WELCOME TO DETROIT

Located at the center of the Great Lakes Region, the city and suburbs of Detroit offer a wide variety of inviting communities from which to choose. Newcomers can select from hundreds of friendly neighbor-hoods that feature every imaginable housing option, from modest bungalows to the most exclusive es-tates. Metropolitan Detroit is characterized as a vibrant international community — fast paced and brim-ming over with activity — complemented by a population of well-educated, highly motivated, and culturally diverse people. This colorful element of ethnic diversity is celebrated and featured throughout the summer in a series of free festivals at the handsome riverfront Hart Plaza. Together with its Canadian sister city, Windsor, Ontario, Detroit represents the largest metropolis on any international border in the world.

As early as the 1930s, Detroit was experiencing the trend toward suburban sprawl that became the pat-tern for metropolitan centers across the nation. The emergence of superior highways and interstate travel only accelerated the expansion of the city’s scope and influence. Over the decades, a collection of cities, villages, and townships have sprung up like spokes around the hub of Detroit. Claiming distinctive personalities and strengths, each one contributes to the array of cultural, recreational, and educational advantages.

Economy

Detroit’s impressive skyline is testimony to the area’s enduring strength as one of the nation’s leading centers for business, manufacturing, commerce, trade, and distribution. Today’s business climate supports an impressive range of enterprises, from the giants within the automotive industry to emerging firms that continue to develop the technologies of tomorrow. The phenomenal mix of 100 ethnic groups in the metropolitan area’s residential sector is matched on the playing field of global business and commerce. More than 700 foreign-owned firms and joint-venture companies are located within the region, representing nearly 25 countries and employing more than 75,000 people. More than 35 foreign governments have established official representation in the Detroit metropolitan region, providing a variety of services for trade and travel with their respective nations.

Maintaining its long-standing position at the apex of the North American automobile industry, Metropolitan Detroit is the place where many of the world’s largest auto companies maintain their international headquarters. Significant numbers of European and Asian auto companies have also set up shop in Detroit, a trend that accelerated with the proliferation of joint ventures between American and Asian manufacturers in the latter decades of the 20th century.

A number of healthcare systems rank among the leading employers of the metropolitan region, including the Detroit Medical Center of Wayne State University, William Beaumont Hospitals, and the Henry Ford Health System. In nearby Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan Health System consistently ranks among the nation’s finest. The U-M hospitals were included on the honor role of the “Best hospitals in the United States” in U.S. News & World Report and listed in Consumer Guide’s The Best Hospitals in America. More than 200 U-M physicians were also included in the book, The Best Doctors in America. The Genesee County region adds several state-of-the-art facilities to the impressive list of resources, including Genesys Medical Center in Grand Blanc as well as Hurley Medical Center and McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint.

Services

The active and industrious residents of Metropolitan Detroit have always placed a high priority on mobility and convenient transportation facilities. A well-planned network of highways, rail lines, bridges, and tunnels link Detroit with all North American markets, efficiently serving area businesses and commerce as well as local residents. An effective public transportation system links the city and the suburbs, while Metropolitan Detroit Airport provides easy air travel to regional destinations or to points across the nation and around the world.

Metropolitan Detroit is home to a high concentration of healthcare facilities and renowned teaching hospitals. Many of these institutions are leaders in diagnostics and treatment in such areas as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and organ implants as well as in biomedical technology. Thousands of doctors and dentists in private practice who represent every major specialty are on hand to meet routine and advanced needs.

More than 30 colleges and universities prepare graduates for positions at the forefront of science and technology, law, business, education, humanities, the arts, and medicine. Public school districts and private schools provide a quality education on primary and secondary levels, educating the leaders of tomorrow through the support, involvement, and cooperation of the entire community. Many cities have developed dynamic coalitions of educators, parents, and local businesses that share the common goal of improving and enhancing the public educational experience.

Lifestyle

Every season brings dramatic change to the Detroit area, where holiday-card settings melt each spring into miles of planted fields and syrup buckets hanging from maple trees. Summer’s lush green farms and cool lakes and rivers are transformed to vivid autumn hues. Whether your interest is horseback riding, hang gliding, hiking, skiing, sailing, or testing your backswing on a championship golf course— the Detroit region offers nature’s finest playground. Local parks and recreation departments provide hours of organized and supervised athletic and recreational opportunities for children and adults.

Sports fans will discover action in every corner of southeastern Michigan, from the thrill of professional sports to the roaring cheers for favored collegiate teams. Ann Arbor’s University of Michigan and Wayne State University in the heart of Detroit ensure a full schedule of popular sporting events. Professional teams for baseball, arena football, hockey, and basketball combine with auto and horse racing thrills to please every screaming fan. June brings the annual Grand Prix Auto Race on Belle Isle, now featuring Indianapolis-style cars. For boat enthusiasts, the hydroplane races on the Detroit River are a sheer delight.

Culturally rich, Metropolitan Detroit maintains permanent companies for all four of the performing arts — symphony, opera, dance, and theatre. The visual arts are also well represented and include important museums, galleries, and public art that ranges from ancient treasures to the finest of contemporary pieces. Every county in southeastern Michigan has developed unique treasures in performing arts venues, fine galleries, and local or regional talent. Regardless of where you settle, you’ll find active arts organizations, art centers, and local performance groups close to home.

Just across the Detroit River, Windsor, Ontario in Canada is a stepping stone to another world of attractions. Highlights include historic Amhurstburg, the world-famous Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, and the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. An outstanding draw for naturalists in the Detroit area is Point Pelee National Park, a scenic peninsula of marshes, woodlands, and beaches that attracts a flood of migrating birds in the spring and fall.

Just a few miles from Detroit lies Greenfield Village and the adjoining Henry Ford Museum. The village is one of the most elaborate and extensive collections of fully restored historical buildings in the world — many of which have been transported from locations around the nation. Among the jewels are the Wright Brothers’ Cycle Shop and Stephen Foster’s home. Craftsmen demonstrate ancient arts, while weekly events like antique car gatherings, musket shoots, and pottery festivals draw friends, family, and neighbors together around the four seasons.

Shoppers will delight in Detroit’s variety and abundance of upscale boutiques and prestigious department stores. Many regional malls serve as amusement and entertainment centers as well. The quaint shops and cafes tucked away in suburban retail districts provide a more intimate shopping experience, while local markets display the finest in farm-fresh goods.

Metropolitan Detroit is the perfect place to call home. Welcoming neighborhoods nestled among gently rolling hills or along tree-lined city streets offer affordable home choices from well-appointed subdivisions to luxurious high-rise condominiums. You’ll find turn-of-the-century Victorians, elegant estates, countryside mansions, waterfront properties, lakefront townhouses, and cozy neighborhoods with personalities and distinctions that enliven each streetscape. Whatever lifestyle you might envision, southeastern Michigan has every ingredient to bring it into reality.