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

.....a guy who hasn't lived in the Detroit area for a while.

I understand where Downtown is, but the term "Midtown" is confusing me a bit.

I'm trying to get a handle on what constitutes Midtown, and maybe some geographic guidelines using street names would help me. I'm assuming Midtown is centered around Wayne State and includes the Cultural Center, but does it include New Center? And how far towards Downtown does it extend. I guess east and west borders would be helpful, too....

Thanks in advance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midtown_Detroit

OK, this is where I get lost. Note that I haven't lived in the Detroit area in about 40 years, but I was always under the impression that I guess what could be described as the "University District" ran up Cass to about the Dalglesh Cadillac building at Cass and Amsterdam. I am safe in assuming then that the New Amsterdam Historical District is NOT a part of Midtown, right?

Now, the second historical question. When did the term "Midtown" begin to come into common usage to describe the area in question?

Midtown is the most popular place among the hipsters because it is surrounded by freeways. The freeways form a moat around it to keep out the rest of Detroit.

I think you are starting to split hairs. Amsterdam, like Midtown is a recently made up name. It refers to a street in New Center.

Wrong University for the University District

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers...trict,_Detroit

New Amsterdam Historic District is in New Center, not Midtown.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Ams...toric_District

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Center,_Detroit




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

I don't think Midtown has official borders, but I'd say it does include the New Amsterdam district as well as all the other neighborhoods along the Woodward between downtown and New Center-- the Cass Corridor, Brush Park, the Medical Center, the Cultural Center, the WSU campus, New Amsterdam. The Woodbridge neighborhood to the west of WSU is also considered part of Midtown, but I rarely see North Corktown described this way. I guess it's not hipster enough?

Obviously, I am the traditional type who prefers the old neighborhood names. Midtown is too generic.

I've NEVER heard of the "New Amsterdam" historic district referred to by anyone EVER, as such, and I had a friend who, oddly enough, lived there. Midtown is the box surrounded by the freeways, north of downtown. North of that is New Center, until you hit some vague place around Philadelphia Street.

I first heard the term New Amsterdam about ten years ago, when the hipsters began working/living there. Before then, it was just this vague area between WSU and New Center.

I guess hipsters like their neighborhoods to have a name?

Midtown is a state of mind man...

actually, for once, I think wikipedia is about right - bounded by I-75 on the east and south, lodge on the west and 94 to the north.

The Midtown name was created by the UCCA, I think in the late 1990's. the New Amsterdam name was created by the New Center Council. The UCCA and New Center Council have since merged to form Midtown Detroit Inc.

Wikipedia has the boundaries of Midtown correct. I remember the newspaper articles from when it was first announced.

I know they're trying to promote Midtown and eradicate usage of Cass Corridor but, to me, anything between MLK and 75 is still Cass Corridor. Ain't nuthin Midtown about Stadium Liquor or Peterboro between Cass and Second.

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Originally Posted by KJ5

I know they're trying to promote Midtown and eradicate usage of Cass Corridor but, to me, anything between MLK and 75 is still Cass Corridor. Ain't nuthin Midtown about Stadium Liquor or Peterboro between Cass and Second.

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^^^^^^Agreed.

New Amsterdam? Where would that location be? Just curious. Might want to make a trip back to Detroit.

Sounds better than wild wings for some odd reason.

The Corridor >>> Midtown.

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Originally Posted by 48202

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

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

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Originally Posted by 48202

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midtown_Detroit

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Wow, I don't know who the enterprising Wikipediac was who wrote this entry, but it's remarkably well done, with well-researched history of the area, maps and diagrams, and a lot of pretty photographs of the districts many fine buildings. All those non-Detroiters with visions of blighted neighborhoods and no grocery stores should be referred here.

Does that make 4th street the redlight district of New Amsterdam?

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Midtown is the most popular place among the hipsters because it is surrounded by freeways. The freeways form a moat around it to keep out the rest of Detroit.

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Where do you people come up with this stuff? Protected by the highways, huh? Everything south of Mack and everything more than a block east or west of Woodward slumville. If everything goes right [[odds are against it), your comment might make sense in 20 years.

Midtown is a recently created name for the Cass Corridor. We lost a unique place name in favor of an effort to forget the Corridor's bad days of the 70s thru the aughts. Too bad. The area was going to revitalize anyway. And we could gave kept a great place name. Now it's just yet another 'midtown' amongst dozens. It was the only Cas a Corridor.

Jumbo's in Midtown?????I don't think so, it's Jumbo's in the Cass Corridor

I think in a way I find myself agreeing with Wesley in that I find that "created" names for areas just mess up my head. I am told that the inability to adapt to new things is a sign of growing old. Maybe it's so.

I think what confused me a little more than a little bit is that if there was a "Midtown" back in the 60's, I would have considered New Center to be it [[about midway between Downtown and the northern border), with "The Cultural Center" covering the general Wayne State area.

Just to be clear, Alvin's Finer Delicatessen IS [[or would have been) in Midtown but Dalgleish Cadillac would have been too far north, right?

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Originally Posted by douglasm

I think in a way I find myself agreeing with Wesley in that I find that "created" names for areas just mess up my head. I am told that the inability to adapt to new things is a sign of growing old. Maybe it's so.

I think what confused me a little more than a little bit is that if there was a "Midtown" back in the 60's, I would have considered New Center to be it [[about midway between Downtown and the northern border), with "The Cultural Center" covering the general Wayne State area.

Just to be clear, Alvin's Finer Delicatessen IS [[or would have been) in Midtown but Dalgleish Cadillac would have been too far north, right?

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I know a lot of people seem to have issues with the "created" Midtown name. I personally think its a great way of branding and unifying the various smaller neighborhoods that make up midtown. As well as a way for an entity like Midtown Inc. to coordinate development.

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.

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Originally Posted by DetroiterOnTheWestCoast

...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.

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

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Originally Posted by 48202

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

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I thought that was Royal Oak?

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

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

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i am honored. And amused.

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Originally Posted by Meddle

I thought that was Royal Oak?

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Hipsters are a state of mind.

And wallet.

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Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

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

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

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.

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Originally Posted by DetroiterOnTheWestCoast

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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by NoHeartAnthony

The Corridor >>> Midtown.

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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.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

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.

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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!

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Originally Posted by mwilbert

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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by Hermod

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

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

I'm flattered!

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

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.

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I'm flattered!

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Originally Posted by DetroiterOnTheWestCoast

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.

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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.

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".

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Originally Posted by motz

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.

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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!

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."

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Originally Posted by 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."

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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.

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. ;)

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Originally Posted by 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. ;)

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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.

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Originally Posted by 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".

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That's actually Morningside but I get your point.

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.

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Originally Posted by getmoore

That's actually Morningside but I get your point.

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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".

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Originally Posted by Hermod

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".

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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.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

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.

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

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.