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Metro Detroit

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United States Coast Guard Cutter Hollyhock passes the Renaissance Center with the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere.
Metro Detroit
Map
Population
5,428,855[1]

Metro Detroit is a major United States metropolitan area encompassing the city of Detroit, Michigan. Applications of population definitions for the area vary, including up to ten counties in Michigan, and traditionally the cities of Flint and Ann Arbor which are included in the current definition for the combined metropolitan statistical area. Metro Detroit communities and businesses almost universally recognize Ann Arbor and Flint as integrated into the Metro Detroit economy. Windsor, Ontario to the extent that it can be, is increasingly considered part of the metro area, since some Canadian residents work in Metro Detroit. Many from Toledo, Ohio also work in Metro Detroit. The Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint area (officially designated the Detroit-Warren-Flint Combined Statistical Area by the U.S. Census Bureau), consisting of nine counties, has a population of 5.4 million. When Windsor, Ontario and other nearby Canadian cities are included the total reaches 5.9 million. An estimated 46 million people live within a 300 mile radius of Metro Detroit.

Metro Detroit has expanded beyond the tri-county area (Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne). Its international border status makes it unique, and the Metro Detroit-Windsor population of 5.9 million would rank as the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States and Canada. Metro Detroit-Windsor has considered a joint bid for the Olympic Games. Though metropolitan Detroit officially encompasses much of Southeast Michigan, residents of such outlying communities as Port Huron may not yet consider where they live to be part of the "Detroit area".

Economy

RenCen decorated for Super Bowl XL

Metro Detroit is an economic powerhouse, a key pillar of the U.S. economy. Metro Detroit has made Michigan's economy a leader in information technology, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing. Michigan ranks 4th nationally in high tech employment with 568,000 high tech workers, including 70,000 in the automotive industry.[2] Michigan typically ranks 2nd or 3rd in overall Research & Development investment expenditures in the U.S.[3] The domestic Auto Industry accounts directly and indirectly for one of every ten jobs in the U.S.[4]

Metro Detroit serves as the headquarters for the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, known as TACOM, with Selfridge Air National Guard Base. Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) is one of America's largest and most advanced facilities, with six major runways, Boeing 747 maintainance facilities, and an attached Westin Hotel and Conference Center. Detroit's extensive freeway system and major port status make it an ideal location as a global business center. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the Detroit-Windsor region and $13 billion in annual production depend on Detroit's international border crossing. [5] A source of top talent, the University of Michigan in the Detroit suburb of Ann Arbor is one of the world's leading research institutions, including the world's largest medical school.

Metro Detroit shared in the economic difficulites brought on by the severe stock market decline following the September 11, 2001 attacks which had caused a pension and benefit fund crisis for American companies including General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler. The American auto companies are proving to be more resilient than other affected industries as each implements its respective turnaround plan.

In 2004, led by Metro Detroit, Michigan ranked 2nd nationally in new corporate facilities and expansions. From 1997 to 2004, Michigan was the only state to top the 10,000 mark for the number of major new developments. [6] Metro Detroit is a leading corporate location with major office complexes such as the Renaissance Center, the Southfield Town Center, and the Cadillac Place with the Fisher Building in the historic New Center area. Both Borg Warner and TRW chose Metro Detroit for their new headquarters. Quicken Loans, Natonal City Bank, Ernst & Young, GMAC, Visteon, and ONSTAR are sources of growth. Pfizer is a leading employer in Ann Arbor and invests heavily in the area. Electronic Data Systems (EDS) makes Metro Detroit its regional headquarters. The area is home to Rofin-Sinar Technologies, a leading maker of lasers. Virtually every major U.S company and many from around the globe have a presence in Metro Detroit. DaimlerChrysler's largest corporate facility is its U.S. headquarters and technology center in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills. In 2006, Google announced it will build a major facility in Ann Arbor bringing 1000 new jobs. Downtown Detroit reported $1.3 billion in restorations and new developments for 2006. [7]

File:Somersetcollection-3.JPG
Somerset Collection Mall

Tourism is a driving force for the economy. Detroit is the largest city or metro area to offer major casino hotels (MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Greektown Casino). Metro Detroit is a leading tourist destination easily accommodating super sized crowds to events such as the North American International Auto Show, the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival, Comerica Tastefest, and Superbowl XL. In 2006, the Motown Winter Blast drew a cold weather crowd of 1.2 million people to the downtown. The Detroit suburb of Dearborn is home to the The Henry Ford, the largest museum complex devoted to American History. The area has some of the nation's finest hotels, casinos, performance centers, stadiums, convention centers, theaters, museums, libraries, schools, parks, beaches, and infrastructure to support economic growth. The recent renovation of the Renaissance Center, a state of the art cruise ship dock, new stadiums, and a new Riverwalk have spurred economic development. Nearby Windsor has a 19 year old drinking age with myriad of entertainment to complement Detroit's Greektown district. Metro Detroit supports some of the America's finest shopping with very large high quality malls, namely the upscale Somerset Collection in Troy and the Great Lakes Crossing outlet mall in Rochester, which are a major draw for tourists. The Detroit-Windsor metro area has a population of 5.9 million. Tourism planners have yet to tap the potential economic impact of the estimated 46 million people that live within a 300 mile radius of Detroit, a natural advantage to a potential host city for the Olympic Games or a city courting a new Disney theme park.

Club Sport League Stadium
Wolverines Football NCAA Michigan Stadium
Detroit Redwings Ice Hockey NHL Joe Louis Arena
Detroit Pistons Basketball NBA Palace of Auburn Hills
Detroit Tigers Baseball Major League Baseball (AL) Comerica Park
Detroit Lions Football NFL (American Football Conference) Ford Field
Detroit Shock Basketball Women's National Basketball Association Palace of Auburn Hills


Ethnic groups

Metro Detroit's ethnic communities are largely the descendants of mainly French origin and other small communities (Poles, Irish, Italians and Greeks) who made their way to the city during its early 20th century industrial boom. Metro Detroit has the largest concentration of Belgians outside of Belgium.

Detroit is also home to a large Chaldean population and to the country's largest concentration of Arab Americans, mainly Lebanese, but also Yemenis, Iraqis, and Palestinians. Recently, the area has witnessed the growth of Asian American and Hispanic communities. The southwest side of the city contains a large Chicano community, while significant populations of Chinese, Indian, Korean, and Filipino ancestry are found in Oakland, Washtenaw, and western Wayne Counties.

Altogether, more than a million African-Americans live in the area. About three-fourths of them live within the Detroit city limits. Other communities with large black populations include Inkster, Highland Park, Ecorse, River Rouge, Southfield, Pontiac and Oak Park. The Michigan Chronicle, the state's largest black-owned newspaper, is based in Detroit. The Michigan Citizen is another paper which targets African American readers.

Counties

Principal cities

Windsor

Windsor, Ontario, Canada, lies across the Detroit River, slightly south of Detroit. Windsor and the neighbouring counties in Southwestern Ontario (up to London, Ontario), Southeastern Michigan and the Greater Toledo area function together as the largest international metropolitan area in the world.[verification needed]

Because an international border and three state/provincial lines are involved, however, this fact is virtually ignored by the U.S. Census Bureau and Census Canada. Nevertheless, the area functions as one large, interdependent economic and cultural zone; and the economic proximity of the cities of Detroit and Windsor is such that Detroit television stations may not carry Canadian programming otherwise broadcast on American network television; and Windsor television stations may not carry American programming that is otherwise carried on Canadian network television - except when the American programme is dubbed into French.

For example, the national CBC network carried the American television programme, Dallas. The French-language CBC channel in Windsor (CBEFT/54) was allowed to show because it was dubbed into French; but the English-language channel (CBET/9) had to replace the broadcast with other programming - typically programming imported from Britain or Australia.

As of 2005, the population of the Windsor CMA is 323,300[8]. With a total population of about 6,500,000, metro Detroit-Windsor-Toledo is 4th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and Canada, the 16th largest metropolitan area in the Americas, and the 46th largest metropolitan area in the world.

Area codes

Metro Detroit is served by eight telephone area codes. The 313 area code, which used to encompass all of Southeast Michigan, has been narrowed to the city of Detroit and a few close suburbs. 313 has assumed special status as many Detroiters say that they are from "The 3-1-3" or the "three-one-third" to assert that they are "truly" from Detroit. The 248 area code along with the newer 947 area code overlay mostly serve Oakland County. Macomb County is largely served by 586. St. Clair and Genesee are covered by 810, while Washtenaw, Monroe, and western Wayne are in the 734 area.

The Canadian portion of Metro Detroit (Windsor, Essex County, Chatham-Kent, and Lambton County) all share the 519 area code and its new 226 area code overlay.

Transportation

Major airports

Major highways

The Metro Detroit area is criss-crossed by several major interstate highways and freeways.

  • I-75 (Chrysler and Fisher Freeways) is the region's main north-south route, serving Flint, Pontiac, Troy, and Detroit, before continuing south (as the Fisher Freeway) to serve many of the communities along the shore of Lake Erie.
  • I-94 (Ford Freeway) runs east-west through Detroit and serves Ann Arbor to the west (where it continues to Chicago) and Port Huron to the northeast. The stretch of the current I-94 freeway from Ypsilanti to Detroit was one of the first American limited-access freeways, originally built to link the factories at Willow Run and Dearborn during World War II and was then known as the Detroit Industrial Freeway.
  • I-96 runs northwest-southeast through Livingston County and (as the Jeffries Freeway) has its eastern terminus in downtown Detroit.
  • I-275 runs north-south from I-75 in the south to the junction of I-96 and I-696 in the north, providing a bypass through the western suburbs of Detroit.
  • I-696 (Walter Reuther Freeway) runs east-west from the junction of I-96 and I-275, providing a route through the northern suburbs of Detroit. Taken together, I-275 and I-696 form a semi-circle around Detroit.
  • I-375 is a short spur route in downtown Detroit, an extension of the Chrysler Freeway.
  • I-475 runs north-south through downtown Flint for several miles before rejoining I-75.
  • I-69, although a north-south route for most of its length, runs east-west across St. Clair, Lapeer, and Genesee counties, serving Flint, Lapeer, and Port Huron.
  • Highway 401 Windsor-Toronto-Montreal Highway
  • M-10 (The Lodge Freeway) runs largely parallel to I-75 from Southfield to downtown, and connects with I-75 via Jefferson Avenue.
  • M-14 runs east-west from I-275 in Livonia to Ann Arbor.
  • M-39 (The Southfield Freeway) runs north-south from Southfield to Allen Park via I-94. North of 10 Mile, the freeway ends and continues as Southfield Road into Birmingham.
  • M-53 (Christopher Columbus Freeway from Sterling Heights to Washington), more commonly known as the Van Dyke Expressway or Van Dyke Freeway. Continues as Van Dyke Road or Van Dyke Avenue north to Port Austin and south through Warren to Gratiot Avenue in Detroit.
  • M-59 (Veterans Memorial Freeway from Utica to Pontiac), continues east as Hall Road to Clinton Township and west as various surface roads to I-96 near Howell
  • M-8 (Davison Freeway), the first modern limited-access urban freeway in America, opened in 1942.

Traditionally, Detroiters referred to their freeways by name rather than route number. Today, the Davison, Lodge, and Southfield Freeways are almost always referred to by name rather than route number. True Detroiters precede each freeway name with the word 'the' as in The Lodge, The Southfield, and The Davison. This was also once true for the Chrysler, Fisher, and Ford Freeways (and to a lesser extent the Jeffries and Reuther Freeways) before the Department of Transportation mandated deemphasization of the use of proper names on guide signs for Interstates. Other freeways are referred to only by number (I-275, M-59, I-69 and I-475); their names, if any, were never in common everyday usage.

Other major roads

  • 8 Mile Road, known by many due to the film 8 Mile, forms the dividing line between Detroit on the south and the suburbs of Macomb and Oakland counties on the north. It is also known as Baseline Road outside of Detroit, because it coincides with the baseline used in surveying Michigan; that baseline is also the boundary for a number of Michigan counties as well as the boundary for Illinois and Wisconsin. Designated as M-102 for much of its length in Wayne County.
  • Gratiot Avenue (M-3) is a major road that runs from Port Huron to downtown Detroit.
  • Jefferson Avenue is a scenic highway that runs parallel to the shore of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. It is also the principal thoroughfare for the Grosse Pointes, where it is called Lake Shore Drive. Another important dividing line between Detroit and the city of Grosse Pointe Park is Alter Road, where portions of some intersecting streets have been reconfigured or walled-off in order to thwart vehicular and pedestrian movement from Detroit into Grosse Pointe Park.
  • Michigan Avenue/US 12 runs from downtown Detroit through the western suburbs toward Ypsilanti, passes south of Ann Arbor, and eventually reaches Chicago, Illinois.
  • Woodward Avenue (M-1) is considered the Detroit area's main thoroughfare. It is the dividing line between the East Side and the West Side. Woodward stretches from downtown Pontiac to the Detroit River near Hart Plaza. In Downtown Detroit, the Fox Theatre and Detroit Institute of Arts are located on Woodward as well as the Detroit Zoo just outside of the city. The Woodward Dream Cruise, a classic car cruise from Pontiac to Ferndale is held in August and is the largest single day classic car cruise in America.
  • Telegraph Road (US 24) is a major north-south road extending from Toledo, Ohio through Monroe, Wayne, and Oakland Counties to Pontiac. It has gained notoriety in a song (Telegraph Road) by the group Dire Straits.

Mile roads

Surface street navigation in Metro Detroit is commonly anchored by "mile roads," major east-west surface streets that are spaced at one-mile intervals and increment as one travels north and away from the city center. Mile roads sometimes have two names, the numeric name (ex. 15 Mile Road) and a local name (ex. Maple Road).

Main article: Mile Road System (Detroit)

Shopping malls and other major marketplaces

Metro Detroit has numerous shopping malls:

Colleges, universities, and trade schools

All cities, villages, townships, and communities

Notes and references

  1. ^ July 2004 est. by Census Bureau
  2. ^ MEDC (2006).Michigan: High Technology Focus State of Michigan
  3. ^ NSF 01-320 (2001).R&D Spending is Highly Concentrated in a Small Number of StatesNational Science Foundation
  4. ^ Alliance of Automobile Manufaturers (2006). From the 2003 Study "Contributions of the Automotive Industry to the U.S. Economy" University of Michigan and the Center for Autotive Reseach Autoalliance.com
  5. ^ Detroit Regional Chamber (2006) Detroit/Windsor Border Update: Part I-Detroit River International Crossing Study
  6. ^ MEDC (2005) Michigan #2 in the Nation for New Corporate Facilities and Expansions in 2004 Globeinvestor.com PR NEWS WIRE
  7. ^ See the Change (2006) TheWorldisComing.com City of Detroit Partnership
  8. ^ http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo05a.htm Statistics Canada population table

See also

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