North End, Detroit

City of Detroit areas, showing location of the North End

The North End, sometimes written Northend, is a neighborhood in central Detroit, Michigan. It is located along the Woodward Corridor, an avenue stretching from Downtown to Pontiac that is often referred to as the city's main street. It is a mixed neighborhood with some very good housing, for example, on Arden Park Boulevard, but also large tracts of low income, and as of 2014, abandoned housing.^[1]

The North End's boundaries are generally defined as East Grand Boulevard to the south, Woodward Avenue to the west and I-75 (Chrysler Freeway) to the east. While its northern border is sometimes defined as Euclid Street, more generally it extends to the border of Highland Park, between Webb/Woodland Streets.^[2][3]

History

The North End was originally part of Hamtramck Township, but was annexed by the City of Detroit in 1891. Along with the rest of Detroit, it experienced a cultural and economic boom in the 1920s and 1930s, due to the success of the automotive industry, and the district continued to experience growth. Many Motown musicians came from the North End, including Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, the Four Tops and Aretha Franklin.^[4][5]

The neighborhood began to see an economic downturn in the 1950s. I-75 was built in 1959, dividing the North End from the city center and also destroying the African American neighborhoods of Paradise Valley and Black Bottom. Marygrove College professor Frank D. Rashid has noted that Detroit's vibrant entertainment district Paradise Valley had eventually stretched as far as the North End.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Demographics and education

According to 2000 census data, the North End was home to some 17,500 residents, a 16% decrease in population since 1990. Approximately 94% of this population was African American, 4% white, and some 1% multiracial. The average household income rate for the North End in 2000 was $33,360, below the Detroit average of $40,837.^[2][11]

The North End is in the Detroit Public Schools district. 2000 census data showed that over 32% of the population did not have a high school diploma, slightly above the Detroit average.^[2]

Development initiatives

In 1994, the Vanguard Community Development Corporation was founded to improve the North End's prospects.^[12] Since then, the area has become the site of increasing development.^[13][14]

In 2006, the North End was chosen as one of six target areas for $100m funding from The Skillman Foundation, a grantmaking charitable body that focuses on improving the lives of Detroit's children. Its ten-year Good Neighborhoods program provides funding to an area defined as Northend Central, which includes the adjoining New Center area within the targeted neighborhood.^[15][16]

In 2011, the North End Neighborhood Investment Strategy was launched as a three-year partnership between Vanguard and the Woodward Corridor Initiative. This public-private partnership has attracted widespread support, including from the City of Detroit, Wayne State University, The Kresge Foundation and The Skillman Foundation, and aims to create investment within the community, improve education and employment choices, create affordable housing and remove barriers to economic development within the neighborhood.^[17] Other organizations contributing to development of the North End include the North End Youth Improvement Council (founded by community activist Delores Bennett), North End Woodward Community Coalition (NEWCC), the Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corporation (CDC), and the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative.^[18][19][20]

On March 14, 2016, the Michigan Humane Society opened its new and expanded $15.5 million animal care campus on more than four-acres, that includes a 35,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art veterinary facility, located just east of New Center at 7887 Chrysler Drive near Clay Street. The society said the larger facility will enable it to expand its teaching, and training opportunities with Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. ^{[21] [22] [23]}

See also

• Milwaukee Junction
• Woodward Corridor

References

Coordinates: 42°22′09″N 83°04′37″W / 42.3693°N 83.077°W / 42.3693; -83.077

External links

• America’s First Sustainable Urban Agrihood Debuts in Detroit's North End -- The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative, November 30, 2016
• Grand Opening of the North End Career Center -- The Kresge Foundation, September 22, 2016
• Central Detroit Christian Development Corporation (CDC) slowly rebuilds houses, commerce in 24-block area of North End -- Crain's Detroit Business, August 21, 2016