Detroit has long had a specific image in the eyes of the rest of the country, if not the world. The consensus has been that Detroit is a shell of its former shelf, a Wild West of a wasteland with sky-high crime rates and miles of city blocks dotted with abandoned buildings.

Viewed as unsafe and undesirable, Detroit is seen as the place where the Boogeyman goes to vacation. And while it has rightfully earned some of this negative reputation, sweeping generalizations are both unfair and narrow. There’s more to the Motor City than you’d ever imagine. The city rides its rich history like a prized thoroughbred. And while tough times have been prevalent, the hard-working people in this still-proud city are using that very glorious past as motivation to lurch Detroit forward to better times.

What you think you know about Detroit is really only superficial. So hop in and please fasten your safety belt. We’re going to take a little ride around the city that put the world on wheels.

1. If you dig your car [[American or not), you can thank Detroit
Aptly nicknamed The Motor City, Detroit evolved into the mecca of the American auto industry. When he formed the Ford Motor Co. in 1903, Henry Ford had no idea that he would change the world. Years later, he would guarantee workers $5-a-day wages, which was double what most manufacturing jobs paid.

The assembly line was created and perfected in Detroit, and the process of automobile production became the city’s trademark. The first paved street in America was Woodward Avenue, Detroit’s spine-like main thoroughfare that runs from the city through the suburbs.