Detroit People Mover in downtown Detroit
Credit: Vito Palmisano
Michigan’s largest city is nothing if not resilient, and a visit to
Detroit in 2019 turns the tables on 2013, when the city made
news for its record-breaking bankruptcy. Today, downtown is
awash with new developments and energy, especially along
Woodward Avenue, Detroit’s main drag, as cool jazz spills
into the streets and waiters serve jewel-toned drinks at mid-
century music clubs. A few blocks away, the sparkling Detroit
River welcomes families and friends to walk, run, and ride
along waterside promenades and old railway beds.
WHAT TO DO AND SEE
When Little Caesars Arena opened in 2017, the complex
transformed downtown Detroit into an athletics nirvana.
Home to the Pistons and Red Wings, and located within four
blocks of Comerica Park, where the Tigers play, and Ford Field,
home to the Lions, the arena forms the centerpiece of the new
50-block “District Detroit.”
FLYWASHINGTON.COM 36 SUMMER 2019
Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit
Credit: Bill Bowen
Directly south of the District, the RiverWalk runs alongside
the GM Headquarters towers and incorporates the wetlands
of Milliken State Park, a Great Lakes-themed carousel,
lighthouse and view of Ontario, Canada. The trail links to the
adjoining Dequindre Cut, a former railroad route. Set largely
below street level, the two-mile greenway is brightened by
cheerful graffiti and leads to the always busy Eastern Market,
which has been selling locally-sourced flowers, produce, and
cheese since 1841.
The white-colonnaded Detroit Institute of Arts stands
temple-like in the city’s Cultural Center Historic District. The
institute’s collection ranges from the ancient to the modern,
but none of its works are as impressive as the Detroit Industry
Murals, painted by Diego Rivera in 1933 in homage to Detroit’s
manufacturing prowess.