retail, fifth and sixth floors as office space and the rest as hotel and residential.  Construction has yet to start, although is projected to start soon with the finished product completed by 2013.  To learn more about the David Whitney Building just go to www.wikipedia.org and search David Whitney Building.

All of three of these buildings will hold a special place in the development of Grand Circus Park and will hopefully start a new era that spurs more development around the downtown area.  In next week’s article, we will look at the Detroit Institute of Arts and Detroit Library and the development around that area.

Feel free to check out my other articles at http://michiganjournal.org/

Detroit: A City on the Rise: Westin Book Cadillac and Fort Shelby Hotels

For the third installment of the revitalization of Detroit, we will take a look at the Westin Book Cadillac and Fort Shelby Hotels.  As Detroit becomes a place that people want to go stay a day, night or weekend in, hotels are very important to the revival of Detroit.  The two hotels in the downtown area are the big players showing that Detroit does have people that want to stay in the city.

The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel is located on 1114 Washington Blvd. and Michigan Ave. and originally opened in 1924 as the world’s largest hotel at the time.  It stands 349 feet with 29 floors.  It opened with 1,136 guest rooms, three dining rooms, three ballrooms and a very spacious lobby.  It was designed by Louis Kamper and cost $14 million to build.  It would undergo renovations throughout its history and many name and ownership changes until it was renovated from 2006-2008 opening back officially in October of 2008.

With the recent renovations, the hotel now has 455 guest rooms and 67 condominium suites.  It also has a newly renovated Grand Ballroom (now called the Venetian Ballroom), a new three story addition with an 11,000 square foot ballroom, a pool, hot-tub, fitness center, spa, and additional conference space.

Former New York Yankee great Lou Gehrig stayed in the hotel with the Yankee team in 1939 and had an argument with manager Joe McCarthy in the lobby the day before a game.  He told McCarthy to sit him for the game in which he did, ending his 2,130 consecutive games started streak.  Gehrig also fainted on the grand staircase which would lead to his diagnosis of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The Fort Shelby Hotel otherwise known as the DoubleTree Guest Suites Fort Shelby/Detroit Downtown is located on 525 West Lafayette Blvd. and First St. in Downtown Detroit.  It opened in 1916 as 10 stories, 450 guest room hotel known as the Fort Shelby Hotel, designed by Schmidt, Garden & Martin architects of Chicago.  The hotel was so successful that they built a 27 story, 450 guest room addition in 1927 in what was supposed to be the first of two, but the Great Depression halted the second addition.

The building changed ownership and names just like the Book Cadillac until finally being purchased and renovated in the spring of 2007 by RSC & Associates Inc., Hobbs + Black Associates Inc., L.S. Brinker, and Mccarthy & Smith INC. and finished in December of 2008.  It now has 203 guest rooms and 56 apartments.  It also has a 21,000 square foot conference center with two ballrooms and 17 breakout rooms.

You can check out the Book Cadillac Hotel at www.bookcadillacwestin.com and the Fort Shelby Hotel by searching Fort Shelby Hotel on Google and clicking on the first link.  Both hotels also have some great bars and restaurants.  The Book Cadillac has Michael Symon’s Roast Grill (very expensive, professional attire), The Boulevard Room overlooking Washington Blvd, The Motor Bar, Westin Book Cadillac Coffee, and the 24grille.  The Boulevard Room is open daily for breakfast and lunch, the Roast Grill is open Monday-Saturday serving dinner, and the Motor Bar is open daily serving lunch, dinner and cocktails.  The WBC Coffee is open daily for breakfast, and the 24grille is open daily for lunch and dinner as well as a fully stocked bar.

The DoubleTree Fort Shelby Hotel is smaller but has a great restaurant and bar.  The Finn & Porter Restaurant and Round Bar are located inside the hotel just off of Lafayette and Bear Claw Coffee, in between the apartment and hotel entrance.  All three restaurants are open daily.  The Finn & Porter Restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner while Bear Claw Coffee is open for breakfast and lunch, while the bar area of Finn & Porter also serves lunch and dinner but focuses mainly on the fine wines and cocktails.  You can find all restaurants under the dining options on their respective websites.

The occupancy rates for the Metro Detroit area is the best ever in the past four years.  The region now has a 67.7% occupancy rate, a 6.7% increase from last year and is only increasing.  The recent successes of both hotels are prompting other companies and businesses to look into purchasing other downtown buildings to convert them into high-rise apartments and hotels.  We will talk about that next week with the revitalization of Grand Circus Park and the Broderick Tower and David Whitney Building.

Feel free to check out my other articles at http://michiganjournal.org/

Detroit: A City on the Rise: Somerset CityLoft

Last week’s article was about the history of Detroit and how it was founded, what happened throughout the years and what made the city what it is today.  This week we are going to talk about the brand new Somerset CityLoft store in the heart of Downtown Detroit.  The store is located at 1441 Woodward Ave. and 1443 Woodward Ave. with the brand new addition next door.  The CityLoft is a compilation of stores inside what used to be “Merchant’s Row.”

Merchant’s Row is basically over 30 buildings, built back in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  The buildings were designed to have first floor retail and the upper floors as office space.  By the early 1920’s it was the most active shopping district in the country and the corner of Woodward and State St. was the busiest pedestrian crossing in the United States in 1925.  The shopping district was anchored by some big name stores that you may actually recognize.  Vernor’s, Sanders Confectionary (Ice Cream), F.W. Woolworth Co. (Now Foot Locker) and Hudson’s (Now Macy’s), lined Merchant’s row and definitely were the flagship stores.  Though all of these companies are now gone from Downtown, including the old Hudson’s building which was demolished in 1998, Somerset is helping to bring retail back to the city.

Somerset along with Cadillac, Quicken Loans, and Bank of America help put this together and bring the stores downtown.  They opened up for only one weekend a month that started in late July and turned into the last weekend of the month.  July 28, 29, and 30 were the dates it was first open and there was an overwhelming response.  American Coney Island provided a small pop up stand for anyone wanting to buy some Coney island hot dogs right outside CityLoft, Cadillac had a tent set up for karaoke, there was a place to do Yoga, the models in the windows were live people and there was even a doorman with a top hat opening the door for you when you wanted to go in or out.  Over 1000 people attended the opening weekend of the CityLoft, surpassing expectations by a long shot.

Cadillac provided and still does provide a shuttle service on Thursday and Friday from 11am-7pm to and from the following locations: Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, Compuware Building, One Woodward, Renaissance Center, DTE Energy, Westin Book Cadillac and the Fillmore Theatre.  On Saturday, the following buildings have shuttle service from 10am-4pm: MGM Grand Detroit Casino, Motor City Casino, Atheneum Hotel, The Fillmore Theatre, Renaissance Center, Westin Book Cadillac, and the Boston Edison Neighborhood at Voight Park.

The shuttle service provided by Cadillac is something that not only helps with parking but gives a shopper an experience to ride in a Cadillac around Detroit.  There is also a Valet service at CityLoft if you want to use that as well.  The opening of the CityLoft had 38 stores initially, but in a smaller context.  The building cannot hold 38 stores so they had mini-stores.  The CityLoft is not meant to be a permanent location either; it was put in place to see what the retail scene could look like in the future.

The stores that are located inside CityLoft come directly from the Somerset Collection in Troy.  Anne Fontaine, Baby Gap, Bare Escentuals, Basler, Betsey Johnson, Brookstone, Eddie Bauer, Eileen Fisher, GAP, Godiva, Gymboree, Henri Bendel, Intermix, Johnston & Murphy, Kate Spade, LEGO, lululemon athletica, Marmi, Max Marma, Max Studio, Michael Kors, Montblanc, Neiman Marcus, Origins, Restoration Hardware, Saks Fifth Avenue, St. Croix, Swarovski, Sweet Factory, Tappers Diamonds and Fine Jewelry, The Art of Shaving, The Capital Grille, The Coach Store, The Detroit Shoppe, The North Face, Tommy Bahama, Tumi, and Vera Bradley are all the original stores that started out inside CityLoft.

The stores that will be joining the ones above for the final weekend are: Au Courant Optical, Brooks Brothers, Lily Pulitzer, Paradise Pen, Pottery Barn, Saks, and Sur La Table.  Around 40 or more stores will be represented in the final week with a few mentioned in the original opening not attending such as Nieman Marcus.  The expectation is high for the final week and with the awesome response so far, the possibility of the CityLoft staying Downtown, maybe not in the same building but somewhere in Detroit would help spur retail development all over Downtown.

The final weekend for Somerset CityLoft is September 29, 30 and October 1.  The same shuttle stops mentioned above will be there for your convenience as well as a new stop at the 12^th Detroit Police Precinct at 7 Mile and Woodward Ave.  The CityLoft has not only given Detroit and shoppers across the Metro area a great place to shop and have fun, but it has given Detroit some hope that retail can and will survive in the city.  If you can get down there sometime next weekend I would highly recommend it.  In next week’s article we will talk about the history and revival of the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel and Fort Shelby Hotel and Apartment Buildings and what they are doing to spur the development of other hotels around the Downtown area.

Feel free to check out my other articles at http://michiganjournal.org/

Detroit: A City on the Rise

The history of Detroit is key to the future of the city and especially Inside Detroit.  Every week here on Inside Detroit there will be a different post about the revival of the city, different things to do and see, historic buildings and places, the history and what made the city what it is today. The inaugural topic this week is about the history of Detroit and how the city became what it is today.

The City of Detroit was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer while traveling up the Detroit River. He named the city after the body of water he was traveling on, which in French means “the strait.” The city would become a key port city for the French, British and Americans throughout its history. It was also an important military city as it was just across the river from Canada which the French first held until the British took over after the American Revolution. The city would change hands multiple times from the French to the British to the Americans back to the British and the Americans once more.

Detroit did fall to fire, just like Chicago, in 1805 which destroyed nearly the whole city. Augustus Woodward would be commissioned to redesign the layout of the city as he was the Chief Justice of the Michigan Territory. He laid the city out in a baroque styled radial fashion, with traffic circles to help with the flow of traffic. Only part of his plan worked out, but as you can tell now it looks like the spokes of a wheel with the streets of Jefferson, Michigan, Grand River, Woodward and Gratiot all panning out in different directions.

The 1800s many different styles of buildings arose in the city, with lots of different architecture. The city began to grow and played an important part in the Civil War. Campus Martius, Latin for “Field of Mars,” the basic center of the city, became the meeting center as many citizens enlisted right after the war started and was a place for speeches and rallies during and after the war. By the early 20th century, the automobile had been invented and Henry Ford perfected the assembly line to create mass production of the automobile thus creating the influx of immigrants to the city to work in the factories. The automobile would change the face of the city and literally make the city what it is today. As the population began to grow, so did the city. Buildings began to rise up in the skyline, and more and more people began to live downtown or in outer areas where are the work was.

World War II came around and with all the automobile plants in and around the city, the military capitalized on all the manufacturing in the city with Detroit producing many of the war materials used overseas. In fact, they produced so much of the equipment, vehicles, ammunition that it got the nickname: “The Arsenal of Democracy.” The city then became huge, the largest city in Michigan, in fact peaked as the 4th largest city in the country at one point, and its largest population came in the 1950s. Then the decline began with segregation growing all around the United States especially in the south and in Detroit. The 1960s rolled around and a term: “white flight” became a norm as many Caucasian Americans fled the city as more African-Americans came into Detroit to live and work.

The Riots of 1967 really played a big role in Detroit’s history and we still haven’t recovered from it. Basically, police raided an after-hours bar, called a “Blind Pig” and pretty soon everyone that was there was African-American which caused a huge disturbance and riots began for 5 days straight and didn’t stop. Governor George Romney at the time had a great relationship with then President Lyndon B. Johnson, which fell apart during the riots. The National Guard was called in to help control the violence and many buildings were burned. Of all the casualties from the riots, only 43 people died, 7,200 arrests were made and over 2,000 buildings were burned. It was the second largest riot in the country’s history, only to the New York City Draft Riots during the Civil War in the 1860s. The decline of Detroit only went faster after the riots as “white flight” became more prominent.

The 1970s brought a worse economy to Detroit with the gasoline crisis that really hurt the auto industry as more and more people and businesses moved out of the city. The Renaissance Center, which sits right on the river and is now currently the home to General Motors and Blue Cross Blue Shield, was built in the late 1970s in hopes of having a so called “renaissance” in the city. In 1980, the Republican National Convention was hosted by Detroit, nominating Ronald Reagan for the Presidential bid, which of course he went on to win. Many vacant structures were demolished in the 1980s in hopes of bringing redevelopment to the city, which of course never came.

The 1990s was where Detroit started to be revived at a very slow pace. One Detroit Center was built, in a Neo-Gothic style to give the skyline of Detroit a different look, becoming the second tallest building in the city. Casinos would be built such as Greektown, MGM Grand and MotorCity Casino to spur development. The Lions came back into the city, along with the Tigers getting a new home, right next to each other. Finally, Campus Martius was re-done and the scene in the new century helped Detroit really get back on its feet. The history of Detroit is long and great and we must learn from mistakes before we rebuild and reinvent ourselves. In the next article we will talk about the Somerset CityLoft on Woodward, in Downtown Detroit.

Feel free to check out my other articles at http://michiganjournal.org/

Recent Reviews of our Tours

“I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, it was, indeed, an eye opener and provided a wonderful insight as to the amount of new energy, as well as investment, that is being infused into the City. I moved here 35 years ago & still remember my trips to Hudsons, Saks, The London Chop House, The Caucus Club etc. even the Ren Cen when it wasn’t user friendly! and am extremely excited to learn that there is a positive push for the return of residential, retail, dining & commerce. Hopefully this will significantly enhance the partnership between the City and the suburbs, particularly the communities along the Woodward corridor. Thank you Jeanette, it was great fun and your own enthusiasm added much enjoyment to the outing. Kind regards, Gillian”

“Very good tour, and learned a lot about Detroit. Would like to take one to other areas of the city sometime.”

“Loved the tour and suggested that our broker offer them quarterly for any new families who have moved to our area. I grew up in Detroit and LOVE Detroit. You did an awesome job!!!!!”

“You were wonderful!!”

“It was terrific. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Would have liked to spent a little more time at a couple of the stops.”

“GREAT tour – Thank you Jeanette!!!”

“Although I have never been uncomfortable coming to Detroit, we just don’t frequently make the effort. The tour was very motivating and informative. My daughter and I have a plan to go to “Good Girls go to Paris” on Sunday and then to Mass and St. Peter & Paul’s. Thanks for such a fun experience!”

“I had a great time meeting you; and, especially learning more about the City. Thank you so much for a delightful day in Detroit!”

“Impressive, both the guide & driver were the best.”

“greatly appreciate the enthusiasm of our tour guide! (as group tours like these tend to be a handful of quiet people… but our guide did not seem bothered by our lack of conversation!)”

If’ you’ve been on a tour, let us know how it was! Survey!

Detroit 2020

Hello! I know you’ve seen a lot about us on the Detroit 2020 lately. We gave a tour to 13 suburbanites who were skeptical of Detroit.

Some were scared of the city and it’s reputation, some just thought it had nothing to offer them. We took them on a 4 hour tour to really show them what Detroit was like. And wow, were they ever impressed! Check out the links or video’s below, then come on a tour and see if we can change, expand or just solidify your perceptions of Detroit! All tours can be found here, if you want to take a tour like they did, check out our Greater Downtown Community Bus Tour! Or book a private tour!

http://detroit2020.com/2011/09/02/detroit-2020-bus-tour-can-we-change-some-minds/

http://detroit2020.com/2011/09/02/d2020-tour-sights-and-insights/

Here is a list of the places we went

Check out some of the Before and After conversations with the people on the tour!

And an article by Jewel Gopwani, writer for the Free Press, and her experience on the tour

“The tour was not a whitewash”

Jeanette,

I was in Calgary at an Intl Downtown Association conference the week of
9-11-17.  Met a Connecticut downtown manager who vacationed in Detroit,
stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, took one of your tours, ate at the
Lebanese(middle eastern, anyway) restaurant on Elizabeth(or close by), and
decided Detroit was fabulous!  Complimented you by saying the tour was not a
whitewash, whereas the GM tour he took tended to be.  Kudos to you, my dear.
Told him I was going to call him for a testimonial.

Kathy Wendler

Bureau of Urban Living – The Urban General Store

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