Cass Corridor

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Corner of Cass & Willis, circa 2003

Cass Corridor, in Detroit, Michigan, is carved out of the shell regions of what was once a thriving downtown area. The corridor's main street is Cass Avenue, which runs parallel with Woodward Avenue, a main Detroit artery running North towards suburban neighborhoods. It runs from Congress Street, ending a few miles further North at West Grand Boulevard, located in the New Center area.

[edit] Borders

Cass Corridor follows the path Cass Avenue and its adjoining streets, but may be considered to encompass a wider area. On its short journey, Cass Avenue passes through dilapidated neighborhoods and cuts through the campus of Wayne State University.

[edit] Bohemian population

The student population contributed to the bohemian atmosphere in Cass Corridor. There is a fusion of large interacting cultural cells or tribes, that have allowed these individuals to reap a benefit derived from a cross-fertilization within this greater whole. Many individuals have emerged with vision from this and have gone forth into the world as poets, painters and musicians.

Cass Corridor was created in the early 1960s (the area bound by I-75, Lodge Freeway, Woodward and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd) became home to the most concentrated poverty in the State of Michigan, and one of the most poverty stricken area’s in the nation. Although most of the area still holds that stigma, the Cass Corridor is not without it’s fair share of great places. The Masonic Temple (billed as the world’s largest), Cass Technical High School (billed as one of the city’s best) and the Metropolitan Institute for High Technology are all located along Cass. Culturally, the Cass Corridor is one of the most significant districts of the city. The artistic community is closely knit and has produced a plethora of significant artists (see the Tribes of the Cass Corridor site for a comprehensive listing). This includes some of the most significant musical endeavors to come out of the Motor City. A few decades back stood the headquarters of Creem Magazine. The predecessor of Rolling Stone and the first rock journal, Creem brought us some of the greatest rock critics to ever live including Robert Christgau and Lester Bangs.The area is again experiencing an era of resurgence and urban decay. Many of the old commercial buildings are being converted into lofts, and many young people are moving back to the area for a taste of “urban” living. With the hope of changing the area's notorious image, the city renamed the area "Midtown." The locals however, have not taken well to the generic name, and still refer to their neighborhood as the Cass Corridor.