Detroit: A Ride on the People Mover

My morning walking tour on October 18, 2008 was followed up by another walking tour of Brush Park, one of Detroit's fascinating neighbourhoods. Bob Goldsmith from Detroit Tour Connections was our guide again and explained this area to us.

During Victorian times this era featured many affluent mansions for upper-class families in Detroit. The neighbourhood encompasses 24 city blocks and originally included 300 homes, 70 of which were Victorian mansions. With the development of suburbs and an extensive highway network, people started moving further afield and Brush Park began to lose its appeal. Many of the houses were then subdivided into multiple apartments, and in the post-war years many of the houses started to become abandoned.

Some houses turned into crack-houses and the city decided to demolish many of them, leaving behind large empty plots of grass, often referred to as "urban prarie". Today, many of the buildings are now being restored and new townhouse developments have also sprung up. Brush Park is a fascinating neighbourhood in transition.

In addition to private residences we also admired some historic church buildings and a recently opened upscale grocery store called Zaccaro's. After our tour my friend Linda and I relaxed a little at our hotel, and in the evening we embarked on an exploration of downtown Detroit. We went on one entire loop of the Detroit People Mover, a single-track, one-way public transit system that covers 13 stations in downtown Detroit.

Then we explored the Renaissance Centre, the world headquarters of General Motors. We strolled past the large showroom on the main floor into the Wintergarden which faces the Detroit River. Then we made over way into the 73-storey Marriot Hotel which makes up the central tower of the seven-building complex. The top of the hotel is crowned by the Coach Insignia restaurant where we enjoyed a phenomenal sunset and a nice collection of appetizers at the bar. The view from this rooftop restaurant was absolutely gorgeous and provided us with a night-time vista of Windsor across the river, as well as Detroit. Further west the Ambassador Bridge was all lit up and twinkling in the distance a great ending to an action-packed day.

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[DonPhilip84]

very nice, your doin' an important job t&t as detroits needs some good advertising now more than ever. i like this city

[travelandtransitions]

Thank you for the comments. Detroit has actually been one of my most interesting travel assignments ever, a study of extreme contrasts and a great place to learn about history. It may be surprising, but Detroit has many beautiful places to see despite its challenges. Personally, I did not find the downtown area all that unsafe although I did stay away from the darker streets and alleys. The Peoplemover did not seem dangerous at all and it's a great way of catching all the major downtown sights.

[trainroomgary]

Thanks for showing Detroit in a good light.

[momstaxiclub2]

hey when they built it we nicknamed it the mugger mover. moves the the robbers and muggers from one place to another faaaaaassst

[hotcaulkinsideu]

What an absolute fucking joke!! The train to nowhere. Don't forget to bring your gun!!! OH! Leave your $1200 Cartier sunglasses at home or they negroes be takin' dem.

[anythingbutcommon]

OMG that part where the people mover went fast was crazy! oh wait...

[cougarsstudios]

@MaximumLantern Well I think they're building a train system up woodward from downtown to somewhere i'm not sure. You heard anything about it? Maybe they'll run it to the suburbs and more people will go down there.

[MaximumLantern]

@cougarsstudios @cougarsstudios I totally agree. If the People Mover were to connect downtown with New Center, if would have to run up through Midtown, and there'd be plenty of riders in the Wayne State and Medical Center Areas. It could also connect to the three Casinos, so people at one casino could hop around from one casino to the next, using the People Mover. (awfully)

[MaximumLantern]

@cougarsstudios I totally agree. If the People Mover were to connect downtown with New Center, if would have to run up through Midtown, and there'd be plenty of riders in the Wayne State and Medical Center Areas. It could also connect to the three Casinos, so people at one casino could hop around from one casino to the next, using the People Mover. (awfully)

[cougarsstudios]

@MaximumLantern Is there another way to spell it? And yeah the downtown really isnt that big that they really needed that. They could/should maybe expand it to like new center or something. Then there'd actually be a point to use it. Not enough people live downtown that that would be a good mode of transportation. Or even belle isle would be nice.

[MaximumLantern]

@cougarsstudios Yea. The spelling was, um, interesting. As for the People Mover, it really can't be considered a form of (usable) mass transit. It's circle route is so small that you could really just walk from one point to another and bypass the train. It seems to be nothing more than a fun sight-seeing tool for suburban Tigers fans after a day at Comerica Park.

[cougarsstudios]

@MaximumLantern Everytime I'm on it there's us and maybe 6 other people. Or were you asking about the word offly?