Why would you visit Detroit?

I have to admit that I asked this question when I decided to join the inaugural Great Lakes cruise with Victory Cruise Lines.    The cruise ended in Detroit and it turns out the folks at Victory knew something I didn’t.

So, why go?

Because Detroit is a happening place.

Because, as Anthony Bourdain put it, Detroit is “where nearly everything American and great came from.”

And because Detroit is a scrappy underdog that’s working on its own comeback story, with an, as yet, unwritten ending.  Where else would they erect an 8000 pound monument of a fist to honour native son and boxer, Joe Louis?  (The fist was symbolically aimed at racial injustice, and physically pointed toward Canada.)

So, yes, you should visit Detroit and see how this fascinating story unfolds.

The rise, fall and renewal of Detroit

Detroit is shrinking.

You can see it in in the quiet downtown streets on a Monday morning.

In the 1920s, when the auto industry was roaring, this city was known as the “Paris of the Midwest.”  By the 1950s, Detroit’s population had grown to almost two million.  Now, less than 700 thousand people live there.

The recession hit Detroit with a Joe Louis-style punch, according to Bob, a local resident and guide of my fascinating walking tour on the “Rise, Fall and Renewal of Detroit” (exact tour not currently available, but any walking tour will cover it).  The decline of the auto empire, the flight of the middle class, and a high crime rate were all contributing factors.

Now, with a glut of dirt-cheap property, investors, artists and hipsters are moving in.  A new streetcar line and a massive sports complex for the city’s hockey and basketball teams have just opened.  The waterfront has been revitalized (below).  And Lonely Planet named Detroit as the #2 city to visit in 2018.

Local residents will tell you that the renewal isn’t benefiting everyone.

But the  Motown city is starting to get its groove back.

Book a Detroit walking tour

Ruin Porn

Sure, some people visit Detroit to see the ruin porn – – the abandoned buildings that stand as signposts of what once was.

I’m not sure why urban decay fascinates, or what differentiates the modern version from the ancient, other than the fact that people still live here.

Detroiters are not fans of ruin porn tourism, but buildings like the Michigan Theatre (above) remain a draw.  This French Renaissance style building opened in 1926 as a “theatre showplace for the middle west”.  Funded by the auto boom, it was, ironically, a parking garage until recently.  That was  shut down when pieces of plaster fell from the opulent ceiling onto the cars below, said the security guard who asked me to sign a “ruin porn” waiver before entering.

I confess that I, too, found the building fascinating.

But, if you visit Detroit, don’t go just for the ruin porn.

Go for this…

Art Deco Masterpieces

The 40-storey Guardian Building (above) is one of the most striking Art Deco skyscrapers in the world.  Built by a banking group in the 1920s, it was known as Detroit’s “Cathedral of Finance”.  With its unconventional colours and craftsmanship, the building has been designated a National Historic Landmark. 

So too has the ornate The Fisher Building (below), designed by the famous “architect of Detroit”, Albert Kahn. Known as Detroit’s largest art object, it features soaring vaulted ceilings and an endless array of hand-painted mosaics.  Tours of the building are offered every weekend.

Detroit’s Sistine Chapel

You might be surprised to know that Detroit holds one of the world’s finest art collections.  The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has over 100 galleries which include works by some names you might know, like Picasso, Caravaggio and van Gogh.

But the ‘quintessentially Detroit’ works that you must see at the DIA are the Detroit Industry Murals.  The paintings, done by Mexican artist Diego Rivera in the early 1930s, depict industry at the the Ford Motor Company.   Painted on 27 panels, the murals are frescoes – – painted on wet plaster – – in the matter of the Italian Renaissance masters. 

The city has the coolest street art

There’s a creative buzz in Detroit that you’ll see in its vibrant street art scene. 

On the Urban Adventures tour, I strolled through the Belt, a pedestrian alley and open-air gallery of sculptures and murals.  Near there, you should take a look at the Z, a parking garage turned art attraction by international street artists.

Even the famous Portuguese street arts, VHILS, who carves his work into walls, has made his mark on Detroit (below).

Another popular spot to take in the street art scene is the Eastern Market  It’s the largest historic farmers’ market in the U.S., so you can also have some food for thought.

Hitsville, USA

Imagine it….in this basement studio in a modest house, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Jackson 5 and Stevie Wonder recorded their first hits. 

This is where Berry Gordy used an $800 loan to launch Motown Records in 1959.  I visited the Motown Museum and sang “My Girl” (with the guide and other tourists) here.  The song, by the Temptations, was one of the biggest hits to come out of Motown.

American history lives here

Even if you don’t consider yourself a ‘museum person’,  you can’t miss the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.  It’s a massive place that focuses on American industrial inventions throughout history.  So, there are a lot of really big things, like the very first steam locomotive ever built or the first all-metal airplane.

It was the bits of American history that I found the most interesting.  The museum displays the blood-stained rocking chair that Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated in 1865, and the car in which John F. Kennedy was shot that fateful day in 1963.

But most stirring, at least for me, was the bus where Rosa Parks took a stand against segregation by taking a seat.  It was an honour to sit in that seat and think about what courage can accomplish.

Where to stay

If you’re going to stay in Detroit (and you should), why not stay in one of the most renowned historic buildings?  Aloft Detroit at the David Whitney Building is the result of a multi-million dollar restoration of one of only three surviving buildings designed by American architect, Daniel H. Burnham.  The lobby atrium is beautifully lit by a skylight and decorated with marble, terra cotta and gold leafing.

The rooms are fully modern and comfortable, with Art Deco touches and Bliss bathroom amenities.

Check prices and reviews at the Aloft Detroit at the David Whitney Building

The Spirit of Detroit

Detroit has a motto, which was written by a priest after the much of the city burned down in 1805:

“We hope for better things.  It shall rise from the ashes.”

Was it a prophecy of Detroit’s resiliency and determination to renew itself once again?

You should go and see for yourself.

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