Here are 10 things that make you great
Detroit’s a unique city, and today marks Detroit’s 311th birthday.
That’s a lot of candles.
To celebrate, let’s take a look at what makes Motown stand out, courtesy of the Free Press publication "The Detroit Almanac":
1/ Belle Isle: Many enjoy the park as a place to kick back, relax, barbecue, and perhaps enjoy a game of horseshoes. However, few know of the island’s history. Belle Isle was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park in New York City. The island is the largest city park in America, at 1.534 square miles. It was originally known as Ile Aux Cochons, or Hog Island. Back in the day, it was used to house and protect cattle from the wildlife in Detroit.
2/ Mispronounced street names: Detroit’s roots are French, and because of this, many of the streets in Detroit have French names. This doesn’t prevent locals from pronouncing them the good old-fashioned American way. For example, Lahser is commonly pronounced Lash-err, as opposed to Lazh-ur. Livernois is typically Liver-noise instead of Lee-vair-nwah. Something tells me that the French pronunciation won’t catch on anytime soon.
3/ Birthplace: Detroit is recognized as the birthplace of Motown, Techno, Vernors, Better Made, and the commercial automobile.
4/ Meaning: Detroit is French for “strait,” which is a narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water. That, of course, refers to the Detroit River, which connects Lake Erie to Lake St. Clair.
5/ Coney islands: There are few things more synonymous with Detroit than the coney island hot dog. There could be more coney restaurants in Detroit than there are McDonald's.
6/ Nicknames: Take your pick: City of Progress, City of the Strait, City of Churches, Motor City, Dynamic Detroit, Arsenal of Democracy, Big D, Motown, Renaissance City, Hockeytown.
7/ Sports: Detroit is one of America’s greatest sports towns. Twenty-two total championships have been won between the Lions, Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings. That figure ties Detroit with Los Angeles for fourth on the list of cities with the most championships. Number one? New York City with 55.
8/ Diversity: Detroit is largely an African American city, but there are strong German, Irish, English, Polish, Italian, Arab, Canadian, Dutch and Latino populations.
9/ Location: Detroit has close proximity to Canada, and is also the only major American city that looks south to Canada.
10/ Salt mines: About 1,200 feet beneath the city lies one of the largest salt mines on the continent. There could be enough salt in the mines to last 70 million years, some estimates indicate.
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