Detroit 2020 Bus Tour: Part Two

Our tour continued after our first stop at the Guardian Building.  We made our way through downtown and stopped at Rivard Plaza on the Riverwalk.  Many of our group had heard of the Riverwalk.  Few had seen it.

Candice Howland of Warren found the area to be family friendly, “I love that there’s stuff for my kids.  I think we’re more excited to take our kids down there.”

Back on the bus, we continued to head east along the river.  Our tour guide, Jeanette Pierce of Inside Detroit, told us big changes are expected in the area soon, “A lot of people have said this is the most valuable land in the state of Michigan right now.

The mansions of Indian Village impressed many in our group.  But we didn’t only drive through the nicest areas.  We also say blight and urban prairie.

At the Earthworks urban farm we stopped just long enough to get a good look at a great harvest.

Our next stop was the Heidelberg Project.  We learned about the artist Tyree Guyton who s tarted the project in 1987.  He originally started painting big, colorful polka dots on abandoned buildings in his neighborhood to draw attention to the blight in the area.  What impressed our group was that the art had succeeded in doing something a lot more important than attracting visitors.  It has actually made the block safe, according to Jeanette.  Jeffrey Lindahl was amazed that people in the neighborhood, “feel safer walking across the street to look at a piece of art than I would in Redford.”

Our bus headed for Woodward where we got out at the Downtown Welcome Center.  Then we went to check out a one bedroom apartment at the Lofts at Merchants Row. ” 1100 square feel right in the center of it all is around $1100 a month,” Jeanette told us.

After downtown we went to midtown where we visited a shop called Citybird. The store has all sorts of handmade items that they make as well as handmade items from other artists.

Lunch was at Traffic Jam and Snug in midtown.  We had a wonderful meal and heard from owner Scott Lowell.  He told us about the changes he has seen in that neighborhood in the past ten or 15 years, “From something that was a little bit of an outpost to people walking around now.”

As we got back on the bus for the final leg of the tour, many of our group looked out at the city with a changed point of view.

Susan Lough admitted her mind had been changed.  She’s planning to go to a Tigers game and her daughter, Becky, who was also on the tour, wants to go back and eat lunch before the game at the Traffic Jam and Snug.

Chris Meller of Fraser says he saw a lot and learned a lot on our tour, “I have a different perspective of the city.  I can go out of my comfort zone and visit places that I never even knew existed.

Jeanette thanked the group and told them, “I hope you’ll continue to come back to the city and be a part of the change.

Jeffrey Lindahl is planning to do just that.  He said, “Today was like a really big eye opener.  There’s more to Detroit than what I know and what people were telling me about.  I love it and I want to be a part of Detroit’s change.

Krista Mazzeo, who moved to Livonia from Pennsylvania about a year ago, says she got a nice little taste of Detroit, “But I want to explore more and see what else is out there too.”  She thinks there’s hope for Detroit, “We all just have to work together.”

Click here for a list of locations we visited
Click here for a list of companies that offer tours