Detroit Week - Geography

I like to think of myself as well-citied. By well-citied, I mean that I have spent a fair amount time in most of the major cities east of the mighty Mississippi. (I have no idea what goes on west of the Mississippi. St. Louis aside, I'm pretty sure the rest is still Indian country.)

So, you can believe me when I tell you that the Detroit of 2013 is utterly unique and awesome. I know...going out on a limb here. Let us start with the bones, shall we?

GEOGRAPHY
So, what you need to know about Detroit's basic geography in this, contained in my handy-dandy thesis statement:

"Detroit is an enormous, sprawling, low-rise, thoroughly neighborhood-centric, Temple to the Automobile."

Let's break that down a bit for ye:

Enormous - From a pure geography standpoint, it may be helpful to know that Detroit is bordered by the Detroit River to the east/south, and by NOTHING to the West/North. Well, nothing, at least from a land barrier standpoint (sorry Dearborn).

This allowed Detroit to reach an enormous size as its industry and population grew throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries:

Impressive. Also should mention this well-worn tidbit, you can fit the cities of San Francisco, Boston, and the Borough of Manhattan inside the city limits.   Which leads me to my next point...

Sprawling - When you have a city that could quite comfortably support 3 million people (the combined population of San Francisco, Boston, and the Borough of Manhattan), you are talking about an almost incomprehensible amount of land for a city, spread out over MILES and MILES. And you feel this spread. The scale of the city makes me feel a lot like Lily Tomlin.

City blocks are longer. Sidewalks wider. Heck, Detroit's east/west cross-streets are named after how many miles they are from the city center. This is NOT a small place.

It is obvious that this is not a city in which planners were concerned with conserving every square mile of land for use and possible re-use later on. They treated this seeming endless expanse of space with the regard that Dusty Bottoms used for his canteen full of water.  Which leads me to my next point...

Low-Rise - There are not a lot of tall buildings in Detroit. Or, at least, as many as you would assume would be a fixture of any major American city. There is downtown. But, once leaving that area, you will be struck by one thing: most of the buildings are no more than 4-5 stories tall. This is by design. This city was designed to be a haven of single-family homes, full of working-man's cottages, large brick Tudors, raised ranches, all built for an emerging middle class.

To my untrained eye, Detroit looks a lot like this.

You cannot miss this point as you wind your way around Detroit. There are relatively few instances where houses actually touch other houses. And then it hit me: "This city was DESIGNED to minimize population density per square mile. Huh." In my experience, this is pretty darned unique, if not a tad bit insane.

 

Neighborhood-Centric - For me, the heartbeat of Detroit is clearly housed in its thriving neighborhoods. 

 

Exploring Detroit neighborhoods for me is akin to eating Chesapeake bay crabs: Sure, it can be uninteresting, scary, messy work at times. But if you like crabs, it's totally worth it. I guess 'crabs' in this metaphor would be cities? Not sure. Moving on...

Detroit has an almost endless array of unique neighborhoods, each with its own restaurants to eat in, bars to drink in, unique, locally owned businesses to shop in, homes to admire, mature trees to woo over...you get the point. Of course, this a city designed for 3 million people that is currently housing around 700,000. So, you know...you are going to have to wade through some shit and lungs to get to something sweet enough to dab in Old Bay and stick in your mouth. You know what? Let's all forget about crabs for a moment and focus on Detroit's true purpose as...

 

Temple to the Automobile - Cars rule Detroit. I'm not just talking about the auto industry. This is a city that was designed to be driven. Driven often. And by someone who knows how. Nearly all the major streets have a minimum of 4 lanes, although 6 - 8 is the norm, in my experience. Luxurious and driver-friendly can't even begin to describe it.

Streets in Detroit are also all named in the manner usually reserved for Brazilian soccer players--first names only on the signs. Woodward. Gratiot. Grand River. Fort. Michigan. Mack. Livernois.  These aren't just streets--they are living breathing beings--brought to life after years of serving as the lifeblood of Detroit's commerce and community.

The overly elaborate grid of interstate highways that run through Detroit is a marvel of engineering, something that the people who built them should be proud of.

 

And the parking! So. Many. Spots. Everywhere.

 

And yet. all of this accommodation to the automobile has left Detroit with a concrete gray pallor that isn't very attractive, and even makes the city look older than her years.

If ever the phrase "using a hatchet when a scalpel was needed" was warranted, it is in the case of the interstate system that bisects neighborhoods throughout the city. Ugly and loud are two words I would use to describe it. Soul-crushing would be another.

 

To an outsider like myself, this all seems kind of batshit. A kind of asphalt fetishism. Truly a step and a half beyond what most cities have done to accommodate the invention of the automobile.

Detroiters, on the whole, don't seem to notice it. When I have brought it up to natives, they all kind of nod their head and say some variation of, "Yeah. The roads here are kind of wide, huh?" As if I am pointing to the sun and remarking on how yellowish it is. Obvious. Inevitable.