28 Nicknames for Detroit Neighborhoods

. . . I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and we suburban kids didn't seem to actually go into Detroit all that much, so I never learned these names or places. Now I do business in Detroit and go to church in Detroit and I hear these names in conversation quite a lot.

People were sometimes aghast when I told them that I didn't know what part of Detroit they were talking about when they said things like "Boston-Edison" or "Rosedale Park." So, of course, I started a list. I learned that there are in fact over 50 nicknames for various Detroit neighborhoods. I have listed just the ones I hear the most, or find the most interesting, along with their main intersections or border streets.

1. Art Center -- Woodward and Warren; includes Detroit Institute of Arts, Library, several large museums

2. Bagley -- bounded by West Outer Drive to the north, Livernois to the east, 6 Mile Road to the south, and Wyoming to the west

3. Black Bottom (destroyed 1960s) -- bounded by Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, Vernor Highway, and the Grand Trunk railroad

4. Boston-Edison -- four streets: Boston, Chicago, Longfellow, and Edison; stretching from Woodward Avenue on the east to Linwood on the west; ritzy homes built 1905-1925, no two alike

5. Brick Town -- Larned and Brush, between Greektown and the Renaissance Center

6. Brightmoor -- from Puritan and Schoolcraft Roads between Telegraph and Evergreen

7. Brush Park -- 24-block area bounded by Mack on the north, Woodward on the west, Beaubien on the east, and the Fisher Freeway on the south.

8. Cass Corridor -- along Cass Avenue from I-75 (south end) to Wayne State University (north end) between Woodward and 3rd Street

9. Chaldean Town -- runs along 7 Mile Road from Woodward Avenue east to John R.

10. Chinatown -- Peterboro and 2nd Street

11. Corktown -- Michigan Avenue and 6th Street

12. Cultural Center -- Warren and Woodward

13. Eastern Market -- Gratiot and Russell

14. Foxtown -- about one mile north of the Renaissance Center, with Grand Circus Park located at its hub, and encompassing the Kales Building, Comerica Park, and Ford Field

15. Greektown -- Monroe and Saint Antoine

16. Indian Village -- bounded on the north and south by Mack and East Jefferson, respectively, along the streets of Burns, Iroquois, and Seminole

17. Medical Center -- Mack and Woodward

18. Mexicantown -- Porter and Bagley, one block north of the Ambassador Bridge

19. Midtown -- new name applied by city, to improve its image, to a large section encompassing Brush Park, Cass Corridor, Medical Center, Art Center; it is bounded by the Ford, Chrysler, Fisher, and Lodge Freeways

20. New Center -- West Grand Boulevard and 2nd Street

21. North End -- bounded by Woodward to the west, the city of Highland Park to the north, the Chrysler Freeway to the east, and East Grand Boulevard to the south

22. Old Redford -- stretches from Five Points east to Greenfield Road and from 8 Mile Road to Schoolcraft; annexed by Detroit in 1926; center is Grand River and Lahser

23. Palmer Woods -- bounded by 7 Mile Road, 8 Mile Road, Woodward, and the Sherwood Forest neighborhood

24. Poletown (destroyed 1981) -- bordered on Hamtramck

25. Renaissance Center -- tallest building in Detroit, headquarters of General Motors, although this fact is not on GM's website or in their marketing

26. Rivertown -- East Jefferson and Rivard

27. Rosedale Park -- 5 Mile Road and Southfield in northwest Detroit

28. Warrendale -- bounded by Joy Road to the north, Ford Road to the south, Greenfield to the east and the River Rouge to the west.

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