Loving Detroit: Accessible Activities

When you’re a tourist in a city, the cost of daily activities can really add up: Food, drinks, museums, admission to zoos or aquariums or theme parks, souvenirs, tours and transportation. I’ve been blessed with the opportunities to visit so many cities around the world–London, Paris, Amsterdam, Moscow, Tokyo, Bangkok, and New York, to name a few popular destinations–and I’ve learned how to have a great time on a dime. Some cities are more friendly and approachable on that front. Detroit is one of them, and I’m loving it! 

Thrillest includes Detroit, Michigan on their list, “The Best U.S. Cities for a Totally Free and Kick*ss Weekend.” Lexi Trimpe writes, “We have free museums, public art exhibitions, free concerts, and truly affordable eats.”¹ After living here for just a month, I already can confirm! 

One absolute pleasure this summer was the Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend. Started in 1980, it’s the world’s largest free jazz festival, “intended to bring people into the city and to provide all segments of the population with world-class entertainment.” It’s a beautiful example of a community event: 

With the support of corporate sponsors, philanthropic organizations, individual donors and volunteers, the Detroit Jazz Festival is free to music fans looking to revel in the artistry and improvisation of jazz legends, rising stars, legacy and homecoming artists. Each year’s lineup of more than 60 performances as remarkable and diverse as the genre itself, as well as spontaneous late-night jam sessions, offers something for everyone.²

I wanted to check out the festival that weekend, since it was also my first weekend living in the city. But I also had two seminary classes with final exams and papers due the following week, in addition to my regular work duties, so I wasn’t sure I’d have the time. On the first day of the festival, it was a beautiful sunny day, and I decided to go walk to a coffee shop (somewhere with #wifiandpoweroutlets!) to get work done. I chose Roasting Plant Detroit, a place that had good reviews and was a quick ten-minute walk from home.

I got my coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and I decided to set up at a little table outside on the terrace. As I sat down, announcements through a sound system informed me that I was setting up right next to the Jazz Festival’s main stage. Within a couple minutes, the festival started, and I wrote several short response papers for my classes while being serenaded by talented local jazz musicians! It was such a surprise, and a great introduction to Detroit life. 

Throughout the summer and fall seasons, there are many other festivals in the city, and many of them are free. Even when there isn’t a festival going on, I could walk down through Campus Martius and see food trucks, grab a bite to eat and enjoy it in the city center. (Campus Martius is the literal center of Detroit, “where the point of origin of Detroit’s coordinate system is located. Seven miles (11km) north of this point is Seven Mile Road; eight miles (13km) north is Eight Mile Road, and so on.”³) 

Many events that aren’t free are still so reasonably priced, too. I paid $7 for a ticket to Arts, Beats, and Eats, an annual festival up in Royal Oak. For that price, I got to see American Authors up close and personal, as they sang hits like “Go Big or Go Home,” “I’m Born to Run,” and the mega-popular “Best Day of My Life.” Right after them was rock legend Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, of “I Love Rock ‘N Roll,” “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” and “Bad Reputation” fame. For $7! I also got to walk around and talk to local artists. I loved it so much.

When the weather is nice, just going for a walk, a run, or a bike ride around the city is fabulous, too. As I’ve been training for my first half marathon, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do this. I especially love running along the Riverfront, a three-and-a-half mile stretch (for now–it’s expanding!) of paved path and park space that runs along the Detroit River. Attracting 3.5 millions visitors annually, the Riverwalk here “was named Best in America in 2021, 2022, and 2023 by USA Today.”⁴ Here, running along the Detroit River, I get to run along the U.S.-Canadian Border: The whole way, I can look (South!) at Windsor, Canada, and that adds an extra little satisfying rush to the run. I run past a carousel and playgrounds themed around local wildlife. I run by historical statues and markers, and as I run slightly different routes, I stop to read and learn more local history. 

Most striking, though, as I move through the Detroit streets, I pass art. The whole city is marked with art, which comes across most readily in two forms: the murals and the architecture. That Thrillest article’s entry on Detroit led with this: “No one in post-urban America celebrates murals like the Motor City.” They highlight the Dequindre Cut, “a popular bike and walking path decorated with murals and bright graffiti,” with “three dozen massive murals,” including “a 184-foot-tall mural by renowned artist Shephard Fairey.” 

Every time I go anywhere in the city, I encounter a new piece of art, and I love that. 

Murals decorate the walls of many buildings in Detroit, but many of the buildings are themselves works of art, too. Some favorites in my area are the Book Tower, the David Stott Building, the Penobscot, and the Guardian Building. Last week, I got to go for a walk with Rebecca Binno Savage, an architectural historian whose work has been critical to establishing systems for preserving Detroit’s architecture for years to come. We, together with my future sister-in-law (who kindly arranged the tour for me), walked through some of Detroit’s most iconic Art Deco buildings. I was wonderstruck the entire time!

In the first half of the twentieth century, in the 1920s-1950s, Detroit was the wealthiest city in the U.S. (and one of the wealthiest in the world), and that period was a great one for architecture. Detroit invested in building these now-icons, and to this day, “With one of the world’s recognizable skylines, … Detroit’s architecture is recognized as being among the finest in the U.S.”⁶ There’s no cost to walk through the city and look at these buildings. There’s no cost to sit at a table in the Guardian Building and look at its iconic Michigan mural. There’s no cost to visit the exhibit on the Book’s history and renovations. So much of the city is accessible and artistic, and as communities strive to revitalize the city, much attention is being focused on preserving and restoring Detroit’s art. 

Did I mention that many of Detroit’s museums, including the Detroit Institute of Art and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, are free to residents of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties? There’s so much left for me to explore, even on a ministry budget. I’m loving this side of Detroit so far, and I am so looking forward to the long-term potential for more. 

Sources: 

1. Thrillest Travel. “Best U.S. Cities for a Totally Free and Kickass Weekend.” Thrillest Travel. September 27, 2019. Accessed October 11, 2023. https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-cities-in-america-to-visit-budget-free-things-to-do
2. Detroit Jazz Fest. “About Us.” Detroit Jazz Fest. Accessed October 11, 2023. https://www.detroitjazzfest.org/about-us/
3. “Campus Martius.” Accessed October 11, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campus_Martius
4. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. “Detroit Riverwalk Named Best Riverwalk in America Three Years in a Row.” The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. March 16, 2023. Accessed October 11, 2023. https://detroitriverfront.org/news/detroit-riverwalk-named-best-riverwalk-america-three-years-row#:~:text=This%20%24350%20million%20transformative%20campaign,and%202023%20by%20USA%20TODAY.
5. City of Detroit. “2023 City Walls Campaign Announces 23 New Mural Locations to Transform More Blight to Beauty.” City of Detroit. April 12, 2023. Accessed October 11, 2023. https://detroitmi.gov/news/2023-city-walls-campaign-announces-23-new-mural-locations-transform-more-blight-beauty
6. “Architecture of Metropolitan Detroit.” Wikipedia. Accessed October 11, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_metropolitan_Detroit

Recommended Resources: 

1. Learn about Detroit’s major annual events, including the festivals I mentioned, here: https://visitdetroit.com/events/annual-events/
2. Access a map of Detroit’s murals (and see photo highlights) here: https://ace.detroitmi.gov/mural-map
3. See pictures and read more about some of Detroit’s architectural icons here: https://www.mlive.com/entertainment/2017/03/detroit_architectural_landmark.html