About Detroit, Michigan (courtesy of Wikipedia)
Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the seat of Wayne County.
Founded in 1701 by French fur traders, it is a major port city, located north of Windsor, Ontario, on the Detroit River in the Midwest/Great Lakes Region of the United States. It is known as the world's traditional automotive center and an important source of popular-music legacies, celebrated by the city's two familiar nicknames, Motor City and Motown. The city's name comes from the Detroit River (in French Rivière du Détroit), meaning "River of the Strait." The name alludes to the connection the river forms between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie.
In 2005, Detroit ranked as the United States's 11th most populous city, with 886,675 residents; this number is less than half the peak population in 1950, and Detroit is among the leaders in the nation in terms of declining urban population over the past fifty years. It is the focal city of the nation's tenth-largest metropolitan area. In 2006, Detroit's inner-city was ranked the most dangerous place in North America (in terms of general violence, homicides, rapes and other such crimes).
Detroit's crime rate has brought it notoriety, while the city continues to struggle with the burdens of racial disharmony between itself and its suburban neighbors. The city has experienced budget shortfalls,[4] leading to cuts in city services. Nevertheless, Detroit is currently experiencing a downtown revival with the construction of the Compuware headquarters, a recently renovated Renaissance Center, three gambling casinos, new stadiums and the Detroit Riverwalk. The city serves as an entertainment hub for the metropolitan region.
Residents are generally known as "Detroiters." The name Detroit is also sometimes used as shorthand for the entire Metro Detroit area, a sprawling region with a population of 4,488,335 for the Metropolitan Statistical Area and a population of 5,456,428 for the nine county Combined Statistical Area as of the 2005 Census Bureau estimates. If the adjacent Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario and its suburbs are counted, the area has a total population of about 6 million (see: Windsor-Detroit).
The city was called the Paris of the West in the late 19th century due to its elegant architecture and public squares; in the mid-20th century it was called Rock City due to its association with the development of rock music. Today, local colloquialisms for the city include The D, The 313 (its area code) and D City.
Many of Metro Detroit's museums are located in the Cultural Center near Wayne State University. These museums include Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Historical Museum, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit Science Center, and the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Other cultural highlights include Motown Historical Museum, Tuskegee Airmen Museum, Fort Wayne, Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), and the Belle Isle Conservatory. Important history of Detroit and the surrounding area is exhihibited at the The Henry Ford, the nation's largest indoor-outdoor museum complex
The Detroit Historical Society at the Detroit Historical Museum provides information about tours of Detroit area churches, skyscrapers, and mansions. Of the mansions built by the auto barons in the area, only the Fisher Mansion is in Detroit. Detroit's Greektown is a National Historic Landmark site and serves as a downtown entertainment district with many restaurants. The Eastern Market farmer's distribution center is the largest open-air flowerbed market in the United States and has more than 150 foods and specialty businesses. Detroit is the largest city to offer major casino hotels which include MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Greektown Casino.
Hart Plaza, between the Renaissance Center and Cobo Hall on the riverfront, is the site of many events including the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival in late June with one of the nation's largest displays of fireworks and the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Within the city, Campus Martius Park hosts events such as the Motown Winter Blast. As the world's traditional automotive center, Detroit hosts the North American International Auto Show. The America's Thanksgiving Parade — previously referred to as the Hudson's Thanksgiving Day Parade — is one of the nation's largest and has been held continuously since 1924.
Other sites of interest are the Detroit Zoo, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, and the Belle Isle Aquarium. The aquarium on Belle Isle is currently closed. The J.W. Westcott II, which delivers mail to freighters on the Detroit River, is the world's only floating post office.
The most important civic sculpture in Detroit is Marshall Fredericks' "Spirit of Detroit" at the Coleman Young Municipal Center. The image is often used as a symbol of Detroit and the statue itself is occasionally dressed in sports jerseys to celebrate when a Detroit team is doing well.[34] A memorial to Joe Louis at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward Avenues was dedicated on October 16, 1986. The sculpture, commissioned by Sports Illustrated and executed by Robert Graham, is a 24 foot (7.3 m) long arm with a fisted hand suspended by a pyramidal framework.
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