Yes, I’ve lived in Michigan for two thirds of my life. But I’ve never been to Detroit. Mr. Athena and I have to go there for a business thing in a couple months, and I’m wondering what I can do there.
First off, we’re staying in what I think is downtown, near the MGM Grand. Is the area safe? We’re small town folk, and Mr. Athena especially is sensitive about cities. (REALLY sensitive. He got freaked out walking in downtown Minneapolis at night in an area I know to be incredibly safe.) I think he has a picture in his head of crazed inner-city unemployed auto workers attacking us.
Second off, if we have some free time, is there stuff to do there? Shopping areas, sights, etc. I know Detroit isn’t exactly the first choice for tourism, but I like to make the most of any trip out of town.
I grew up about an hour’s drive from Detroit, on the Canadian side. I used to go there often for concerts, and the occasional hockey game and never had any problems. Mind, you I didn’t really wander around downtown after dark or anything.
The Red Wings are one hot hockey team, and I know if I had the chance to stay in Detroit for a few days that’s what I’d be doing!
I spent 4 years on the Canadian side of the border going to school. We frequently went over for concerts, shopping (in the suburbs)*, baseball games, etc. I had never had any serious problems, though there was one very uncomfortable walk at night while going to a concert. It was less than a 2 minute walk and we were asked for money at least a dozen times during the brief walk and not all by homeless-looking people. I kept thinking that we were going to get mugged.
If Mr. Athena is that sensitive about big cities, I’d be concerned about the trip.
*I’ve never really followed up on this but the first time we went across we were told that there were no shopping malls in Detroit proper. And the closest one was out in the suburbs at 13 1/4 Mile (I think it’s called the Oakland mall). It wasn’t anything spectactular.
I spent about a week in Detroit in the area you’re talking about. In my experiance, the area was clean and safe, the people were friendly, and it was easy to get around.
When my friends and I arrived there, it was during the early afternoon and we were shocked how little traffic there was. Finding the MGM Grand was no problem, either. The Detroit People Mover was a great thing to use for going place to place. Detroit came off as the ultimate “Guy Town”. Plenty of sports to choose from, tons of sports bars, and casinos. I’d go back anytime.
Note that I’m from Hazard, Kentucky and I never once felt overwhelmed or intimidated by the size of the city.
Take the People Mover to Greektown, there are some very nice shops and restaurants in that neighborhood and the police HQ is right there as well, so it is very well-patrolled. If you care to go to an actual ‘mall’, there’s one in Windsor just across the river. You can take the people mover to the tunnel crossing, take the Tunnel Bus and transfer to the Windsor bus lines once you get through customs. Reverse to return to Detroit. Google ‘tunnel bus’, it’s actually run by the Windsor side.
Tickets to Wings games are notoriously hard to get and expensive, even for SRO. See if there are any OHL games going on during your trip. The Windsor Spitfires play in the OHL.
If the weather’s nice, go down Jefferson to Belle Isle, which was designed by the same man who did NYC’s Central Park. If you have a car, just cruise up Jefferson into the Pointes and stare at the ostentation!
Just up Woodward is the Institute of Arts and a couple of museums near the Wayne State University campus.
Dearborn is just a short drive away and the Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village complex is a great way to burn up 2-3 days seeing it all.
How did I forget about that? What a fantastic museum! I still remember visiting it in elementary school and being absolutely overwhelmed that I was looking at the very chair in which President Lincoln sat when he was assassinated!
It is a city of 1 million, down from a population of 1.5million. Traffic is no longer a problem in many areas. The crime problem that it is known for is a thing of the past. Robocop has been put in storage. It is no more dangerous than any other city of its size.
*Dictated by my co-worker, who is applying for the Detroit police and has a vested interest in the crime rates.
We’re thinking of changing things up and spending a couple nights in Dearborn in order to immerse ourselves in the Henry Ford/Greenfield Village thing. Then we’d spend one night in Detroit proper for the business deal.
What’s Dearborn like, food-wise? Any good restaurants? Fancy, ethnic, whatever, we don’t care, we just want good food.
In Dearborn they call ethnic food ‘food’. Dearborn has the largest density of Arabic peoples outside the Arab states, second only to NYC in largest population. There are multitude halal resturants, Lebanese places, Mediterranean - you name it. If you go to their website they have a month by month calendar. Their festivals are legendary. The whole city’s not like that, you won’t need any conversational Arabic or Farsi to get along, but it’s the heart of the city.
Amtrak goes to Dearborn on the Chicago route, so if you wanted you could hop on the train to Kalamazoo or points further West. Or, go the other way up to Pontiac.
I don’t know who’s paying your hotel bill, but Dearborn’s expensive - just FYI.
Also, check out the D.O.T. website the week you go to see what freeways are torn up and what’s not - it can change with a few days’ notice downstate.
The Astoria Bakery in Greektown is AWEsome. Lots of good resteraunts there. Also, grab a drink at the top of the RenCen (the tall tall building with GM on the top). You can see everything up there. Very nice and classy. Try not to get lost in the bottom floors. The DIA is just open again after a remodel- should be nice. Impressive Rivera murals.
The Detroit area is definitely known for having particularly great Middle Eastern food, particularly the Lebanese food in Dearborn. I remember La Shish being particularly well-regarded, but I think they’ve recently (maybe a year ago or so) got embroiled in some accusations of terrorism ties, just so you know.
If you like exploring indigenous fast foods and that sort of thing, Detroit is known for their Coney Dog, which is a hot dog which “Coney sauce” on it – chili, yellow mustard, and onions. I’m not sure what the connection with Coney Island is, because I don’t recall hot dogs in Coney Island being served with anything like this.
Oh, and since I know you’re a foodie, Athena, it might be worth the trip to go down to Ann Arbor and check out Zingerman’s Deli. Not only do they have fantastic (if not a bit expensive) sandwiches, they have a great in-house bakery, they have their own creamery, they have speciality oils, spices, etc., from all around the world.
I second La-Shish. They’re really becoming popular and have been growing around the metro area. Great food with all you can eat flat bread that’s soooo good!
Greektown is another nice place. Some nice Greek restaurants (I can’t remember the one I went to, but I had the flaming cheese for the first time) and casinos in Detroit if you’re interested in that kind of thing.
The only times I usually end up in Detroit is for the North American International Auto Show in January, so I won’t be much help as far as food and long term activities. However, I’d suggest the art museum, if you are into that sort of thing. I found it very interesting, at least. Also, I can’t say enough for Greenfield Village/Henry Ford. It really is an awesome place.
One thing I’d have to say as far as caution is: be careful after dark, and make sure to park in a good structure/monitored lot when downtown. I’ve heard interesting tales about just how quickly your car can be stripped.
I wouldn’t recommend LaShish. It’s “touristy.” It’s the Middle Eastern restaurant that everyone knows about, but it’s definitely not the best in town. Plus the owner is a US fugitive hiding in Lebanon, while he lets his ex-wife and business partner sit in prison. Real dirtbag.
I would definitely second al-Ameer if you want good Arabic food. Or, if you want to stay in the downtown west-side of Dearborn (where there are more bars/clubs/etc.), I’d recommend LaPita.
Oh, and Dearborn is also home of the greatest burger in Michigan: Millers Bar (23700 Michigan Ave.)
Dearborn isn’t far at all from where you will be: just head west on Michigan Avenue a couple of miles, past Southfield Freeway (M-39), and you’ll be in the heart of it.
I would definitely check out some of the casinos, restaurants and whatnot the City of Detroit has to offer, but if you want to get a little taste of the Metro Area (which, unfortunately is really what Detroit “is”), Dearborn’s got some good stuff and you don’t even have to get on an expressway (or use a passport-- I’m looking at you, Windsor) to get there.
