Detroit - Michigan - Culture

Detroit's population grew dramatically between 1850 and 1950. The city's industrial growth was a magnet for migrants, at first chiefly European immigrants and later blacks from the South. The population has declined steadily since the mid-1950s, however, in part because much of the white community moved to the suburbs and also because of the loss of industry. By the early 1990s, some three-fourths of the population was black.

Detroit has a diversified manufacturing and shipping base, but the city's economy remains unusually sensitive to the fortunes of the automotive industry. As a result, economic booms and depressions have been felt more heavily in Detroit than in most areas of the country. In addition to motor vehicles and automotive parts, the city's factories produce machinery (including industrial robots), steel, and chemicals; the service industry has become increasingly important.

Roads dominate Detroit's transportation system and include an extensive network of express highways. The city is connected to Windsor by a bridge and a tunnel. The Detroit River is heavily used by Great Lakes shipping, and the region's port facilities handle large quantities of raw materials. The Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is located about 17 miles (27 km) southwest of downtown.

Among the colleges and universities in the city are Wayne State University (1868) and the University of Detroit Mercy (1877). Important cultural institutions include the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Bloomfield Hills and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Henry Ford Museum in suburban Dearborn holds an extensive collection of transportation equipment, while the adjoining Greenfield Village contains reconstructions of early American buildings and exhibits of early crafts. Since 1914 Detroit has maintained a symphony orchestra; summer concerts are presented at the Meadow Brook Music Festival in nearby Rochester. Belle Isle Park, in the Detroit River, has a botanical garden, a children's zoo, and an aquarium.

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