Detroit

Neighborhoods

Detroit neighborhoods are evolving. Mayor Albert Cobo began a slum clearance in the 1950s that led to private development of cleared lands. His administration had direct bearing upon future urban development. The 1960s endured public housing changes and a shocking crime wave that proved painful, indeed. But, Mayor Jerome P. Cavanaugh brought economic growth and prosperity to a formerly distressed city. In the 1970s Coleman Young promoted the city as a model of social progress. Today, median housing value is $69,260, and owner-occupied (single family) housing is approximately 70 percent, one of the highest in the country. Still prospering, the locals and immigrants who continue to migrate into the Detroit area keep the economic structure developing.

Greektown is admirably well known, and metro Detroit has a significant Polish influence. The enclave city of Hamtramck is known for authentic cuisine, as well as a visit from Pope John Paul II in 1987.

To the west, Dearborn is home to the largest Arabic community in the world outside the Middle East. On the east side, small Italian neighborhood markets have evolved into major building and manufacturing companies.

Not far from historic Tiger Stadium is Mexicantown, where a growing number of Hispanic communities are flourishing. Oakland County is home to a steadily expanding number of Russian Jewish immigrants, while the Metropolitan Airport area and southern Wayne County are attracting Japanese families. Further south, along the Detroit River from Wyandotte to Grosse Ile, are communities rich in Hungarian and Polish traditions. Suitably, the distinct mix of people make metro Detroit a cosmopolitan map of the world.