I hadn't been up to the Motor City in a couple of years, so when I had a few days off I decided to take a road trip up to see how things had been progressing. I was genuinely amazed at how much had changed there so quickly. There's still a lot of work to be done, obviously, but if Detroit can do it, any city can do it. Detroiters should be really proud of their town.

 

The windows are almost all installed at Michigan Central Station. Not the best, but hopefully they'll help preserve the building.

 

This was actually my first time stopping at the station. My schedule was really tight, so I didn't really get around Corktown as much as I would have liked, but after this trip I now have fifty other reasons to get back to Motown.

 

 

 

Ambassador Bridge and St Anne's. I was hoping to drive out to St Anne's because it's a gorgeous church, but the weather was typical Great Lakes Fall Weather^TM and the lighting was kinda crappy.

 

Heading downtown.

 

 

Proof that Cincinnati's streetcar is going to transform Cincy into Detroit. Or is the M1 light rail going turn Detroit into Cincinnati?

 

 

My friend works for Quicken in One Campus Martius, and he was kind enough to take me up to his office to have a look around.

 

This guy was painting one of those murals that looks 3D when you stand in the right place. It was really great how much Dan Gilbert puts into public art.

 

Speaking of Dan Gilbert, all of the buildings in this model with red roofs are owned by him. So, he essentially owns downtown.

 

 

The view from the 10th floor. Sorry for the awkward angle, I was trying to cut down on window glare.

 

The ice rink is out... signs that winter is approaching quickly.

 

 

The Hudson's Hole desperately needs something built on it. It's the Detroit equivalent of the Public Square lot.

 

 

 

 

Back on terra firma... one of the many, many Shepard Fairey murals.

 

The quality of the street art here is crazy.

 

 

 

Practically everything along Woodward is in some stage of renovation. Lot of fancy stores and national big-name labels starting to appear. The momentum is incredible. Who would have thought even five/seven years ago that all of this was possible?

 

I wish the C's had this level of investment from the private sector. We're doing a lot right in Ohio right now, but the way that Detroit has completely changed its brand is utterly mind-boggling.

 

We took the People Mover over to the RenCen. I love and hate this building.

 

 

I'm always amazed at how icy-blue the Detroit River is. Is there any sort of hydrological reason for this, or does light just hit it right?

 

It's sacrilege to go to Detroit and not visit the Guardian.

 

This was my first time getting into the "back half" of the lobby... the ceiling is actually made of fabric for soundproofing purposes.

 

 

 

Cadillac Square.

 

Yet another building owned by Dan. Very interesting lobby renovation.

 

You can see the combination of the old ornate lobby mixed with the exposed beams and modern wavy lights.

 

I hope the old county building gets put back into use.

 

Does anyone else think that the Ernst and Young building looks like it should be ten stories taller than it is?

 

 

The sky finally started to clear a bit...

 

My sister lives in Ypsilanti, so I picked her up and we hung out in Washtenaw County for a while.

 

 

The Ypsi water tower has some slightly inappropriate nicknames...

 

There was fall colors everywhere. The foliage in Cincinnati just can't match the colors of the Great Lakes region.

 

 

 

 

Hopping over to Ann Arbor... this was one day before U of M's loss to State, so the city was still packed and energetic. Seriously, the traffic in downtown Ann Arbor could rival Manhattan for sheer insanity.

 

 

 

 

Like I said, the leaves were pretty much perfect.

 

 

Heading back to the city...

 

Let me take a moment to say that Eastern Market completely blew me away. It's the West Side Market times five, and while the market houses aren't as beautiful as WSM, the sheer scale and quantity of the neighborhood outpaces any other public market I've gotten to visit in America. $6/lb for a slab of porterhouse steaks! Unbelievable.

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the church was locked. Would have loved to see the interior. I'm a sucker for beautiful old churches. But heck, who isn't?

 

This picture doesn't really show it, but this stretch of Gratiot really has a "big city" feel to it with all the street vendors and just generally being packed with people. It had an almost Chicago-esque vibe to it, which was really cool. I just don't really get that same bustling "big city" feeling anywhere in Cincinnati.

 

More buildings along Gratiot. If you're in the area, take time to visit Busy Bee Hardware. Maybe it's more interesting for me since my family's been in the hardware business for generations, but the guys had some good stories.

 

More insane street art.

 

Time warp to Midtown. We went and checked out the history museum, which was pretty interesting.

 

Downtown Detroit is really fun to shoot with a telephoto lens. The downtown street "grid" (radial pattern?) makes everything line up at weird angles which makes the skyscrapers look much more massive and dense than they are in reality. Wish I had had more time for some more shots.

 

Still need to get to DIA. One of these days!

 

The main atrium of the library. Absolutely gorgeous, but the whole building was in serious need of renovation. Cleveland and Cincy are lucky to have public libraries that are in such good shape.

 

 

The Fisher Building. Didn't actually have time to get up to New Center... that's part of the problem with traveling with folks who need to "do" things when on vacation. I'm perfectly content with just walking around neighborhoods looking at buildings!

 

 

 

The Ransom-Gillis house is looking habitable again!

 

 

 

Everyone knows these two beauties.

 

 

Comerica Park ruined my skyline shot...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whatever type of brick was used in Brush Park, it's gorgeous. As much as I love Cincinnati's architecture, there's something about a lot of the brick used throughout the city that doesn't sit well with me. Maybe I'm crazy.

 

 

Time warping back downtown one last time...

 

 

 

 

 

My camera was having none of the sun glare...

 

 

Wow, I'm exhausted and you probably are too. The progress Detroit has been making absolutely floors me, and I really hope that the pace that things are changing will continue for years to come. I really need a full week to myself to go through this town with a fine-toothed comb... So much to see and learn. Thanks again for sticking in there all the way to the end.

 

It just goes to show what one man with a ton of money and extreme civic pride coupled with a generational move back to the city can do. Awesome!

Every city needs a billionaire with immense civic pride.

 

Thanks for the tour. My time in Detroit has been limited to passing through on my way to Cranbrook a handful of times so it's nice to see it and the progress it's making.

Outstanding photos!  I have yet to truly explore the Motor City- I'm hoping to do so soon.  Detroit has large areas which could be looked at as a blank slate- a chance to re-imagine the city, much like large areas of Cleveland. Great set :-)

Detroit's core is starting to enter a real deal boom phase that is going to be making headlines for years to come. It's crazy to think that five years ago, great buildings were being leveled, and now there is going to be modern infill in those lots. Property prices are rising fast in Downtown and along Woodward Avenue. Residential vacancies are extremely low, possibly the lowest in the Rust Belt. It's fueling a lot of office conversions and a boom in nightlife. I noticed a dramatic change the last time I visited Detroit (2014). There is a lot more energy and more residential population in the core.

 

Growing up in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, I have a lot of mixed feelings about Detroit becoming a national "capital of cool," but anything to save the surviving historic architecture is a win in my book. Detroit is starting to become the next Brooklyn, and there is a ton of investment money pouring in from San Francisco and New York. It's not all Dan Gilbert and friends...coastal hipsters priced out of Oakland and Brooklyn are starting to move there now.

 

My hope is that Toledo gets some of this spillover. It's already starting to happen (lots of the same coastal investment groups are buying up Toledo properties too), but it's a much slower pace of redevelopment. The recession led to this, but Toledo is more "buy and hold." Detroit is really taking off. I actually think the city will level off at 650,000 people and then enter a sharp growth phase after that. It's going to be a very dramatic turnaround. One thing Detroit has really done well is market the hell out of itself. And they don't even need to, since there is still real native culture there. It's not all marketing hype like in Oakland and northern Brooklyn. Detroit's music and arts scene handily beats the vast majority of American cities. It always did. It's just now people are recognizing it nationwide...

 

*And although people rightfully focus on the light rail plans, the commuter rail plans in Southeast Michigan are what have me most excited. I hope Toledo can hook into this.

My last visit prior to this was in the early spring of 2013, and even in that relatively short period between March 2013 and October 2015, I noticed how much more electric Detroit's core neighborhoods had become. Downtown was literally dead two years ago, but this year downtown was hopping with young professionals and new, big-name businesses. Obviously there is still a ton of work to be done, but I really am in awe at how successful the city has managed to market itself, and locals are genuinely proud of their city. You know you're doing something right when the Pure Michigan commercials actually mention the existence of Detroit. I can think of a number of Ohio cities that wish they had a PR department that could spin that well.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see the D become a huge tech hub in the near future. The region already has the highest ratio of engineers in the country, and the Great Lakes region makes a lot of sense as a tech region as things continue to get more and more expensive in California.