Metro Detroit

Encyclopedia : M : ME : MET : Metro Detroit

| 5,428,855[July 2004 est. by Census Bureau]

| 928/sq. mi. 358/km²

| 1280+ feet (390+ m)

| 569 feet (173 m)

Metro Detroit is a major U.S. metropolitan area encompassing the city of Detroit, Michigan, including Pontiac, and other outlying cities, villages, and townships. 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-Warren-Flint Combined Statistical Area, 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, and when Toledo is included the population jumps to 6.5 million. An estimated 46 million people live within a 300 mile radius of Metro Detroit.

Clearly, Metro Detroit has expanded beyond the tri-county area. Metro Detroit's international border status makes it unique, the Metro Detroit-Windsor population of 5.9 million would rank as the 4th largest metro area in the United States and Canada. Metro Detroit-Windsor have 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

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.MEDC (2006).[Michigan: High Technology Focus] State of Michigan Michigan ranks 3rd in overall Research & Development investment expenditures in the U.S.NSF 01-320 (2001).[R&D Spending is Highly Concentrated in a Small Number of States]National Science Foundation The domestic Auto Industry accounts directly and indirectly for one of every ten jobs in the U.S.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 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. Detroit Regional Chamber (2006) [Detroit/Windsor Border Update: Part I-Detroit River International Crossing Study]

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.

Metro Detroit continues to be a leading corporate location. In 2004, led by Metro Detroit, Michigan ranked 2nd nationally in new corporate facilities and expansions. From 1997 to 2004, Michigan was listed as the only state to top the 10,000 mark for the number of major new developments. MEDC (2005) [Michigan #2 in the Nation for New Corporate Facilities and Expansions in 2004] Globeinvestor.com PR NEWS WIRE Both Borg Warner and TRW chose Metro Detroit for their new headquarters. Quicken Loans, Natonal City Bank, GMAC, 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. In 2006, Google announced it would add a facility in the Ann Arbor area bringing 1000 new jobs. Downtown Detroit reported $1.3 billion in restorations and new developments for 2006. See the Change (2006) [TheWorldisComing.com] City of Detroit Partnership

Ethnic groups

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

• Genesee
• Lapeer
• Livingston
• Macomb
• Monroe
• Oakland
• St. Clair
• Washtenaw
• Wayne
• Essex (Canada) (see note below)

Anchor cities

• Ann Arbor
• Dearborn
• Detroit (largest city in Michigan)
• Farmington Hills
• Flint
• Livonia
• Monroe
• Novi
• Pontiac
• Southfield
• Taylor
• Troy
• Warren

Windsor

Area codes

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

• Detroit City Airport (DET) (Detroit) - General aviation only
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) (Romulus) - Major commercial airport, hub for Northwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines
• Flint-Bishop International Airport(FNT) (Flint) - Commercial airport
• Oakland County International Airport (PTK) (Waterford Township) - Charter passenger facility
• Selfridge Air National Guard Base (Mount Clemens) - Military airbase
• Willow Run Airport (YIP) (Ypsilanti) - Cargo, general aviation, charter passenger traffic
• Windsor Airport (YQG) (Canada) - Commercial airport

Major highways

• 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-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.

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

Shopping malls and other major marketplaces

• Briarwood - Ann Arbor
• Birchwood - Port Huron
• Devonshire Mall - Windsor. 175 stores and services and over 1 million square feet (93,000 m²) in size.
• Eastland Center - Harper Woods.
• Fairlane Town Center - Dearborn just off of the Southfield Freeway and Michigan Avenue.
• Frenchtown Square Mall - Monroe
• Gibraltar Trade Center - Largest indoor flea market in the United States.
• Great Lakes Crossing - Metro Detroit's largest mall in terms of stores (200). Located in Auburn Hills off of I-75, between Baldwin and Joslyn Roads.
• Lakeside Mall - On M-59 in Sterling Heights. With about 180 stores, it is the largest mall in Metro Detroit by area.
• Laurel Park Place - At Newburgh Road and 6 Mile Road.
• Livonia Mall - At Middlebelt Road and 7 Mile Road.
• Northland Mall - At Northwestern Highway in Southfield, this mall, built in 1952, is said to be the first suburban shopping mall built in the United States. About 140 stores.
• Macomb Mall - Roseville. About 100 stores.
• Oakland Mall - In Troy off I-75, near the 14 Mile exit.
• The Somerset Collection - A luxury shopping center in Troy, approximately two miles east of I-75 on 16 Mile Road, straddling both sides of Big Beaver Road (16 Mile). Considered by many to be the region's (if not the entire state's) most upscale mall.
• Southland Mall - Taylor
• Summit Place Mall - In Waterford
• Tel Twelve Mall - In Southfield at the intersection of Telegraph and Twelve Mile Roads.
• Twelve Oaks Mall - Novi
• Universal Mall - Warren
• Westland Mall - Westland
• Wonderland Mall - Livonia, Being demolished for a new shopping development.

Colleges, universities, and trade schools

• Ave Maria College, Ypsilanti
• Cleary University, Ann Arbor and Howell
• College for Creative Studies, Detroit
• Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills
• Davenport University, multiple Metro Detroit locations
• Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti
• Lawrence Technological University, Southfield
• Madonna University, Livonia
• Marygrove College, Detroit
• Oakland University, Rochester
• Rochester College, Rochester Hills
• Schoolcraft College, Livonia
• Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts, Southfield
• Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit
• SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Orchard Lake
• University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn
• University of Michigan-Flint, Flint
• University of Windsor, Windsor (Canada)
• Walsh College, Troy
• Wayne State University, Detroit

All cities, villages, townships, and communities

Notes and references