The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit Tour

This journey begins at the bottom, amid the fabulous ruins of Detroit, with this 250 page classic 1997 portrait of the city, which was the origin of DetroitYES, and then works its way up to Detroit's current revival.  In the process, the story of modern day Detroit will unfold in all its complexity. Along the way, you will be invited to listen to and join the thousands who continue to reveal this story on the DetroitYES forums.
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Detroit Mon Amour Tours

Tours added after the original classic tour from 1999 through 2006.

DetroitYES Forum Hall of Fame Tours

Links to the DetroitYES forum Hall of Fame threads. Outstanding discussion threads with incredible images and information created by the members of the DetroitYES forums.

Detroit Rises Tours

Tours featuring new developments in the recovery and new rise of Detroit.

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A city does not stand still in time.  Its story is written every day. With the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit tour as a framework and guide, Detroit Mon Amour moves forward with the flow of time to explore the phenomenon of the International Metropolis of Detroit in depth and detail from 1999 through 2006.  The following journeys meander throughout the city and the years, up to the present moving blending with the audience driven forums. In their segmented totality they search for the heart and meaning of Detroit.

2007 to Present
 New Tours
Displayed on the right.

2006
 Detroit Flyover - 1992 Aerial Views of Detroit
 4th Street Revisited - 2006 4th Street Fair
 Tiger Stadium - Last Game played 2002
 The Fabulous Apartment Ruins of Detroit
Over Sixty Spectacular Abandoned Apartment Buildings
 In Search of Community - The Price of Sprawl

2005
 Detroit Rises: Downtown Detroit Booms
  Lakeside Trailer Park US MARINE HOSPITAL, WINDMILL POINT LIGHT, FOX CREEK & HARBOR ISLAND
 Trombley School Demolition
 Highland Park Ford HQ Illumination
 Studebaker Fire
 Irving Theater

2004
 Wonderland Shopping Mall
"When Malls Die"
WONDERLAND, GREENFIELD-GRAND RIVER
 SPRING 2004 in Detroit
LAFAYETTE BUILDING, BELLE ISLE POLICE STATION, AMBASSADOR BRIDGE, CHENE PARK, HIGHLAND PARK FIRE STATION RUIN, BELLE ISLE SHELTERS, FLYNN PAVILION UPDATE, SOLANIS CASEY CAPUCHIN GARDEN, KIRK IN THE WOODS, E. GRAND BLVD. NEW HOUSE, RENCEN PEOPLE MOVER STATION
 Ormand Apartments Ruins
 Mel Farr Auto Dealership Ruins
 Brush Park & Trumbull
 Brightmoor
Old Downtown
 The Urban Prairie - then and now
 Ruins of Highland Police Station, Highland Park City Hall & Fire Department
 Highland Park Holiday Inn Demolition
 Summer 2004 in the D with Belle Isle 360°
 Lee Plaza Inside
 Norwest Theater Demolition
 Detroit Skyline Panorama from Windsor

2003
 VA Hospital Allen Park
 Lincoln Motors
Rivertown
 Grande Ballroom
 Labor Legacy Sculpture - Hart Plaza
 Summer in Detroit 2003 [MICHIGAN CENTRAL, THE WHITTIER, HART PLAZA, BELLE ISLE BEACH, GRANDE BALLROOM, GRAFFITI, 4TH STREET FAIR]
 Book Cadillac Hotel Inside tour
 Where am I? [HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW DETROIT?]
 Detroit Skyline Autumn from Windsor
 The Whittier Hotel
 Metropolitan BuildingLobby
 Compuware Completed+ Civil War Monument

2002
 Packard Plant
 Detroit Boat Club Inside tour
 8 Mile Road Tour
 Fort Wayne
 Palmer Park
 Lascaux Detroit II - More Cave Paintings of Detroit
[DEQUINDRE RR CUT GRAFFITI PAINTINGS 2]
 Red Wings Victory Parade on Woodward
 Eastside Detroit Driveabout
[OSSIAN SWEET HOUSE, NEW EASTSIDE HOUSING, GRAYHAVEN ESTATES, HARBOR ISLAND, JEFFERSON AVE. BAPTIST, DETROIT WATERWORKS, JEWISH CEMETERY, ST. CYRIL'S]
 Westside Detroit Driveabout
[8TH PRECINCT REDFORD POLICE STATION, ROSEDALE PARK, CUNNINGHAM DRUGSTORE, HENRY FORD GRAVE, ST. MARTHA'S, ISLAMIC CENTER OF AMERICA, JOY RD. CHURCH RUIN, MALICE GREEN SITE, BOHEMIAN HOUSE, CORKTOWN, COMPUWARE CONSTRUCTION, RENAISSANCE CENTER WINTER GARDEN]
 McGregor Library
 Industrial Building + Jim Pallas' Century of Light
 Windsor Train Ferry
 Flynn Skating Pavilion - Belle Isle
 Belle Isle Casino
 Corrado Parducci Studio
 Michigan Theater
 Oakland Country Bridge Ruin
 Belle Isle Hug
 Lee Plaza Lions Recovery
 In Memoriam, WTC

2001
 Soulful Detroit - Motown Era Detroit
 Fabulous Ruins Night @ the Cass Cafe
 Lee Plaza - and The Rape of Detroit
 Stouffer's Inn Demolished, Southfield
 Bye, Bye Bonnie Brook Golf Course
 4th Street Fair
 Detroit 300th Birthday Walkabout
[HART PLAZA NEW RIVERFRONT, KENNEDY SQUARE DEMOLITION, COMPUWARE CONSTRUCTION, NATIONAL THEATER]
 St. Stanislaus
Rises from Ruins
 Downriver Detroit
[ZUG ISLAND, BOBLO BOAT RUINS]
 Downtown Detroit
November  Walkabout
[CADILLAC HOTEL, COMPUWARE CONSTRUCTION, BRUSH PARK, STATLER HOTEL, WHITNEY BUILDING, BRODERICK TOWER, FOX THEATER, PARK AVENUE, FREE PRESS BUILDING]
 Downtown Detroit December Night Surf
[FEDERAL BUILDING, PENOBSCOT BUILDING, COMPUWARE CONSTRUCTION, FOX THEATER, FORT STREET PRESBYTERIAN, CORKTOWN, MICHIGAN AVE.]
 Too Beautiful for Words
[ABANDONED APARTMENTS, HOUSES AND SCHOOL]
  Rivertown
Franklin Street
 Doomed Westside Housing
 Original Home Page Image RenCen / Ruins Revisited
 Dearborn Mega Mosque
 Trumbull Mansard Beauty
 Detroit Skyline - Downtown and Bridge from Belle Isle
 Westside Apartment Building Ruin
 Ambassador Bridge at Night
 Hart Plaza from the Savoyard Club
 Detroit Skyline -  Detroit and Windsor from Belle Isle at Night

2000
 The Lost Synagogues of Detroit 50+ sites from Jewish Detroit
 Belle Isle
 Pontiac State Hospital
 Detroit in Beautiful Light
[GAR, CHINA TOWN, SCOTT MANSION, CASS CORRIDOR MANSIONS]
 Techno on the River  - DEMF
 Boston Avenue Ruins  - The Ormand Apartments
 Neighborhood Montage
[SINAI HOSPITAL, THE COLLINGWOOD,1967 RIOT FLASH POINT, AMERICAN BEAUTY IRON]
 Fisher 21Inside Tour
 Greektown Casino Opens
 Trumbull Theater
 Dally in the Alley
 ?Mystery Sites?
[WWII RADAR TOWERS, YACHT PORTS, ADMIRAL THEATER, MACK FIELD, FIRE STATION 9900 JEFFERSON]
 Brush Park 2000
 Fisher Plant 21
 Vanity Ballroom
 Park AvenueThe Ruins of
 Detroit Contemporary Gallery
 Ferry Street Restorations
 Cass / New Center Restorations
 Downtown Ruins
[MOOSE LODGE, CHIN TIKI, EDDYSTONE HOTEL, PARK AVENUE HOTEL, MADISON LENNOX HOTEL, CADILLAC HOTEL]
  Downtown Montage
[JOE LOUIS 'FIST' SCULPTURE, AMERICAN HOTEL, HUDSON'S PIT, UNITED ARTISTS, KINSEL'S DRUGSTORE, LAFAYETTE BUILDING, FORD AUDITORIUM, BOOK CADILLAC HOTEL, LENNOX HOTEL, MILLENNIUM BELL, TELEMARK THEATER, 1250 W. FORT, MICHIGAN CENTRAL STATION, NEW TIGER BALLPARK, GRAND CIRCUS PARK]
 United Sound Studio

1999
 "Discuss Detroit" Forum Launched
 Lascaux Detroit: The Cave Paintings of Detroit
[DEQUINDRE RR CUT GRAFFITI PAINTINGS]
 Eastown Theater Techno Rave Party

1997 - 1998
 "The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit" The original core tour of DetroitYES.com.

Et Cetera
 Hudson's Department Store Implosion
 Belle Isle 360° Panorama
 Tiger Stadium 360˚ Panorama
 SoulfulDetroit Night Projection Images

^TOP OF PAGE

The DetroitYES Project began in 1997 with the launch of The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit Tour to express the inherit beauty and power of the ruins of modern day Detroit.  This tour was expanded and enhanced until 1999 when new tours began to appear independently and the DetroitYES forum was started. The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit provides the setting and context of the DetroitYES Project -  What went wrong?  What does it mean? Can it be fixed?

 Industrial Ruins of Detroit

Downtown Detroit Ruins

 Neighborhood Ruins

 The City Rises

Fabulous Ruins Table of Contents

  The Hall of Fame

What is the meaning of the ruins of Detroit? What brought this on? Expressways? Urban Sprawl? Racism? Foreign Competition? Where is Detroit going?

DetroitYES is now largely audience-authored. At the core of DetroitYES are the response and exchange of thousands of participants on the DetroitYES forums who in turn have been read by millions of internet visitors.  Launched in 1999, the renowned DetroitYES forums have touched on every aspect of the Detroit family of communities, its history, its struggles and its path forward. 

Over one million posts have been created on over one hundred thousand web pages of discussions with pictures.  On the DetroitYES forum, you will find the most passionate and knowledgeable gathering on the web of those who know about and care about Detroit.  You are invited share you knowledge with forum. 

Detroit falls, Detroit Rises. Detroit was in the depths of her decline when the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit was first published on the web.  Yet the seeds of Detroit's resurgence were springing forth amid the broken glass and crumbling brick of a decades-long decline.  Detroit has dramatically risen in the years since. The themes established in  the City Rises chapter of The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit continue here.