JasonParis
Moderator
Continued from Part I...
For 50 cents U.S., the Detroit People Mover does a single-tracked clockwise rotation around some of the principal sights/neighbourhoods of the downtown. Public transit it is not, but for tourists, photographers and incredibly lazy people, it serves a purpose. This is a view from around Grand Circus Station.
Another People Mover view from around Broadway Station.
Comerica Park (home of the Detroit Tigers) from the People Mover.
A stalled regeneration project (again from the People Mover).
A few open bars in the Bricktown neighbourhood (from the People Mover).
Renaissance Center Station from the Detroit People Mover.
The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel from the Detroit People Mover.
Windsor's skyline from the Detroit People Mover.
Just prior to Joe Louis Arena Station the People Mover almost hangs over the Detroit River which provides for a very unique "transit" experience. I also find myself wondering if Windsor has/had a bit of skyline envy due to always looking at Detroit. Not that Windsor's is a pretty skyline, but it is quite developed for a Canadian city of little more than 200,000.
Home of the Detroit Red Wings, The Joe Louis Arena. One of the uglier arenas in the NHL, but one of the few without a corporate name. Yes, this is from the People Mover too.
As the People Mover swings around the arena it reveals what can only be described as one of North America's crazier intersections. Space-like pedestrian bridges, highway off-ramps, streets going under convention centres and just a general nonsensical and hostile environment, especially for the downtown of a "major" city.
Farley Tobin's untitled tile work in the Detroit People Mover's Fort/Cass Station.
A close-up of Farley Tobin's untitled tile work in the Detroit People Mover's Fort/Cass Station.
The Detroit People Mover uses Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit technology (the same as Toronto's Scarborough RT and and Vancouver's SkyTrain). "Optimism" seemed perfectly out-of-place in Detroit, but perfectly apt for a picture-taking opportunity.
Following the People Mover ride we took a further walk around the city's downtown and found some City-sponsored guerrilla art?
Campus Martius Park is a re-established park in the downtown and another of the few positive developments to have occurred recently in Detroit.
Campus Martius Park is flanked by new and old office towers. It is one of the few places in downtown Detroit where most of the buildings are actually occupied.
Compuware took a chance and relocated its world headquarters from suburban to downtown Detroit in 2004. It was supposed to signal the start of a trend, but nobody else followed. Their headquarters also houses a Borders bookstore and the downtown's only Starbuck's.
The park is located at the intersection of Woodward & Michigan. The original park covered several acres and was a major gathering area for citizens. The park was lost in the 1900s as the city's downtown was reconfigured to accommodate increased vehicular traffic. The re-establishment of the park is therefore quite symbolic in the Motor City's history.
Sidewalks surrounding Campus Martius Park are wide, attractive and befitting of a city of Detroit's, even diminished, stature.
The David Stott Building (1929) is one of Detroit's many Art Deco skyscrapers.
The David Stott Building (cont.)
Then it was off to the crown jewel of Detroit's skyline - The Guardian Building (which I forgot to photograph from the outside). Built in 1928, the building was originally called the Union Trust Building and is a bold example of Art Deco architecture.
Sort of reflective of Detroit's quick rise to prominence is this very "new money" and "look at me" version Art Deco.
Since 2007, the largest tenant of the Guardian Building has been Wayne County itself which leases many of the floors.
Inside Detroit's Guardian Building (cont.)...
Across Woodward and a little south of the Guardian Building sits the Coleman Young Municipal Center and its famous "Spirit of Detroit" statue (by Marshall Fredericks).
The Horace Dodge Fountain is the centrepiece of Detroit's Hart Plaza (which is a large public space along Detroit's waterfront).
Looking back at the Detroit skyline from Hart Plaza. Hart Plaza is also the locale of the annual Detroit electronic music festival that takes place over Memorial Day weekend.
The "Gateway to Freedom" monument sits in Hart Plaza next to the Detroit River and is part of an international monument commemorating the Underground Railroad. The other part of the monument is located across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
The Renaissance Center sits ominously on the Detroit waterfront.
The Renaissance Center (also known as the GM Renaissance Center) is a group of seven interconnected skyscrapers. The Renaissance Center complex is now owned by General Motors as its world headquarters. The central tower, called the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, is the tallest all-hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and has been the tallest building in Michigan since 1977.
In 2003, General Motors completed a $500 million renovation of its world headquarters in the Renaissance Center. The renovation included the addition of this five-story Wintergarden, which provides access to the riverfront.
Conceived by Henry Ford II and financed, ironically, by the Ford Motor Company, the Renaissance Center was built with the intent to quell Detroit's "white flight" and to revitalize the entire downtown's economy. It didn't do either. While it is certainly an impressive structure, it is mostly cut-off from the rest of the city and feels (and acts) like a giant fortress somewhat removed from the rest of downtown. In other words, it doesn't "get it," much like its current main tenant.
What is officially known as the Detroit International Riverfront
The view from inside the Ren Cen's "Wintergarden."
Continued in Detroit III.
For 50 cents U.S., the Detroit People Mover does a single-tracked clockwise rotation around some of the principal sights/neighbourhoods of the downtown. Public transit it is not, but for tourists, photographers and incredibly lazy people, it serves a purpose. This is a view from around Grand Circus Station.
Another People Mover view from around Broadway Station.
Comerica Park (home of the Detroit Tigers) from the People Mover.
A stalled regeneration project (again from the People Mover).
A few open bars in the Bricktown neighbourhood (from the People Mover).
Renaissance Center Station from the Detroit People Mover.
The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel from the Detroit People Mover.
Windsor's skyline from the Detroit People Mover.
Just prior to Joe Louis Arena Station the People Mover almost hangs over the Detroit River which provides for a very unique "transit" experience. I also find myself wondering if Windsor has/had a bit of skyline envy due to always looking at Detroit. Not that Windsor's is a pretty skyline, but it is quite developed for a Canadian city of little more than 200,000.
Home of the Detroit Red Wings, The Joe Louis Arena. One of the uglier arenas in the NHL, but one of the few without a corporate name. Yes, this is from the People Mover too.
As the People Mover swings around the arena it reveals what can only be described as one of North America's crazier intersections. Space-like pedestrian bridges, highway off-ramps, streets going under convention centres and just a general nonsensical and hostile environment, especially for the downtown of a "major" city.
Farley Tobin's untitled tile work in the Detroit People Mover's Fort/Cass Station.
A close-up of Farley Tobin's untitled tile work in the Detroit People Mover's Fort/Cass Station.
The Detroit People Mover uses Bombardier Advanced Rapid Transit technology (the same as Toronto's Scarborough RT and and Vancouver's SkyTrain). "Optimism" seemed perfectly out-of-place in Detroit, but perfectly apt for a picture-taking opportunity.
Following the People Mover ride we took a further walk around the city's downtown and found some City-sponsored guerrilla art?
Campus Martius Park is a re-established park in the downtown and another of the few positive developments to have occurred recently in Detroit.
Campus Martius Park is flanked by new and old office towers. It is one of the few places in downtown Detroit where most of the buildings are actually occupied.
Compuware took a chance and relocated its world headquarters from suburban to downtown Detroit in 2004. It was supposed to signal the start of a trend, but nobody else followed. Their headquarters also houses a Borders bookstore and the downtown's only Starbuck's.
The park is located at the intersection of Woodward & Michigan. The original park covered several acres and was a major gathering area for citizens. The park was lost in the 1900s as the city's downtown was reconfigured to accommodate increased vehicular traffic. The re-establishment of the park is therefore quite symbolic in the Motor City's history.
Sidewalks surrounding Campus Martius Park are wide, attractive and befitting of a city of Detroit's, even diminished, stature.
The David Stott Building (1929) is one of Detroit's many Art Deco skyscrapers.
The David Stott Building (cont.)
Then it was off to the crown jewel of Detroit's skyline - The Guardian Building (which I forgot to photograph from the outside). Built in 1928, the building was originally called the Union Trust Building and is a bold example of Art Deco architecture.
Sort of reflective of Detroit's quick rise to prominence is this very "new money" and "look at me" version Art Deco.
Since 2007, the largest tenant of the Guardian Building has been Wayne County itself which leases many of the floors.
Inside Detroit's Guardian Building (cont.)...
Across Woodward and a little south of the Guardian Building sits the Coleman Young Municipal Center and its famous "Spirit of Detroit" statue (by Marshall Fredericks).
The Horace Dodge Fountain is the centrepiece of Detroit's Hart Plaza (which is a large public space along Detroit's waterfront).
Looking back at the Detroit skyline from Hart Plaza. Hart Plaza is also the locale of the annual Detroit electronic music festival that takes place over Memorial Day weekend.
The "Gateway to Freedom" monument sits in Hart Plaza next to the Detroit River and is part of an international monument commemorating the Underground Railroad. The other part of the monument is located across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
The Renaissance Center sits ominously on the Detroit waterfront.
The Renaissance Center (also known as the GM Renaissance Center) is a group of seven interconnected skyscrapers. The Renaissance Center complex is now owned by General Motors as its world headquarters. The central tower, called the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, is the tallest all-hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and has been the tallest building in Michigan since 1977.
In 2003, General Motors completed a $500 million renovation of its world headquarters in the Renaissance Center. The renovation included the addition of this five-story Wintergarden, which provides access to the riverfront.
Conceived by Henry Ford II and financed, ironically, by the Ford Motor Company, the Renaissance Center was built with the intent to quell Detroit's "white flight" and to revitalize the entire downtown's economy. It didn't do either. While it is certainly an impressive structure, it is mostly cut-off from the rest of the city and feels (and acts) like a giant fortress somewhat removed from the rest of downtown. In other words, it doesn't "get it," much like its current main tenant.
What is officially known as the Detroit International Riverfront
The view from inside the Ren Cen's "Wintergarden."
Continued in Detroit III.
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