OK, could you clear up some neighborhood names for me......

[Meddle]

I thought the freeways keep the hipsters out of the rest of Detroit.

I thought that was Royal Oak?

[48202]

I am not worthy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS2fEd1nhe8

i am honored. And amused.

[48202]

I thought that was Royal Oak?

Hipsters are a state of mind.

And wallet.

[Hermod]

By that logic, there's no inherent superiority in old buildings. Someone just built them. We can ignore the past safely.

And what "historically significant" structures were torn down to free up the land to erect the building you are so passionately defending?

[douglasm]

Hermond......

.....I suspect Wesley is referencing the area names. In that light, look at the grumbling that went on here about renaming The Dime Building as Chrysler House. And I go back far enough to remember the City National Bank Building fiasco involving plans to rename The Penobscot Building.

Although my initial question was an attempt to nail down in my mind what constituted "Midtown", I think he has a point in the necessity to preserve the historic neighborhood names. I for one would not like to see the generic "Midtown" come into so common usage that it moves the more descriptive "Cass Corridor" into the backround.

Now, having said that, this has been a very informative discussion. Both people I agree and disagree with have made many valid points, and I thank you all.

[DetroitPlanner]

Besides, all neighborhood names are just made up initially. Somebody "made up" the term Cass Corridor, it has no inherent superiority just because it was made up earlier.

Someone made up the term Detroit too. I say we call it "Bill" from now on and all of our the negative issues with Detroit will magically go away.

[mwilbert]

The Corridor >>> Midtown.

I have nothing against the traditional name, but Midtown covers a bunch of territory that is not part of the Cass Corridor, so I think it is useful to also have a more encompassing designation.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Someone made up the term Detroit too. I say we call it "Bill" from now on and all of our the negative issues with Detroit will magically go away.

OMG, we're calling the city Detroit! That's not what it used to be called....

In July 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and his party landed at a riverbank site chosen because the narrow strait there seemed strategically situated for protecting French fur trading interests in the Great Lakes. The river was called d'Etroit, a French word meaning "strait." Cadillac and his men built Fort Pontchartrain on the site, naming the fort after Comte de Pontchartrain, French King Louis XIV's minister of state; soon a palisaded riverfront village developed nearby. Cadillac named the settlement "ville d'etroit," or city of the strait. Eventually the name was simplified to Detroit.

History History! It's ville d'etroit! The hipsters have bastardized it!

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I have nothing against the traditional name, but Midtown covers a bunch of territory that is not part of the Cass Corridor, so I think it is useful to also have a more encompassing designation.

That's a key point. "Midtown" refers to a collection of neighborhoods. A lot of people seem to suffer from the illusion that its simply a rebranding of the Cass Corridor.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

And what "historically significant" structures were torn down to free up the land to erect the building you are so passionately defending?

Perhaps by your logic, the renumbering of the streets destroyed the city's heritage.

[CleveBill]

I'm flattered!

[CleveBill]

Someone made up the term Detroit too. I say we call it "Bill" from now on and all of our the negative issues with Detroit will magically go away.

I'm flattered!

[motz]

That's a key point. "Midtown" refers to a collection of neighborhoods. A lot of people seem to suffer from the illusion that its simply a rebranding of the Cass Corridor.

Basically this. It makes it easier to explain to someone who is not familiar with Detroit rather than saying "Oh, I live in the New Amsterdam neighborhood of Detroit, its near these few streets you've never heard of!" Cass Corrdior still exists and is just a part of a bigger picture. Same with the Cultural Center, DMC, etc.

Also I have never heard Woodbridge lumped in with Midtown before. I thought Midtown in its entireity stopped at the Lodge.

[Hermod]

When I was a wee lad, my folks lived at Courville and Warren and my mother often went back there to visit friends. I never remember either of my parents referring to "East English Village".

[DetroitPlanner]

Basically this. It makes it easier to explain to someone who is not familiar with Detroit rather than saying "Oh, I live in the New Amsterdam neighborhood of Detroit, its near these few streets you've never heard of!" Cass Corrdior still exists and is just a part of a bigger picture. Same with the Cultural Center, DMC, etc.

Considering the number of hookers and dope houses outside of mid-town, then all of Detroit except for the area around New Amsterdam stree should be called New Amsterdam!

[rsa.313]

i guess nobody actually went to the midtown site to look up the boundaries. you can find a map here: http://midtowndetroitinc.org/development/maps-midtown midtown is essentially a "brand" created about 16 years ago to simplify and maximize marketing and development for several different neighborhoods, including: brush park, cass corridor, sugar hill arts district, arts center, etc. it does not include the woodbridge neighborhood, but there are a lot of crossover services due to wayne state. with the merger of new center council and ucca a few years ago, all of the districts associated with new center now also fall under this brand, including: techtown, new Amsterdam, new center, Virginia park, and the henry ford campus. each district or neighborhood still retains its own name and identity, but is marketed and advertised under the midtown "brand."

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

i guess nobody actually went to the midtown site to look up the boundaries. you can find a map here: http://midtowndetroitinc.org/development/maps-midtown midtown is essentially a "brand" created about 16 years ago to simplify and maximize marketing and development for several different neighborhoods, including: brush park, cass corridor, sugar hill arts district, arts center, etc. it does not include the woodbridge neighborhood, but there are a lot of crossover services due to wayne state. with the merger of new center council and ucca a few years ago, all of the districts associated with new center now also fall under this brand, including: techtown, new Amsterdam, new center, Virginia park, and the henry ford campus. each district or neighborhood still retains its own name and identity, but is marketed and advertised under the midtown "brand."

Well now, that was a pretty logical place to look for some clarification!

A couple of weeks ago Curbed had some old advertisements for some of the grand old apartment buildings. One was for the Seward, and it stated that the New Center neighborhood was referred to as "uptown" at that time [[1934). I had never heard that before. Like everything else, neighborhood names evolve.

[Detroitnerd]

It's simple.

Whenever a new business opens up, or an old building is rehabbed, or a soup kitchen closes, that's called Midtown.

Wherever somebody gets shot, raped or mugged, or where a building burns down, that's Cass Corridor.

Other than that distinction, they basically both are the same area.

[DetroitPlanner]

It's simple.

Whenever a new business opens up, or an old building is rehabbed, or a soup kitchen closes, that's called Midtown.

Wherever somebody gets shot, raped or mugged, or where a building burns down, that's Cass Corridor.

Other than that distinction, they basically both are the same area.

Depends on the slant of the article. The closing of a Soup Kitchen in Cass Corridor is a bad thing, but the closing of one in Midtown can be heralded as another success.

[getmoore]

When I was a wee lad, my folks lived at Courville and Warren and my mother often went back there to visit friends. I never remember either of my parents referring to "East English Village".

That's actually Morningside but I get your point.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

From the EEV website:

"Soon the meetings took on the air of a formal organization, to which Walter Gibbs gave the name Detroit East Area Residents [[D.E.A.R.). By 1980, the organization had done much to calm the fears of its residents, who came together to avoid the panic home selling that had contributed to the deterioration of so many other urban neighborhoods.
In 1990, the residents chose to give the area a new name that would reflect the homes of the community and give it an identity of its own. Because of the predominance of English country-style homes and the majority of English street names, it was agreed to name the area East English Village. In 1991, East English Village saw the installation of its first boundary sign with the new name at Chandler Park Drive and Cadieux Road. The sign was designed and built by EEV resident Terry Alphonse. The boundary signs were replaced in 2002"

Creating a name clearly helps to create a sense of place and identity.

[Hermod]

That's actually Morningside but I get your point.

The only "locale" I can remember growing up in Detroit was "downtown". We also talked about "eastside" and "westside". All other locations were referred to by the major intersection. We always said we lived "Six-mile and Harper" or "Whittier and Harper". My orthodontist [[after he moved out of the Broderick Tower) was at "Seven-mile and Meyers".

[DetroitPlanner]

The only "locale" I can remember growing up in Detroit was "downtown". We also talked about "eastside" and "westside". All other locations were referred to by the major intersection. We always said we lived "Six-mile and Harper" or "Whittier and Harper". My orthodontist [[after he moved out of the Broderick Tower) was at "Seven-mile and Meyers".

May have been true on the East Side but the West side had all sorts of 'hoods with actual names. Not every square foot was identified this way, and they all had boundaries that were different depending upon who you asked, but they had names.

[poobert]

Someone made up the term Detroit too. I say we call it "Bill" from now on and all of our the negative issues with Detroit will magically go away.

I've long advocated Detroit should change its name to Pointe so Eastpointe will have to change its name again.

[turkeycall]

I left Detroit in '80 and the Detroit area in '84 [[layoffs in the auto industry, move to Houston, move back, move to Indiana, move to the shores of Lake Michigan). There were times, when living in either Texas or Indiana, I'd meet someone from Detroit. Ask a few questions, pin-point where I was from.
East side or west? East
You know where Mack and Warren come together? You know where Maple Lanes Bowling alley is [[or was)? That's my street, Farmbrook. Go toward Chandler Park Drive, a block and four houses on the left. That's where I'm from.