In Detroit, a lot of the really cool destinations are in the communities spiraling out of the city. Easily mistaken for quiet suburbs, these Detroit districts have vibrant downtown areas and other unique attractions that make them worth exploring.
South Oakland
Enjoying its recent resurgence, Ferndale is home to a growing crowd of progressive professionals, along with artists and musicians. This is a community of people who value a walkable community with eclectic shops and restaurants. Moving north on Woodward Avenue, things get more polished in Royal Oak, filled with successful professionals supporting venues like the Main Art Theater and the recently renovated Royal Oak Music Theater. The Detroit Zoo is also within walking distance of downtown. Things continue to get brighter traveling north on Woodward Avenue to prestigious Birmingham. The charming city center is home to upscale fashion stores and even trendier residents. A little east of Birmingham, Troy is a must for one main reason: the Somerset collection, beautifully designed with high ceilings, palm trees, and sparkling skylights. The shopping mecca is fashion, style and high prices.
North Oakland
Once a remote rural community filled with apple orchards and horse farms, Rochester today brims with exclusive developments, but the charm of country life endures with quaint cider mills and a quaint historic downtown. In the city center, more than 200 specialty boutiques, restaurants and more await. The newest mall is the Village of Rochester Hills, a 357,000-square-foot outdoor shopping district featuring more than 50 national and local retail stores and restaurants. The Great Lakes Crossings mega mall is also nearby.
The arts are alive in North Oakland, with venues like the Oakland University Art Gallery, the Meadow Brook Music Festival, and the Meadow Brook Theater, Michigan’s largest non-profit professional theater. Avon Players, a community theater, has provided quality drama and comedy for nearly 60 years.
For the outdoor enthusiast, the area also offers numerous parks where visitors can do everything from fishing and swimming to biking and swimming. Golf courses, tennis courts and hiking trails also abound. Sports enthusiasts can also watch the action from the court at the Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and the WNBA’s Shock.
Dearborn / Wayne
West of the city of Detroit, Dearborn is a historic place, home to one of America’s top tourist attractions: the Henry Ford. It is also home to Ford’s world headquarters and the University of Michigan Dearborn.
The nation’s largest indoor / outdoor American history museum, The Henry Ford, features a diverse offering of exhibits, programs, and re-enactments. Here, visitors explore the home of famous Americans like Daniel Webster and Thomas Edison in Greenfield Village, sit on the bus made famous by Rosa Park, or explore the birthplace of modern manufacturing on the Ford Rogue Factory Tour.
To learn more about Ford’s legacy, visit Fair Lane, the impressive country home of Henry and Clara Ford. Named one of America’s 10 Largest Mansions “by Budget Travel Magazine, this 56-room home is where the Fords entertained some of the world’s most influential people. Located in a renovated indoor pool, The Restaurant Pool is an ideal place to savor the surrounding luxury while enjoying a glass of wine.
Another unique feature of Dearborn is its demographics. Dearborn has the largest Arab-American population of any community in the United States. Here, the National Arab American Museum is the first of its kind in the world and is a great place to discover how Arab Americans have enriched the economic, political, and cultural landscapes of the United States.
Another characteristic of this community rich in Arabs is the food. Dearborn is full of Middle Eastern restaurants and shops. For shopping, head to Michigan Avenue for a sampling of quirky establishments or to Fairlane, one of the largest malls in the area.