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Introduction
Founded seven decades before the American Revolution, the oldest city in the Midwest is a busy industrial center, producing roughly a quarter of the nation's autos, trucks, and tractors. The riverfront harbor is one of the busiest ports on the Great Lakes. Downtown, a constant flow of traffic moves in and out of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and across the Ambassador Bridge, both of which connect Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, directly across the Detroit River.
Though the city nicknamed itself "Renaissance City" in the 1970s, it did little to deserve the title until recently. The 1990s brought major changes, including a new mayor, plans for new sports stadiums, and a number of revitalized downtown areas, including the glitzy theater district -- now second only to New York's Great White Way in number of seats.
Detroit is the Motor City, and everyone does drive. Many downtown streets are one-way; a detailed map is a necessity. The main streets into downtown are Woodward Avenue (north-south) and Jefferson Avenue (east-west). Starting on foot from the riverside Renaissance Center, downtown, you can move outward to east Detroit, with its burgeoning Rivertown neighborhood, and then on to the northwest side, the cultural heart of the city. Detroit's elevated monorail, the People Mover, traces a 3-mile circuit around the downtown area; trains stop at 13 stations at approximately 3-minute intervals.
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