How far along is gentrification in Detroit? (Cadillac: rental car, rental)
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So, I'll be heading to Detroit for the first time in my life (mostly staying downtown) for work next week for a few days. I've read a bunch of articles and seen some profiles over the last few years about how Detroit's rising up economically and getting a whole bunch of new development. I'm just curious, on the ground level do people feel like the city's starting to come back very much? How much is just hype? I know most of the concentration has been on the downtown areas. Have nearby neighborhoods started to come back at all? I'm not particularly concerned about safety (I have a rental car and I'll be mostly staying near my hotel and office facilities nearby) but is it reasonably safe to walk around say, Woodward Avenue after dinner for a few blocks or things like that? Thanks!
A lot has changed in the last 10 years, you'll be in one of the nicest and most walkable areas of the city between downtown and mid-town along woodward ave. Hope you enjoy your stay and welcome to our city!
The change to downtown and midtown in the last ten years is nothing but astounding. Literally hundreds of restaurants and taverns have opened up and even a tiny bit of retail. Campuus Martius has become a near constant hubub of activity. The last bastion of ick in the central core of downtown (Brush Park) is in the process of becoming the "Stadium District."
The biggest danger to you is cold. Crossing the freeway is especially cold. Next biggest danger = crazy people on those new scooters. Still it is a city. You need to have a least a modicum of common sense and street smarts or you could get in trouble, just like any city.
When you go along Woodward, do not forget to look up. The most remarkable aspects of downtown architecture is at the tops of the buildings along Woodward.
When you get too cold, jump on the painfully slow Q line. At least it is heated.
At present there remains a segment of Woodward past the new stadium and prior to the start of Mid-town coolness, that is not very nice. Not scary or awful, just still a bit run down and empty The rest of Woodward is pretty neat.
Most of downtown Detroit has become what I consider a virtually ideal city. It has a lot of life. All kinds of cool things to see an do. enough people to be interesting and fun but not enough to be crowded and unpleasant.
Unfortunately you are coming at a tough time of year. People will scurry along darting from one source of heat to another. Bring hat, gloves, and if you are going to be outside more than in, long underwear or flannel lined jeans.
Awesome! Thanks for the response, guys. I'm looking forward to seeing it all. It makes me want to come back again as a tourist sometime. I'll be sure to bundle up. I'm from the Washington, DC area so it's pretty cold here too right now but my experience travelling around the Midwest during the winter (Chicago, Minneapolis, Madison so far) is that it's at another level. Usually it just means putting on extra layers though. Any particular dining recommendations? It looks like I'll have 4 days there (arriving Monday morning, getting back to Dulles Thursday night on the redeye). Also, any decent Christmas decorations to take a look at in the area?
Prime and Proper (Steakhouse - $100 plus for a nice steak) You might find an equal steak somewhere int he USA, but you will not find a better one. Ask for a tour. It takes about 30 seconds, but it is neat (or just go downstairs to the bathrooms and make your own tour).
London Chop House - a downtown Icon recently re-created. Pricy.
Marios. Mid-town Italian. Waiters in Tuxedos. Very formal. Pricy.
Selden Standard -Tapas style unusually tasty food. Mid-town figure on $40 per person. My vote for the best tasting food in the City
Wright & Company - Downtown, Hard to find, but well worth it. Excellent Tapas style food, fabulous atmosphere. Get the turret table if you can.
Roast. In the Book Cadillac Hotel. Great service. get the Beast of the day or whatever they call it. It is always excellent.
Texas De Brazil - Chain. All you can eat steak house. About $50 per person. Edge of Campus Martius. Come hungry.
Rattlesnake Club - riverfront. Too long since I have been there.
The Whitney. You pay (a lot) for atmosphere, not food. I always recommend just going up to the thrid floor for drinks and dessert. Food is too expensive and mediochre quality.
Parc - right in the middle of Campus Martius. Food is very good, I would not call it great. Nice locatin and fun to watch the skaters. Worth it to me.
Irridescence. Impress your date. Fancy/trendy atmosphere. food is quite good. Personally I think there are better options at this price range, but it is still really good.
Giovannis Italian classic.
Cliff bells - Don't eat here. Just get a drink and listen to some jazz. Food is expensive and mediocre. wait staff is consistently either stoned or stupid.
Middle:
Slows Barbque. - Corktown. Great barbecue. Until recently, one of the few places you would take out of town guests to impress them. Call ahead or be prepared to go next door. Can be a two hour wait.
Gold Cash Gold. Corktown. Former pawn shop and they did not want to change the sign. Neat and unusual food combinations.
Hopcat - chain. Great french fries and Poutine. On woodward.
Townhouse - stepped up bar food. Pretty good. Some unusual items. Downtown almost to Jefferson.
Grand Trunk. Neat homey place. Irish oriented food. Basically bar food (corned beef sandwiches) and beer. examine the place it is an old rail station. really neat.
Quick/Cheap:
Bucharest grille. Corktown and Jefferson locations. Best food buy int he City IMO. Great chicken shwarma sandwiches for about $5.
Layfayette Coney Island and American Coney Island - Campus Matrius. Layfayette is basically just coneys and is a very simple old fashioned diner. The decor has not changed in decades (like 5 decades or more) and the bathroom is funny. American is more of a typical Coney/greek restaurant. Both are Detorit Icons. I prefer Layfayette. It is more quirky. I t is very hard to find the door without ending up in American Coney by mistake. Cash only at Layfayette.
Shake Shack - like the new york one. Expensive but good burgers and execellent shakes.
Five Guys - Ditto. More basic - less froufrou.
Wahlburgers - don't bother. Many better places for an expensive hamburger. Not good. bad service absurd prices.
Basement Burger Bar (or something like that). Best of the bunch.
Sweets - Astoria Bakery. Greektown Sometimes I just go in to look and fantasize (I cannot eat much sugar). Just looking is a dream. Tasting is heavenly.
Slices. Thin crust greasy pizza by the slice. Two slices and a coke for about $6. People love it or hate it. Not many in between. Chat with the guys who work there. They are a hoot.
Taco Alley - Midtown. Best Mexican food outside of Mexican town (SW Detroit) that i have found. .
Obviously out of 300+ restaurants I am leaving out a lot of places. Probably leaving out some of my favorites. These are just what popped to mind before i got bored from typing them.
So, I'll be heading to Detroit for the first time in my life (mostly staying downtown) for work next week for a few days. I've read a bunch of articles and seen some profiles over the last few years about how Detroit's rising up economically and getting a whole bunch of new development. I'm just curious, on the ground level do people feel like the city's starting to come back very much? How much is just hype? I know most of the concentration has been on the downtown areas. Have nearby neighborhoods started to come back at all? I'm not particularly concerned about safety (I have a rental car and I'll be mostly staying near my hotel and office facilities nearby) but is it reasonably safe to walk around say, Woodward Avenue after dinner for a few blocks or things like that? Thanks!
That should be G E N T R I F I C A T I O N in all caps and bold...
If you get a break in the middle of the day, go down to the Renaissance Center (RenCen) on the Detroit riverfront, which contains GM's world headquarters along with several dining and shopping venues, and take the free tour:
We did this a few years ago and it was really interesting and a lot of fun. The lobby is filled with the latest new GM cars, trucks, and other vehicles and there is a lovely winter garden with potted full sized palm trees and a wall of windows overlooking the Detroit River. When we did the tour they took us up to one of the top floors so that we could get a bird's eye view of downtown Detroit, the river, Belle Isle, and Windsor, Ontario across the river. It was very cool, especially considering that it was free!
I can also recommend Joe Muer Seafood which is an upscale restaurant in the RenCen. Ask for a table by the windows for a panoramic view of the river and Canada.
Get a job that requires a lot of business lunches/dinners. Frankly I would prefer to be having spaghetti with my family in the kitchen, but it is kind of cool to get out a lot on someone else's dime. Besides my family is now mostly gone elsewhere and my wife often works until 9 p.m. so there is not a lot of point in being home. Except my current jobs involves a lot fewer business dinners.
My favorite business thingy was a conference at Beaver Creek Colorado where I was a speaker. Of course since I was there anyway, I had to ski with the clients/potential clients (and eat and drink with them too). Everyone took turns hosting a dinner at a fancy restaurant - I avoided having to explain a $4,000 bill for dinner to my partners by hosting the cocktail reception each year (which only cost about $1500 and was easier to explain). Something I never would have done and certainly never at a ski in/ski out hotel on my own dime.
I never thought about it all that much before you posted that comment, but I have been really lucky to do all that marketing stuff, even though I hated it at times because it meant more time away from my family on top of 60 hour or more work weeks. Now I no longer have a marketing obligation, so I get out less for business. I wish I could have reversed the order of events.
The change to downtown and midtown in the last ten years is nothing but astounding. Literally hundreds of restaurants and taverns have opened up and even a tiny bit of retail. Campuus Martius has become a near constant hubub of activity. The last bastion of ick in the central core of downtown (Brush Park) is in the process of becoming the "Stadium District."
The biggest danger to you is cold. Crossing the freeway is especially cold. Next biggest danger = crazy people on those new scooters. Still it is a city. You need to have a least a modicum of common sense and street smarts or you could get in trouble, just like any city.
When you go along Woodward, do not forget to look up. The most remarkable aspects of downtown architecture is at the tops of the buildings along Woodward.
When you get too cold, jump on the painfully slow Q line. At least it is heated.
At present there remains a segment of Woodward past the new stadium and prior to the start of Mid-town coolness, that is not very nice. Not scary or awful, just still a bit run down and empty The rest of Woodward is pretty neat.
Most of downtown Detroit has become what I consider a virtually ideal city. It has a lot of life. All kinds of cool things to see an do. enough people to be interesting and fun but not enough to be crowded and unpleasant.
Unfortunately you are coming at a tough time of year. People will scurry along darting from one source of heat to another. Bring hat, gloves, and if you are going to be outside more than in, long underwear or flannel lined jeans.
This is a fantastic response. If you spend your time between downtown and midtown, you’ll wonder how anyone could have a poor view of Detroit. The museums along Woodward in Midtown are gorgeous, and downtown is simply a blast.
There are plenty of posts and stories about Detroit’s challenges. Having a vibrant downtown isn’t one of them.
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I'll be sure to bundle up. I'm from the Washington, DC area so it's pretty cold here too right now but my experience travelling around the Midwest during the winter (Chicago, Minneapolis, Madison so far) is that it's at another level. Usually it just means putting on extra layers though. Any particular dining recommendations? It looks like I'll have 4 days there (arriving Monday morning, getting back to Dulles Thursday night on the redeye). Also, any decent Christmas decorations to take a look at in the area?
