About Detroit, MI

Detroit is a vast city, larger than San Francisco, Boston, and Manhattan combined. The most famous area, at least as far as the news is concerned, is the 7.2 mile "Midtown" and "Downtown" stretch. Home to Wayne State University, various sports stadiums, fantastic restaurants, casinos, Greektown, and the "Museum District", this stretch has certainly earned its reputation. However, Detroit is a whole lot more than its downtown stretch.

Known as the "Motor City", Detroit is steeped in automobile history. The city has many firsts when it comes to automobiles such as the first mile long concrete highway, the first 4-way/3-color traffic light, and the first urban freeway. The first traffic tunnel between two countries was also built running between Detroit and its neighbor across the river, Canada.

Detroit is home to the tallest hotel in North America - the 72 floor Marriott at the Renaissance Center. When this hotel opened back in 1977 it was actually the tallest hotel in the world. As high as Detroit goes, it runs deep as well. "Looking past the surface" is a common saying in Detroit, but it's also a literal one. There are 1,400 acres worth of salt mines beneath the city, containing over one hundred miles of road. These mines are operated by the Detroit Salt Company.

The Motor City also has some amazing green spaces as well. The nearly 1,000 acre Belle Isle Park is the largest island park in the United States. It features a golf course, basketball courts, baseball fields, and its own museum. Besides Belle Isle, there's the River Rouge, Palmer Park, Chandler Park, Fort Wayne, and the famous River Walk. The same mind behind NYC's Central Park, Frederick Olmstead Law, designed the nearly 300 acre Palmer Park back in the 19th century. These areas offer great opportunities to explore the outdoors. Finding places to walk, jog, bike, swim, or golf is easy in the Motor City.

Despite the city's reputation, Detroit has been hard at work fixing its finances and rebuilding. Detroit is now home to a lot of hipsters, artists, and other urban dwellers committed to building a better city. The city's official Latin motto "Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus" fits this perfectly. In English it means "We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes."

Affordable homes are easy to find in Detroit. You can find a three bed, two-bath house in the hot Rivertown area for less than $100k. As of 2013, the average home price in the city was under $60k.

Some great neighborhoods include Sherwood Forest, the University District, Green Acres, and the Detroit Golf Club, all located in the vicinity of Palmer Park. You can find many historic homes, including one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the home of the famous Grinnell's piano makers. Take a short drive down to the West Outer Drive and you can see the former homes of Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and Barry Gordon.

Just to give you a heads up, winters in Detroit can be brutally cold. It's a good idea to winterize your home so that you can save money on heating bills.

But Detroit is a great town for sports fans. Football at Ford Field, as well as hockey and basketball, will provide you with plenty of winter options. Come summer, you can enjoy baseball as well. If you're looking for a good school system in Detroit for your kids, there are some good private schools and the suburbs also have good public schools.

Grocery stores are in small supply throughout much of the city. However, Detroit is home to the Eastern Market, one of the best farmers markets in the USA. It's open year round, and you'll often have a large number of choices for produce, flowers, meats, and household goods.

Detroit has a higher than average crime rate, although conditions are improving. There were 7,907 crimes per 100K people in Detroit versus 3,099 per 100K for the rest of the USA. What's this mean? Be vigilant, mind your business, keep the doors locked, and be especially careful in rougher neighborhoods.

Getting around Detroit can also be difficult if you don't own a car. Many areas of the city are not very walkable, and public transportation is quite limited. Biking is an option in some areas, but the cycle infrastructure isn't as well developed as some other cities.

Either way, for many people Detroit is a great place to live or visit. Green spaces, a rich history, a unique and vibrant culture, sports, affordable housing, Detroit has a lot of to offer.