"Specifically, where a once-ominous and deserted nighttime downtown core is transformed into a teeming weekend winter wonderland. The type that's full of families in matching puffy coats and gaggles of teens cautiously eyeing each other over hot chocolates like something out of a 21st-century Norman Rockwell painting. "
WHAT?!!! Is this the same Detroit we are talking about? ~David ---------- Original Message ------------- Subject: (313) Detroit in Motion! Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 12:38:03 -0500 From: "Gerald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <313@hyperreal.org> A friend of mine posted this article from the Globe & Mail (a Toronto Based newspaper) the other day. OT - but kinda funny reading this - seeing as how there has been a bevy of posts on the 'Crisis in Detroit' recently. After decades of neglect, the city once known for packing heat is now generating some. Downtown buildings are being resurrected, eclectic eateries are springing up and the city has landed next year's Super Bowl. DOMINIC PATTEN goes exploring By DOMINIC PATTEN Special to The Globe and Mail Wednesday, February 2, 2005 - Page R10 As you chill the beer and open your dip and hips in preparation for watching this year's Super Bowl from Jacksonville, Fla., just take a moment to think about miracles. And I'm not talking about the Philadelphia Eagles defeating the odds-on favourites and defending champions, the New England Patriots. I'm talking about urban miracles. Specifically, where a once-ominous and deserted nighttime downtown core is transformed into a teeming weekend winter wonderland. The type that's full of families in matching puffy coats and gaggles of teens cautiously eyeing each other over hot chocolates like something out of a 21st-century Norman Rockwell painting. That's what it was like at downtown Detroit's new Campus Martius Park for the very first Motown Winter Blast this year. After decades of neglect and disrepair, the city that was once best known for packing heat is now generating some. "Detroit is a city undergoing a renaissance," Jennifer Granholm, the Vancouver-born governor of Michigan, said in an interview, "and now is the time to see it." The city has become a burgeoning dining, sporting, entertainment and cultural centre. In recent years, Detroit has turned things around, building on the best of its past and betting on the future, and even landing Super Bowl XL in 2006. Three casinos have opened in the city since 1999 and big business has returned. Many of the former ruins of Detroit -- the warehouses, factories and corporate headquarters -- have been turned into either retail stores or high-end lofts for the affluent professionals moving back downtown. New stadiums, hotels, clubs and restaurants have also opened their doors and flourished. It's not the first time the city locals call "the D" glittered so brightly. As recently as the 1950s, when it boomed with the wealth of the auto industry, Detroit had it all. But cities, like heavyweight champions, never stay on top forever and even the Big Three couldn't withstand the riots of the 1960s, the flight of the middle class to the suburbs, the decimation of the manufacturing and tax base, and soaring crime rates that consistently saw Detroit labelled "the most dangerous city in America." For years, the city virtually turned a blind eye to the urban blight that dominated downtown. Vandalism and squalor occupied many buildings. In 1988, not a single construction permit was issued in Detroit. For a city that was once renowned for its stunning architectural vista, it was a burnt-out husk "We all know the decline of the city didn't happen overnight," said Susan Sherer, the executive director of Detroit's Super Bowl Committee, "and it can't be fixed overnight, but there's a lot we've done, and lots more we can do." Slight good news came late last year when the annual City Crime Rankings publication, based on crime data reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2003, upgraded Detroit to the second-most dangerous city in America, after Camden, N.J. Better news, like the devil, is in the details. The ranking is based on all of Metro Detroit, and as police insist, violent crime and petty theft is significantly down, especially in the downtown core. "I would put our downtown up against any downtown across the world," Second Deputy Police Chief James Tate said. "It is by far the safest place in the entire city." This January, at the Motown Winter Blast, tens of thousands braved the cold and the downtown streets to take in dogsled rides and ice skating with local National Hockey League legends, as well as sample music and food from local performers and restaurants at Campus Martius Park. "We had around 250,000 guests here for the Auto Show and the inaugural Winter Blast this year," Deputy Chief Tate said, "and not a single incident." That's a good omen for the Super Bowl extravaganza next February when Motor City expects an estimated 150,000 visitors and 800 million television viewers. (As a process of continuing beautification, the city is trying to deal with its abandoned buildings by aggressively identifying absentee landlords and opening cafés and retail stores on the buildings' ground floors in the coming year. If that isn't an option, some will be draped in flags and façades: a temporary but cosmetic fix for a potential Super Bowl eyesore.) The Winter Blast and this year's Auto Show were but a couple of the events going on in Detroit over the next 12 months and beyond. In March, there's a vintage couture exhibition including outfits by design houses such as Balenciaga and Dior at the Henry Ford Museum. The Majestic Theater Center on Woodward Avenue, in the city's downtown cultural district, will be the place to be in April. That's when Detroit -- the hometown of Motown, the MC5, hip-hop superstar Eminem and the White Stripes -- launches the Motor City Music Conference with performances from more than 400 national and local-based artists in 40 different venues throughout the city. The block-long Majestic complex, whose art-deco façade has recently been renovated, has been at the heart of Detroit's music scene for years. Some of the conference attendees may grab a bite at the Majestic Café or the Pizzeria. Most, however, will want to either take in a big show at the theatre itself or check out the action upstairs on stage at the Magic Stick. The Red Wings are clipped right now because of the NHL lockout, but Major League baseball will play its annual All-Star Game in front of 40,000 fans at Comerica Park, the home of the Detroit Tigers, on July 12. With its Ferris wheel, pantheon of fame and giant Tigers pacing the rim of the multipurpose stadium, Comerica Park, which opened in 2000, is almost a bigger star than the players on its field. The theory is that big ticket events, along with the return of corporations such as General Motors and Compuware, and their thousands of employees, provide fuel that's turning the downtown around. So, while the Pistons, the current National Basketball Association champions, actually play out in suburban Auburn Hills, top-notch hoops will return in 2008 and 2009 when the regional and Final Four tournaments of National Collegiate Athletic Association are held downtown. "Having the new dual stadiums of Comerica Park and Ford Field right downtown has spurred numerous bars, restaurants, housing and new business," said Mike Healy, a spokesman for the Detroit Tigers. Just a few years ago, the downtown was so pockmarked that the best part of walking around was the dramatic steam from the manhole covers. Now, getting around the city has become more pleasant thanks to multimillion-dollar renovations that have widened downtown sidewalks and beautified them with benches and better lighting. The opening of the magnificently resurrected 40-storey Guardian building on nearby Griswold Street and the illuminating glass of Compuware's 15-storey world headquarters brought a further injection of retailers, including Borders Books, into the city's core. After years of looking like a bomb crater, Campus Martius Park, the city's flagship urban space, was finally finished. With its skating rink, indoor café and warming area, the park, unveiled in November, 2004, was another benchmark in bringing a healthy street life back to downtown. "The city has always had a lot going on," said Robert Stanzler, owner of the internationally sold Made In Detroit clothing line. He has been selling T-shirts and jackets that proclaim "Detroit Muscle" for almost a decade. Almost two years ago, Stanzler opened his first store, in the Greektown neighbourhood. It has been a success and Stanzler thinks it has to do with the changing ethos of his town. "We needed to show some positive hometown pride, to show what a cool, what a historic and significant place this city is." The resurrection of Detroit has as much to do with fixing the old as it has with building the new. Four 19th-century mansions were renovated in 2000 to make up the Inn on Ferry Street. Surrounded by museums in the city's cultural centre, the inn recalls the vast wealth that once permeated Detroit. "The inn," it was noted when the establishment was given a National Preservation Award in 2002, "is a signal to Detroit that preservation is good for business and lays a strong foundation for the future." A century or two away from the Inn on Ferry Street, the Renaissance Center has put paid to the notion that modernity can't be fixed. A critic once called the four soaring towers, which dominate views of the city, "fortress architecture that cities ought to shun." Now, after an eight-year and $500-million surgery, the centre has turned into a swan. The worldwide headquarters of GM, the aptly named Renaissance has emerged with an inviting Jefferson Avenue pavilion, a car museum, restaurants, a shopping mall and a glass Winter Garden at the rear of the complex that looks out on to the city's recently completed scenic river walk and park. Seldom Blues, located on the same level as the Marriott's main entrance, opened its doors and its kitchen in June, 2004. The combo of jazz club and sleek dining might not seem a natural jam, but, it works. Fine feasting has become a growth industry in Detroit. There's still the four-diamond pleasures of Iridescence and the palatial luxury of the Whitney, but the city has seen over two dozen new restaurants open in the past few years. Want to nibble? Hit Small Plates, where almost everything on the varied menu is a delicious appetizer. Want atmosphere and American fare? Go to Congress, the basement ultra-lounge that is part nightclub and part good eats. Want some delicacies and dancing? There's the Rhino @ Harmonie Park, a soulful hot spot with great lamb chops. Detroit has also much to offer to the cultural traveller. The now-thriving theatre district has more seats than anywhere else in the United States except New York. At the Motown Historical Museum, you can stand where the Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye recorded some of their best-known hits in Studio A. Or check out the ideals of arts and crafts at Pewabic Pottery or the healing power of song at the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame. African Americans make up the majority of Detroit's population and the largest museum in the United States dedicated to their history is here. With Black History month upon us, the Charles W. Wright's permanent exhibition, And We Still Rise, which made its debut in November, and the travelling exhibition Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America, on display until Feb. 27, simultaneously reveal how far things have come and how far they still have to go. Just up the street sits the Detroit Institute of Art. Though it's under renovation until 2007, the DIA is worth a visit. Auto fortunes brought the world's masterpieces to Detroit from ancient and rare Mesopotamian moulds to Chinese scholarly paintings to self-portraits by van Gogh and Warhol. The most potent and localized gem in the collection is Mexican muralist Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Frescoes. Nelson Rockefeller destroyed the Rivera mural his family commissioned in New York, but the auto barons ignored the artist's socialist subtext and revelled in his depiction of the physical power and design of their industry. Visitors can glean some of Rivera's inspiration by taking a tour of the Ford Rouge Factory in nearby Dearborn. The muralist spent a month in 1932 studying what was then the world's largest industrial complex, producing millions of cars a year. Tours were discontinued in the 1980s for safety reasons, but last May, after years of refurbishment under the supervision of Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, the plant, with a new visitors centre, was reopened. The new Rouge tour provides a bird's-eye view of the assembly line in action. The films and guide lectures are suitably self-aggrandizing, but once you're in the actual factory, the rubber really hits the road. Strolling the catwalks is a bit like being inside the Death Star from the first Star Wars movie, but in a good way -- the beauty and functionality of the Rouge's industrial design was a model in efficiency. After the Rouge, buses take you back to the Henry Ford Museum. The museum, which opened in 1929, is filled with a collection that could have been curated by Dr. Seuss. There is a vast array of trains (including the world's oldest surviving steam engine), planes and automobiles, including the car JFK was killed in. The Henry Ford also captures the highs and lows of American Exceptionalism with such vestiges as the chair that Abraham Lincoln was shot in and the bus that Rosa Parks refused to go sit at the back of. In many ways, it's emblematic of the history of Detroit. The rise, the promise, the fall and the stubborn refusal to take it any more. WHERE TO STAY -Inn On Ferry Street: 84 East Ferry; 313-871-6000; http://www.ferrystreetinn.com. History meets modernity. -The Marriot at the Renaissance Center: Renaissance Center; 313-568-8000; http://www.marriott.com. With its 73 floors and 1,300 rooms, it feels a bit like being on the set of a sophisticated sci-fi flick. WHERE TO EAT -Seldom Blues: 400 Renaissance Center; http://www.seldomblues.com; 313-567-7301. Great vibe, jazz and views of the Detroit River. -The Whitney: 4421 Woodward Ave.; http://www.thewhitney.com; 313-832-5700. Lumber baron's mansion still sparkles with old world glamour. -Astoria Pastries: 541 Monroe St.; 313-963-9603. Try the house specialty -- frozen-lemonade smoothie. DIVERSIONS -Charles W. Wright Museum of African American History: 315 East Warren St.; 313-494-5800; http://www.maah-detroit.org. An abundance of culture, history and pride. -Detroit Institute of Arts: 5200 Woodward Ave.; 313-833-7900; http://www.dia.org. Under renovation, enough of its permanent collectionon is ondisplay to make it impressive. -Comerica Park/Ford Field: 2100 Woodward Ave.; http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com. Replacing the fabled Tiger Stadium was no easy task, but Comerica Park, and its neighbour, Ford Field, do a pretty darn good job. -MGM Grand Casino: 1300 John C. Lodge; 1-877-888-2121; http://detroit.mgmgrand.com. Go any day, any time for the full-on experience. -Majestic Theater Center; 4120-4140 Woodward Ave.; 313-833-9700; http://www.majesticdetroit.com. Pivotal Detroit hangout. -Campus Martius Park: 800 Woodward Ave.; http://www.campusmartiuspark.org. Detroit's new people-watching perch. -Motor City Music Conference: (April 20-24); http://www.motorcitymusic.com. -MLB All-Star Game: (July 12) Comerica Park; http://mlb.mlb.com. Made In Detroit: 400 Monroe St.; http://www.madeindetroit.com; 313-963-6080 Eminem wore some of MID's hometown gear in the movie 8 Mile. MORE INFORMATION -Detroit Tourism: 313-202-1800; http://www.visitdetroit.com. -Super Bowl XL: (Feb. 5, 2006) Ford Field; http://www.sbxl.org. website: www.gerald-matrix.com event organiser/writer/dj: Kick Magazine - www.kickmagazine.ca radio host: Equinox Radio on Electrique @ www.netmusique.com
