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Darkstar's Detroit (Part IV)

JasonParis

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Continued from Detroit III...

Further up Woodward is the New Center neighbourhood. The heart of New Center was developed in the 1920s as a business hub to offer convenient access to both the downtown and the suburban factories. Some historians describe New Center as the original "edge city."
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New Center is also home to Detroit's Amtrak station. Yes, Detroit went from Michigan Central Terminal to this building that's probably no bigger than your average Taco Bell...and sort of looks like one too.
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New Center (cont.)
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Cadillac Place was originally General Motor's headquarters (until they moved to the Ren Center in 1996) and was featured famously in Michael Moore's "Roger & Me."
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New Center's Fisher Building (left) and Cadillac Place (right).
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The Fisher Building is another designated National Historic Landmark.
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Cadillac Place (cont.)
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Heading back down Woodward toward downtown.
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Before heading back downtown, we attempted to find any remnants of The Heidelberg Project that was created in 1986 by artist Tyree Guyton and his grandfather Sam Mackey. It is an outdoor art installation in Detroit's McDougall-Hunt neighborhood, where homes are famously painted in polka dots and had salvaged articles attached to them. For whatever reason, my Blackberry's GPS kept pointing me to the following few streets, but we never did find the actual Heidelberg Project (although I suspect we were close). Still, it gave us an opportunity to see some stark examples of Detroit's depopulation and multiplying urban prairies.
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Detroit's McDougall-Hunt neighbourhood.
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Detroit's McDougall-Hunt neighbourhood (cont.)...
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Before heading back to Canada, we took a final drive around the downtown. This is Woodward Avenue where the famed Hudson's Department Store once stood. At its peak the street was considered one of the primary shopping streets on the continent. Today, only a handful of businesses are open.
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The Kresge Company (now K-Mart) got its start in Detroit and the former Kresge Building is one of a few stalled regeneration projects in the downtown.
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Capitol Park in downtown Detroit.
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One final picture of downtown Detroit from the corner of Clifford & Washington.
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That's a wrap. Hope you enjoyed!
 
Last edited:
I was also impressed to see streetscapes without ancient wooden poles holding racks of overhead wires and transformers in those photos. Believe me, that's an impressive achievement.
 
^^^

that's one thing i noticed as well. their streetscaping is quite nice.

thx for the tour darkstar!
 
Detroit Part 4...

DK416: Good pics again in the last part of your tour of Detroit especially of the New Center area and the classic old office towers there.

That is the first pic of the DET Amtrak Station I have seen - you are right that it is no bigger then a fast food outlet - and the thing to remember the reason that Amtrak moved to a smaller station is cost - it is much cheaper to operate a small station then using and/or renovating the old MCRR station.
Good tour of Detroit! LI MIKE
 

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