Some of the towers that make up BDHP Wayne State University originally have been demolished since the 90s. started as several educational institu- In November of 2012, Detroit’s mayor tions founded at di erent stages. In announced the planned demolition of 1868 the Detroit Medical College was the fi nal buildings, and plans to reno- built; in 1881, the school of education; vate and rebuild the recreation center in 1896, Detroit’s Central High School associated with it. As of August 2013, which expanded to provide college the remaining buildings still stand. classes in 1913 and four-year degrees in 1923. It wasn’t until 1933 that they Today, Midtown is experiencing a re- were all pulled under the same ad- naissance. Wayne State draws many ministration as Wayne University and students to the area and is one of the later renamed Wayne State University largest employers in Detroit, other than in 1956. In 2009, it had almost 30,000 the hospital networks. Whole Foods students enrolled in undergraduate, opened in the summer of 2013, fulfi ll- graduate and professional programs. ing the area’s need for a grocery store. Several locally-owned businesses have Midtown MIDTOWNhas been an area shaped by Cass Farms was one of the ribbon farms the auto industry—such as service stations stabilized the neighborhood, including Detroit’s cultural and educational insti- that ran through Midtown. Lewis Cass and showrooms. The construction of Or- cafés (Avalon, Great Lakes), Run Detroit tutions, including the Detroit Institute of purchased the lot in 1816, and the land chestra Hall along with the DIA (Detroit and the rather upscale boutique Shi- Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit was slowly settled by himself and his fam- Institute of Arts) and the Detroit Public Li- nola, which sells locally made products (MOCAD), The Detroit Historical Museum, ily up until the 1860s, when his settlement brary in the 1920s began the movement such as $10 juice and $2,000 bicycles Orchestra Hall, the Detroit Public Library, reached where present day MLK Boule- to create a cultural center in Midtown. (American-built frames assembled in the Detroit Science Museum (now The vard is. Detroit). As Midtown Detroit Inc. says, Michigan Science Museum), the Charles The approach of the Depression in the “[Midtown is] home to 80 restaurants, H. Wright Museum of African American Development in Detroit had, until this time, 1930s saw a new shift in the area, with 13 theatres, 12 galleries, 8 museums, 2 History, Wayne State University, and Col- been focused east and west of Woodward, factory workers losing jobs, banks fore- historic inns, 2 hardware stores, 2 radio lege for Creative Studies. along Fort and Je erson Avenue in partic- closing on newer buildings, and larger stations, 2 dry cleaners, and a sympho- ular. It wasn’t until 1852 that the fi rst east- homes being converted into apartments. ny orchestra.” Midtown includes the Cass Corridor, a strip west boulevard was built through south Once a boom neighborhood associated of development along Cass Ave., now one Midtown, in Brush Park. During the civil with WWII arms production, most factory of the most vibrant areas where business- war, downtown began to build as a busi- jobs had left Midtown for the suburbs. es compete for space and residential rent ness hub. This was when Midtown began rates are going up. Although, in the 1970s to develop as a residential neighborhood, The decades from the 50s to the 80s saw and 1980s, Cass Corridor was as bad as it typically for wealthy residents who want- many out-dated homes bulldozed. Wayne got in Detroit. The area was rampant with ed to live farther away from the noise and State University had more infl uence in drug addicts, prostitutes, and homeless bustle of downtown. In 1860, the intro- the area; it renovated older buildings and people while car theft and robberies/mug- duction of the streetcar made Midtown built new ones to accommodate its ex- gings were normal. Yet, small businesses, much more accessible, leading to an in- pansion. The Chrysler Freeway was built initiatives by large Detroit companies to crease in urban growth in the 1870s, with in the late 50s-early-60s along Hastings encourage employees to live in Midtown many prominent families building homes Street, a vibrant part of African American and individuals in the community brought in the West Canfi eld Historic District. As Detroit. The Brewster-Douglas Housing the Corridor back to life. cars became more popular and accessi- Project was built southwest of Midtown ble in the 1910s-1930s, Midtown became to accommodate the people displaced by Planning for Midtown began after the 1805 more commercial and richer families be- the freeway construction. These buildings fi re, when the government began to sell gan moving to other neighborhoods. The housed many prominent Motown musi- land north of Woodward. Land parcelling nearby auto plant at Milwaukee Junction cians including Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, began, settling title disputes that arose af- made Midtown amenable to housing fac- Florence Ballard, Loni Love, Etterlene De- ter the departure of the British. Many par- tory workers, larger apartment buildings Barge and famous comedian Lily Tomlin. cels were ribbon farms—long, thin strips were built to accommodate them, and Strict policies originally required families of land that began at the water ‘s edge and single family homes were converted into who lived in the BDHP to have at least one photo: Dig Downtown Detroit radiated away from the river for irrigation boarding houses. Commercial space be- employed parent; as these restrictions purposes. gan to develop, especially connected to were relaxed, crime rose in the buildings.