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Profile for Detroit, Michigan, MI

Woodward Ave, Statler Hotel, Detroit, MI

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"The Motor City," "Motown"

Detroit is a city in Wayne County.

It is the county seat.

The community name derives from French for "strait."

The latitude of Detroit is 42.331N. The longitude is -83.045W.

It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 600 feet.

The estimated population, in 2003, was 911,402.

INCOME SNAPSHOT

Median household income

Local

$29,526

National

$41,994

Source: 2000 census, U.S. Census Bureau

For more census details and comparisons, see our Detroit demographic reports

ESSENTIALS

EMPLOYMENT:
  Local jobs
  Post a job
HOUSING:
  Find Foreclosure
  Local homes for sale
LODGING:
  Nearby hotels
PEOPLE:
  Detroit family histories
RECORDS:
  Birth, marriage & death
  Court, land & probate
  Military

Detroit is on the Detroit River.

Former and merged names include:
· Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit
· Teuchsa Grondie
· Tsychsardonia
· Waweatunong
· Yondotiga

Detroit was founded by trader Antoine Laumet de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701.

The city boomed with the advent of the auto industry and declined with white flight after World War II.

The community was known as the nation's murder capital in the mid-1980s, the city has focused on rebuilding its economic base; recent projects have included construction of stadiums and casinos.

The millions of tons of freight shipping in and out of this port city include iron ore, coal, stone, steel and cement.

Magician Harry Houdini died here on Halloween in 1926, after collapsing during his opening-night performance. He had suffered a ruptured appendix after being punched in the stomach several days earlier.

Public transportation: DDOT (See the transit and travel sections below.)

Crime: The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 18,724. The number of murders and homicides was 366. The violent crime rate was 20.2 per 1,000 people.

No. 13 in the ePodunk list of Most Misspelled Cities

Ranked second most dangerous city in America 2005, by Morgan Quitno Press

Drinks: Vernors Ginger Ale

Filming location for:
· 1984 movie, "Beverly Hills Cop"
· 1992 movie, "Hoffa"
· 2004 movie, "Against the Ropes"
· 1998 movie, "Out of Sight"
· 2005 movie, "Assault on Precinct 13"

Setting for 2002 movie, "8 Mile"

Census 2000 highlights: Tenth largest city in the U.S., by population; among major American cities, ranked No. 2 in percentage black population (81.6%)

Well-known residents have included:
· Eminem, rap star
· Diana Ross, singer
· Aretha Franklin, singer
· Joe Louis, fighter
· Gilda Radner, comedian
· Suzi Quatro, rock musician
· Sippy Wallace, blues musician

More well-known residents

Local bands (past and present) have included Temptations, Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas

More local bands

Coffee: National and regional coffee companies with outlets here include Starbucks

More info about local coffee quotients

Local festivals include:

Michigan State Fair - Aug. 22-Sept. 3, 2007
International Jazz Festival - Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2007
Festival of the Arts - June 8-10, 2007
Motown Winter Blast - Feb. 9-11, 2007
African World Festival - Aug. 17-19, 2007

Dates often change. Check Detroit web sites and events links in the sections below.

Send us festival info for Detroit

Performing arts: Michigan Opera, Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Nearby parks & recreation: Belle Isle

More parks info

Detroit attractions: Detroit Zoo, Eastern Market, casinos

Sports teams: Tigers (AL), Lions (NFL), Pistons (NBA), Red Wings (NHL), Shock (WNBA)

Historic sites and museums: Detroit Institute of Art, Museum of African American History, Dossin Great Lakes Museum, Detroit Historical Museum, Motown Historical Museum

Archives: Burton Historical Collection

Colleges and universities: Wayne State University, University of Detroit Mercy, Marygrove College, Center for Creative Studies - College of Art and Design, Lewis College of Business

More colleges info

Support for libraries: Local government funding for the local library system, in fiscal years 2001-2002, was above the national average. (See library links below.)

Gays & lesbians
National index: 100
Local index: 92

More info

Pronunciations: The island near downtown, Belle Isle, is pronounced "bell eye-ell; the island downriver, Grosse Ile, is "eel." Locals are Detroiters

Quotes:
At one time this neighborhood had been his entire world, bounded on the north by the tire factory and its great, dangerous parking lots, and on the east by Grand Boulevard, and on the west by Lincoln Park; the southern end of the neighborhood just dwindled off into a twilight of street after street of ordinary shabby houses.
-- Shame
Joyce Carol Oates

More quotes

Songs:
· "Detroit City"

Listed places near Detroit

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Neighborhoods in Detroit include Boston-Edison, Brush Park, Chandler Park, Conant Gardens, Corktown, Cultural Center, Eastern Market, Greektown, Hubbard-Richard, Indian Village ... More neighborhood info

Detroit photos from ePodunk users


Sprawling Downtown Detroit, Michigan	Monument to MI Working Class 63 feet Stainless Steel Arches	Comerica Park Home of the Detroit Tigers
More photos

Profile for Detroit, Michigan, MI

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Listed places near Detroit

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