Book-Online-Hotel.com Information United States Detroit

A simulated-color satellite image of Detroit taken on NASA's Landsat 7 satellite. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 142.9 square miles (370.2 km²). 138.8 square miles (359.4 km²) of it is land and 4.2 square miles (10.8 km²) of it is water. The total area is 2.92% water. The elevation at the Coleman A. Young International Airport in northeastern Detroit is 626 feet (190.8 m).
Sitting atop a large salt mine [2], Detroit is located on the north bank of the Detroit River, between Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, in southeastern Michigan. It lies north of Windsor, Ontario, which is often referred to by residents of the city as their "neighbor to the south." Detroit features two border crossings: the privately-owned Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel that has motor vehicle and railroad access to and from Canada.
Detroit completely encircles the cities of Hamtramck and Highland Park. In its northeast corner are Harper Woods and the four cities and single village that make up the Grosse Pointes. Detroit has for years been culturally divided into East Side and West Side, with Woodward Avenue as the dividing line. The city is criss-crossed by three systems of roads: the original French roads running perpendicular to the river, radial roads from a Washington, D.C.-inspired system and true north-south roads from the Northwest Ordinance township system.

Downtown Detroit buildings, the historic Art Deco Guardian Building is on the left

Downtown Detroit buildings, the historic Art Deco Guardian Building is on the left Detroit contains an eclectic combination of architectural styles. United States with more than 150 businesses. Despite these commercial and residential areas, abandoned buildings and large tracts of empty land remain throughout the city — notably in the downtown area. In recent years, the city has undertaken efforts to demolish abandoned buildings to remove suspected criminal elements using the structures and to revitalize the city.
Detroit and the rest of southeastern Michigan have a typically Midwestern temperate seasonal climate, which is influenced by the Great Lakes. Winters are cold with moderate snowfall while summers can be warm and somewhat humid.[3] The average high temperature in July is 85 °F (29 °C) and in January highs average 33 °F (1 °C). Summer temperatures can top over 90 °F (32 °C), and winter temperatures rarely drop below 0 °F (?17 °C). Average monthly precipitation ranges from about two to four inches (4 to 9 cm), being heaviest in the summer months. Snowfall, which normally occurs from November to early April, ranges from 1 to 10 inches (3 to 25 cm) per month.[4] The highest recorded temperature was 103.0 °F (39.0 °C) on June 25, 1988, while the lowest recorded temperature was ?17.0 °F (?27.0 °C) on January 19, 1994.[5] See also: Neighborhoods and projects in Detroit, Michigan

Economy

A United States Coast Guard Cutter passes the Renaissance Center, headquarters of General Motors.

A United States Coast Guard Cutter passes the Renaissance Center, headquarters of General Motors. Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a manufacturing powerhouse, most notably as home to the American Germany). Dotting the Detroit landscape are countless offices and plants in the automotive support business: parts, supplies, electronics, and design. It is not uncommon in Detroit to hear radio ads or to spy billboards in which multimillion-dollar auto corporations make insider sales pitches to one another. Nevertheless, there is a flip side to the automotive dominance: because of its almost singular dependence on the auto industry, Detroit is more acutely vulnerable to economic cycles than most large cities. According to one saying, "When the auto industry hiccups, Detroit coughs, and when the auto industry catches a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia." Detroit is often one of the first cities to feel the effects of a nationwide recession and one of the last to recover from it.
Including the Big Three, there are seventeen Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Metro Detroit, including Borders Books and Music, Comerica, Federal-Mogul, Kelly Services, and Lear Corporation. Detroit is home to Compuware and the national pizza chain Little Caesars. Other major industries include advertising, medical services, chemicals, computer software, and casino gambling.
J.W. Westcott II, which is the only floating post office in the world, operates on the Detroit River.

Crime

During the latter half of the 20th century, Detroit's crime figures were often among the highest in the U.S. The city is currently listed as the second most dangerous city by the Morgan Quitno Corporation's statistics [14] (after Camden, New Jersey). Detroit is consistently in the top five for homicide rates, and was third in 2004, with a murder rate of 42.1 per 100,000. The highest murder total for Detroit was 714 murders in 1974, though the highest murder rate was recorded in 1991, when there were 615 homicides and the city's population was just over a million. This factored into a rate of around 60 murders per 100,000. Many of these problems are blamed on the widespread middle-class flight (which has contributed greatly to urban decay), poverty, de facto segregation of the region, and unemployment. In 2005, there were 374 murders in Detroit.
An analysis of crime in downtown Detroit by the Michigan Metropolitan Information Center at Wayne State University found crime rates in the central city lower than rates for the entire nation, state and other large Michigan metro areas — and improving. Detroit also includes many middle-class neighborhoods in which crime is far less prevalent than in more impoverished areas of the city. On the other hand, many of the suburbs, which are predominantly United States with a population of 75,000 or above.
The city has, in the past, faced hundreds of arsons, often in the city's many abandoned homes, each year on Devil's Night, the evening before Halloween. The Angel's Night campaign, launched in the late 1990s, draws tens of thousands of volunteers to patrol the streets during Halloween week. The effort has put a serious damper on Devil's Night arson: in 2002, there were just 110 fires during the October 29–31 period, representing a 30 percent decline in total fires and a 41 percent decline in suspicious fires; this compares to 500-800 fires in past decades. In 2003, the three-day number was 117, increasing slightly to 141 in 2004; officials attributed the 2004 increase to power lines being knocked down by high winds.

Culture

Music and performing arts

The Fisher Building, located in the City's New Center area, home to the Fisher Theatre.

The Fisher Building, located in the City's New Center area, home to the Fisher Theatre.
Main article: Music of Detroit

Music has been the dominant feature of Detroit's nightlife since the late 1940s. The metropolitan area boasts two of the top live music venues in the U.S. DTE Energy Music Theatre (formerly Pine Knob) was the most attended summer venue in the U.S. in 2005 for the fifteenth consecutive year, while The Palace of Auburn Hills ranked twelfth, according to music industry source Pollstar. Detroit is considered by most industry analysts as the best concert market in the U.S. in per capita terms.
The city has the second-largest theater district in America, after New Masonic Temple Theatre, Music Hall, and the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Historically, Detroit's former Black Bottom neighborhood was a major jazz and blues mecca through the 1950s; its influence would still be felt decades later. Major jazz stars of the era often came to Black Bottom to perform in its many venues.

The Logo for the Motown Records label, founded in Detroit.

The Logo for the Motown Records label, founded in Detroit. One of the highlights of Detroit's musical history was the success of Motown Records during the 1960s and early 1970s. The label was founded in Detroit by Berry Gordy, Jr. and housed at the "Hitsville U.S.A." complex along West Grand Boulevard until 1972. Motown was home to some of the most popular recording acts in the world, including Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas. One major Detroit R&B artist from this era that was not in Motown's stable was Aretha Franklin.
Metro Detroit also spawned in the late 1960s a unique, high-energy rock scene in antithesis to Motown and the more mellow scenes popular on the coasts. Area artists MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges laid the groundwork for the punk rock movement in the mid-1960s. Rock acts from southeast Michigan that first enjoyed success in the area include 1970s icons Bob Seger, Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, The Romantics and Grand Funk Railroad as well as recent acts The White Stripes, and The Von Bondies. Detroit is also home to The Black Dahlia Murder, a popular death metal band. The Detroit area is also generally accepted as the birthplace of the Techno movement, which has grown from local radio and clubs to dance venues worldwide over the past 25 years. As of 2006, fourteen groups or solo artists, four nonperformers, and two sidemen connected with the Detroit area have been enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Detroit is more recently home to many hip-hop artists such as: Aaliyah, Eminem, Royce Da 5'9", Slum Village, Alley Life, Rock Bottom, Juan, Trick Trick & The Goon Sqwad, D12, Teairra Mari, Tone-Tone, MC Breed, Blade Icewood, Big Herk, the Street Lord'z, Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid are among the musical acts who have kept the diverse musical pipeline flowing.

Events

A view looking south down Brush Street at the Renaissance Center (rear left) and the Wayne County Building (right). The giant decal on the Renaissance Center was installed for the 2005 MLB All-Star Game. It is 4,612 ft (1,375 m) from the home plate in Comerica Park to the main tower of the Renaissance Center. Detroit has two major events that are associated with the automobile industry: the North American International Auto Show (January) and the Woodward Dream Cruise (August). A number of annual music events occur in the city, which are the Downtown Hoedown country music festival (May), DEMF/Movement/Fuse-In electronic music festival (May), Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival (September), and the Concert of Colors, a diverse summer music festival.
Other Detroit events include: the Detroit Thunder Fest hydroplane race (July), America's Thanksgiving Parade.
Due to the large Polish population, the day before Ash Wednesday, or the festival of Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday is more frequently known locally as P?czki Day (though traditionally celebrated by Poles five days earlier on Fat Thursday). Many Metro Detroiters join in the festivity by indulging in jelly-filled donuts called p?czkis.

Fashions

Detroit is a city known for style. One of the most known fashions of Detroit are suits with alligator shoes, and the city is often referred to as "Alligator City." Many inner-city young adults seem to take a liking in wearing fashionable streetwear or workwear such as Iceberg History, and more recently Pelle Pelle, and Al Wissam leather jackets.

Food

Founded in 1907 by two Russian immigrant brothers in Detroit, Better Made Chips Factory which makes potato chips, Detroit is also considered the birthplace of the Coney Island hot dog, a chili dog with onions and mustard.

Media

The major daily Michigan Chronicle, the state's largest African American owned newspaper, and the Michigan Citizen, another publication that targets African American readers.
The Detroit television market is the eleventh largest in the United States.[23] Most television stations broadcasting from Detroit have their studios in Southfield, which is also the site of transmission facilities of almost all Detroit-based stations. Stations broadcasting from Detroit include WJBK (Fox), WDIV-TV (NBC), WXYZ (ABC), and WWJ-TV (CBS). Other Metro Detroit television stations include WDWB (The WB), WKBD-TV (UPN), WPXD-TV (Pax TV) and WADL-TV (primarily broadcasting infomercials). WTVS is the city's PBS member station. Detroiters also receive the broadcast signal from CBET channel 9, the CBC Television affiliate based in Windsor. Depending on the location, some viewers can also receive the TVOntario, CTV, Global, A-Channel, Citytv, and SRC networks. People who live in the downtown area can also receive channels from Toledo, Ohio, and from other Michigan cities such as Flint, Bay City, and Midland. Comcast has the one cable franchise so far granted by the city.
Detroit is also served by a variety of Windsor radio stations CIMX 88.7 and CBC 89.9 can also be heard in the Detroit area.
In the 1960s, before widespread rock music exposure in national media, Detroit-area radio stations, especially CKLW with its powerful signal, were instrumental in propelling many musical acts, both local and out-of-town, to national stardom.

Sites of interest

Front of the Detroit Institute of Art located in Midtown

Front of the Detroit Institute of Art located in Midtown The Charles McGee. The Detroit Institute of Arts is located in an area near Wayne State University known as the Cultural Center, which is also the site of 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 the Motown Historical Museum, Tuskegee Airmen Museum, Historic Fort Wayne (Detroit), Dossin Great Lakes Museum, and the Belle Isle Conservatory.
Major parks include Belle Isle (the largest island park within a city in the U.S.), Palmer Park, River Rouge Park, Chene Park and Campus Martius Park. Hart Plaza, located between the Renaissance Center and Cobo Hall on the riverfront, is the site of many events, notably various music festivals. Other city recreational facilities include municipal golf courses (William Rogell, Rouge, Belle Isle, Palmer Park), Northwest Activities Center, Detroit Zoo, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, and the Belle Isle Aquarium. As of April 2005 the Aquarium and Zoo at Belle Isle are closed, though there is a movement to reopen them.
The most important civic sculpture in Detroit is the "Spirit of Detroit", which when it was installed in 1958 was the largest cast sculpture made since the Renaissance. The 16 foot (4 m) tall bronze kneeling man holds a gold orb in one hand and a golden family in the other. The image is often used as a symbol of Detroit and the statue itself is occasionally dressed in sports uniforms to celebrate when a Detroit team is doing well. 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 24 foot high pyramidal framework.

Sports

Detroit is home to professional teams representing the four major sports in North America. All but two play within the city of Detroit (basketball's Detroit Pistons and Detroit Shock play in suburban Auburn Hills). There are three active major sports venues in the city: Comerica Park for baseball, Ford Field for football, and Joe Louis Arena for ice hockey. Club
Sport
League
Stadium
Logo Detroit Tigers
Baseball
MLB
Comerica Park

Detroit Tigers logo

Detroit Lions
Football
NFL
Ford Field

Detroit Lions logo

Detroit Pistons
Basketball
NBA
Palace of Auburn Hills

Detroit Pistons logo

Detroit Red Wings
Ice Hockey
NHL
Joe Louis Arena

Detroit Red Wings logo

Detroit Shock
Basketball (Women's)
WNBA
Palace of Auburn Hills

Detroit Shock logo

Like many industrial cities, Detroit is known for its avid fans, particularly in such blue-collar sports as football (Detroit Lions) and hockey (Detroit Red Wings). Detroit is perhaps the most fervent hockey hotbed in the United States. A Red Wings marketing campaign in the late 1990s launched the nickname Hockeytown, a city moniker subsequently embraced by local fans and national media.
In college sports, the University of Detroit Mercy has a NCAA Division I program, and Wayne State University has both NCAA Division I and II programs. The NCAA football Motor City Bowl is held here each December.
Detroit is home to the United States through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. It is the world's only cross-national marathon. The city is also home to the APBA Gold Cup unlimited hydroplane boat race, which is held in Detroit each year since 1990. The race occurs on the Detroit River near Belle Isle.
Detroit was also the former home of a round of the Formula One World Championship, holding a race on the streets of downtown Detroit from 1985 until 1988, after which the sanction moved from Formula One to Indycars. CART continued downtown until 1992, when the race was moved to another temporary course on Belle Isle where the race remained through 2001.
Detroit was a finalist in bidding for the 1944, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 Summer Olympic Games. No other city has made it to the final IOC Olympic host city elections as often without eventually being selected. [24]
Comerica Park hosted the 2005 MLB All Star Game on July 12, 2005, and Ford Field hosted Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006. A world record was set on December 13, 2003, when the largest crowd in basketball history — 78,129 — packed Ford Field to watch the University of Kentucky defeat Michigan State University, 79–74. See also: U.S. cities with teams from four major sports