GEOGRAPHICS: |
PARTICULARS: |
Population 365,601 |
Downriver is the unofficial name for a collection of 18 suburban cities and townships in Wayne County, Michigan, south of Detroit along the western shore of the Detroit River.
The name derives from the fact that the Detroit River, after running more or less west along the banks of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, then bends to flow largely south before emptying into Lake Erie. Communities to the south of the city can thus be accessed by traveling downriver (as opposed to upriver) along the waterway. |
CHARACTERISTICS:
Those communities situated closer to Detroit (Allen Park, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, River Rouge and Wyandotte) were first developed in the 1920s-1940s. The majority of households in this area can be identified by brick and mortar homes (often bungalows), tree-lined streets and Works Progress Administration-designed municipal buildings.
Communities that developed further south (Riverview, Southgate, Taylor, Trenton) in the 1950s-1970s are more closely identified as tract homes and subdivisions.
Through the 1980s, areas such as Huron Township, Flat Rock, Rockwood, Woodhaven and Romulus were undeveloped, some of which still have operating farms. Socially speaking, the Downriver communities collectively have a distinct cultural identity within suburban Detroit although some individual Downriver communities share many similarities with towns in the western, northern and eastern suburbs of Detroit.
Communities that developed further south (Riverview, Southgate, Taylor, Trenton) in the 1950s-1970s are more closely identified as tract homes and subdivisions.
Through the 1980s, areas such as Huron Township, Flat Rock, Rockwood, Woodhaven and Romulus were undeveloped, some of which still have operating farms. Socially speaking, the Downriver communities collectively have a distinct cultural identity within suburban Detroit although some individual Downriver communities share many similarities with towns in the western, northern and eastern suburbs of Detroit.
NOTABLE DOWNRIVER ALUMNI
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Updated 2020 population / census figures courtesy of SEMCOG
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