Detroit (The X-Champions Version)

(special thanks to Jerry for sending lots of real-world factual stuff on Detroit I've used heavily below)

Detroit carries the stigma of being the major city people would least like to visit.  And, frankly, no wonder.  Detroit's not merely high in unemployment and crime-ridden, but has the highest incidents of grotesque and monstrous mutants, generally thought to be related to its many toxic waste dumps and industrial accidents.

But Detroiters (the ones who are left; the city has lost 60% of its population since 1950) are among the most loyal and upbeat of any American city.  Despite the disappearance of Chrysler after its early '80s bankruptcy and the relocation of Ford to the growing rust belt town of Cincinnati, there is hope of commercial reemergence.  Mayor Bo Berry, while reputed as a corrupt ex-rapper (formerly the lead of Boyz N Berry), has presided over nearly a decade of attempts at rehabilitation, including the revitalization of the Renaissance Center to house one of the largest shopping malls in America (in size; there is still a 30% vacancy rate).  Furthermore, the nearly tax-free environment for those businesses who are willing to locate there seems to be working.  Stark Industries, having just bought GM, seems dedicated to building a presence there with a brand new biotech laboratory as well as a proposed retooling of some of GM's abandoned buildings for synthetics manufacturing.  This slow but promising turn-around in Detroit's history has made Mayor Berry more popular than his beloved predecessor Coleman Young, despite charges of police and government corruption.  Many Detroiters, white and black alike, feel strongly that whatever else the mayor may be, he's rebuilding the city, something that Young, however liked, failed to do.  Similarly, while some have blamed legalized casino gambling in Detroit for some of the city's problems, it's become a reliable source of income for the city and isn't going away anytime soon.  Detroit is a city that takes the good with the bad.

Nonetheless, Detroit, known as Murder City and deserving of that title almost every year of the last 20, is more crime-ridden than any time since Prohibition.  It's popularly known that Detroit's organized crime is run by the "Combine", AKA the Partnership, a mafia group that has held sway for the latter half of the 20th century.  Their subtle style has helped keep them from public notice and federal/state prosecution and in fact there are rumors that Mayor Berry has formed an alliance with the Combine against the street gangs.  The most notable of the emerging inner city crime leaders is the DDT (the Deadly Don of Terror), rumored to be a mutant himself.  Little is known about him except that he is in fact ruthless and inspires a combination of both terror and awe from his underlings. 

Mayor Berry has also continued Young's relaxed policy towards mutants in hopes of battling crime.  Detroit is known for a colorful and heroic base of mutants, more tolerated in Detroit than in any other city in America.  In the early '70s Detroit hosted America's first great African-American super hero, Luke Cage, a highly radical politico but with equally highly compassion.  Despite his unfortunate early demise in 1973, long suspected to be a government hit by the Nixon administration, we are reminded today of him by Luke Jr. who began his career in the ghettos of Detroit in 1985 and continues to this day protecting the down-trodden whose police protection is slight.

Detroit is also home to the mysterious and goofy Metal Men and their erratic genius inventor Dr. Magnus.   Dr. Magnus relocated to Detroit with his creations in 1981 after retiring from active government service.  The Metal Men (and of course their glamorous metal woman Tina/Platinum) frequently fight the most dangerous bizarre toxic monsters which occasionally rise up in Detroit.  In fact, it should be noted that the high incidence of destructive monsters in Detroit has promoted a close relationship between Detroit and its sister city Tokyo, often threatened by the mysterious Gamera and creatures of his ilk.  Japanese heroes can often be sighted in Detroit for both personal and professional purposes.

Cementing Detroit's position as the home of the strange is the enigmatic Flaming Carrot.  His violent war on crime began in 1987 and though it has mellowed since, he is no less indecipherable today then when he first appeared.  A sort of local celebrity, he is often seen in avant-guard night clubs speaking profound free verse poetry.  However, at other times he appears to have the mind of a child.  In any case, only the foolish dare oppose this highly successful carrot-masked, flaming-top dynamo. 

Rumor has it that Detroit is home to not just individual mutants who possess vampiric qualities but even "demonic forces".  More likely, Motor City is simply the home of the deluded!  Regardless, the last phase of white flight has taken place as suburban residents whose families came from the city have started moving the dead from their Detroit cemeteries and into closer by ones.  Apparently many believe their former loved ones are prey to ghouls and demons.  Whatever the case, there have been a lot of grave-robbings in the Detroit area.

Whether Detroit is home to horror movie creatures remains to be seen; what Detroit is certainly still home to is driving.  While the great car companies are fading from Motor City, it still deserves the title for its driver-friendly environment.  Its streets are broad and well-kept, one of the few things that Detroit has made every effort to maintain even while its buildings crumble.  Outside of rush hours, it's easy sailing through Detroit's downtown.  In fact, Detroit has tried to capitalize on this by selling this ready street availability to television and movie producers in need of spaces for car chases.  

On the other hand, it's a little difficult to be car-less in Detroit.  Like any city its size it has public transportation but it's not the best.  Which is unfortunate, since 1/3 of Detroit's residents are without cars [incidentally, this is a real world statistic, not just this game's].  Taxis are unreliable.  There's an elevated train that takes people around Detroit known as the Detroit People Mover.  It extends through 3 miles of downtown and runs frequently, visiting each stop every 3-4 minutes during peak hours.  

As mentioned, a lot of Detroit is too poor to afford the cars once produced there.  The "poorest" areas (a relative statement) stretch north of downtown to Highland Park and Hamtramck (the Woodward Corridor), through most of southwest Detroit, and in a thin corridor south of I-94 and east of downtown to Grosse Pointe Park.   Check out a map here.  In these areas half the residents live at or below the poverty level - 2/3 of the children live at or below that level here.  Over a third of the residents here are unemployed (in the city as a whole it's a little under 20%).  While only about 12% of the city's population is here, 20% of the homicides, 38% of the aggravated assaults, and 17% of sexual assaults occur here.  One in six buildings sit abandoned.  Over half the people here are without a car.  

But Detroit isn't all about poverty by a long shot.  Due to the historic strengths of unions, salaries are high for those who do work, and real estate is dirt cheap.  A single family house in a marginal (but not bad) area can be had for the price of a car - in fact $30,000 is the average price of a home in the city!  Also, Detroit has the lowest population density of any major city.  A great percentage of the houses are single family dwellings, and a great many of them are finely built brick homes, with stained glass windows and well-kept lawns. 

Also, while African-Americans are disproportionately stricken with poverty, there is an active and powerful African-American middle class.  While some of them have fled the city just as their white counterparts, many have  remained and have finally achieved a position as the preeminent influence in the government and police force.  

But other ethnicities contribute to the threads of Detroit's rich diverse tapestry.  A fourth of the population is of German heritage, many still remaining where their ancestors settled in eastern Detroit neighborhoods.  Poles make up a major portion as well, centering around the independent city of Hamtramck.  Like most major American eastern cities, there's a fair number of Irish and Italian.  Many Irish still live in the Corktown neighborhood and of course scattered around town; St. Patrick's Day is a big day in Detroit.  Also, a large number of Arabs live in Detroit, primarily of Chaldean, Iraqi, Lebanese, and Syrian heritage, scattered in small ethnic blocks throughout Detroit.  As one might expect, the Hispanic community centers around Mexicantown.  There are also some 100,000 Greeks living around the Detroit metro; many still live in Greektown next to downtown Detroit, making it one of Detroit's very few clearly identifiable and traditional ethnic neighborhoods.  Some Eastern Europeans (Slavs, Russians, Poles) live in various scattered blocks of Detroit, having moved there primarily in the 1980s.   According to historian Arthur Woodford, Detroit has "the largest multi-ethnic population of any city in the United States. Detroit has the largest Arabic-speaking population outside of the Middle East, the second largest Polish population in America (only Chicago has more), and the largest U.S. concentration of Belgians, Chaldeans and Maltese."  Ironically, Detroit has nowhere near the easily identified and celebrated major ethnic centers like Chicago or New York, though.  Perhaps in part this is due to the flight from the city over the years and the fragmenting of neighborhoods.  However, Detroit does have great ethnic restaurants, particularly in Greektown and Mexicantown.  

Check out a detailed map of downtown Detroit that includes the People Mover route - it's pretty large so be prepared for the load time.  Another collection of maps covers more of east and west Detroit though with a more slanted view.  Perusing these maps will give an idea of the sites, but a few deserve special attention.

The Renaissance Center, a towering glass and steel complex standing beside the Detroit River in the heart of downtown activity.  This once-futuristic structure, now largely dated, larger than New York's Rockefeller Center, has long been the focus of attempted riverfront developments.  The Renaissance Center itself serves as a (largely vacant) convention center, often subject to an eerie silence, though municipal events and private parties help to fill that void.  An annex built a few years ago houses one of America's largest malls, the Renaissance Mall (of course).  In this area are Ford Auditorium, Joe Louis Arena (the home of the Detroit Red Wings), Cobo Arena, and Cobo Hall (site of exhibitions). Also on the river-front, Hart Plaza is a summertime refuge for office workers on their lunch hour and a wintertime haven for ice skaters.  Late at night Hart Plaza plays host to some of Detroit's mutant population, including many "wannabes".  

The Detroit River is the scene of a major international hydroplane race and, for a few days each year, adjacent Belle Isle is taken over by racing cars during the Detroit Grand Prix.  

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra plays in Orchestra Hall during the winter and at Meadowbrook in the summer.  

Wayne State University (WSU) is Michigan's 3rd largest, with annual attendance of around 25,000.  It's essentially a local school with over 85% of its student body composed of Michigan natives.

The Fisher Theatre (just north of the WSU campus) presents extravagant productions including many pre-Broadway and post-Broadway hits featuring their original casts.  Detroit's Michigan Opera Theater presents its fall operas at the Fisher Theatre.  The Masonic Temple Auditorium, adjacent to the medical campus, also presents touring shows and is the home of Michigan Opera Theater's spring productions.  There is the Detroit Music Hall, which features a wide variety of live entertainment year-round.  In November, 1988, Detroit's venerable Fox Theatre re-opened its doors following a multi-million dollar year-long renovation program.  The 4,500-seat theater, built in 1927 at a cost of more than $6 million, is truly one of the most breathtaking performing arts and historical attractions in the United States.  Today, the Fox is host to live theatre productions, Las-Vegas type extravaganzas (complementing its casino night life), and entertainers representing virtually every musical taste.  Detroit's Attic Theatre presents off-Broadway contemporary plays and musicals, featuring the works of new playwrights, performed by a highly acclaimed professional company.  

Similarly, "low brow" musical entertainment can be had in any of Detroit's many clubs, ranging from the many sleazy industrial-dance music clubs now popular to traditional jazz enclaves.  

In addition to the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Science Center, the Museum of African- American History and the other museums in the University Cultural Center, the Detroit area has Greenfield Village and the adjoining Henry Ford Museum, national treasures assembled by auto pioneer Henry Ford.  

It should also be noted that the city itself is in many ways an architectural museum.  During the 1920s-1940s Detroit's factories and office buildings were designed by renowned architects (particularly Eliel Saarinen) as they refined what became known as the Detroit school of architecture.  Unfortunately every year many of these old buildings sit unused and burn to the ground in the city's annual fires of Devil's Night.  For a tour of all sorts of abandoned Detroit buildings, including many from the 19th century, visit http://bhere.com/ruins/home.htm.  [unlike the real world's Detroit, the campaign world's Detroit has not undertaken a massive effort to demolish square blocks of abandoned buildings, incidentally]

Belle Isle, a 982-acre island park, stands in the Detroit River one and a half miles upstream from the heart of downtown.  Once the sight of free concerts, canoeing on lagoons, and biking and running on wooded trials, activities have been curtailed on the island due to repeated toxic spills in the surrounding river and the menacing mutants who live in overgrown corners of the island.  Still, a children's zoo, a nature center, an aquarium, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, a conservatory, greenhouses, and a vast picnic area may be visited.  A considerable police presence is dedicated to securing the tourist attractions and an uneasy truce exists between the police and the squatting mutants.

Of course Detroit is more than just a central city, there's the surrounding, relatively prosperous, neighboring communities (map here).  Geographically the most interesting are two cities completely surrounded by Detroit but nonetheless independent entities.  Hamtramck, is a working class latter-generation Polish-German community.  The main avenue, Jos Campau Street, serves as its commercial center.  The other encapsulated town, Highland Park, was the headquarters of Chrysler.  With that company's collapse it has witnessed virtual evacuation and its working class environment has degenerated commercially.  It stretches north of the Woodward Corridor and now extends that area's poverty northward.

Detroit's northeastern neighbors include some of the better neighborhoods of the area.  Harper Woods, just northeast of the city and northwest of the Grosse Pointes, is a middle class residential suburb, quite nice for families.  Grosse Point Park on the east side of Detroit is an upper middle class/upper class area just bordering some of Detroit's greater poverty.  It is a generally secure community in isolation from Detroit.  It houses three major medical centers.  Grosse Pointe itself is home to the affluent as well.  Grosse Pointe Shores is a small community comprised of the Detroit area's economic elite and their great estates.  Grosse Pointe Farms is of course also a prosperous small community, an upper middle class suburb.

To the west of Detroit are other upscale (or at least moreso than Detroit) communities.  Redford Township is for the most part a typical suburban town though with a more industrial flavor/activity.  Dearborn is well known for its industry and still houses a number of the remaining Ford factories.  It's a middle class community doing quite well and the premier city near Detroit.  In fact, it's prosperity and "whiteness' have generated quite a rivalry between the two.  With Detroit's population of over a 100,000 people and its status as the prime workplace for a number of the bedroom communities, it's itching to establish itself as the real epicenter of the area and refers to the metropolis as the "Dearborn-Detroit" metro area.  Dearborn Heights is a sleepy bedroom suburb for both Detroit and (moreso) Dearborn workers.

Southwest of Detroit are a number of more industrial, less prosperous communities.  Melvindale is a well-employed residential/industrial town south of Dearborn, comprised of a modest and stable working class/middle class population.  Lincoln Park, stretching south of Detroit's other neighboring southwester communities, is primarily a commercial center with some middle class residential areas.  Ecorse borders the Detroit River as well as southern Detroit and is a prime shipping area struggling to avoid the poverty gripping southwestern Detroit.  It's comprised of working class families mostly beholden to the remaining industries there as well as the docks.  The strong longshoremen's union contributes to the city's stability.  River Rouge, also with active docks, has been less fortunate.  Its larger boundary with Detroit and identification with that city have contributed to its loss of industry and while it's viewed as a lower working class neighborhood it has at least avoided slipping all the way into poverty.

Like anywhere, Detroit has its own slang.  A few colorful phrases:

 

Sources on real world Detroit (note in many cases I'm only listing an initial link and info was gleamed from throughout the site):

Info on Detroit's "Empowerment Zones", combating the effects of poverty:  :  http://www.hud.gov/cpd/ezec/mi/detroit.shtml

General lifestyle info:  http://www.mjoke.com/a2/

Detroit history;  http://www.ware-house.com/detroit/history.html

Corktown, http://www.corktowndetroit.org/

About the ruins of Detroit, http://bhere.com/ruins/home.htm

Info for surrounding communities, http://www.waynecounty.com/communitieshomepage.htm

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/cli/cli_index.html is a source of good Detroit/Michigan weather.

An excellent source of Detroit info is located at http://www.de-twa.com. 

More detailed and oddball information on Detroit can be gleamed at http://www.detnews.com

Of invaluable inspiration and a general resource of local color, I used an interesting role-playing site for a very different Detroit view at http://sanguine_dark.tripod.com/dtindex1.html

Thanks to Jerry for sending lots of info, including this link http://sanguine_dark.tripod.com/dtindex1.html

http://detroit.freenet.org is a decent source of Detroit info

There's an excellent site on the Detroit People Mover at http://members.aol.com/wingsrgr8/DPM/

Info on slang at http://www.slanguage.com/detroit.html

Wayne State University's site is http://www.wayne.edu

Other interesting Detroit info is available at source http://www.karmanos.org/we/infoed/grad/the_city.html