A pictorial history of Detroit through postcards. Greetings from Detroit: Historic Postcards from the Motor City offers a glimpse into the past through more than two hundred historic postcards of Detroit from the early 1900s to the 1950s, compiled and presented in full color by Dan Austin of HistoricDetroit.org. From familiar sights to long-lost landmarks, this book pairs vintage views with rich stories from the Motor City’s yesteryear. In the era before cameras became commonplace, postcard shops were everywhere—allowing folks to send snapshots of their travels to friends and family, or to take home as mementos. Many of these old postcards are now sought-after collectibles today, offering a rare look back at a time of tremendous growth and change across Detroit during the first half of the twentieth century. Divided into six sections, Greetings from Detroit showcases the changing times and interests of the city—highlighting some of the distinct neighborhoods, including Midtown, southwest Detroit, and the downtown area. A portion of the book is devoted to Detroit’s parks, with special interest in Belle Isle, Palmer Park, Clark Park, and Water Works Park. The book also shines a light on the majestic steamers that often dotted the Detroit River. Greetings from Detroit gathers some of the best, most illustrative postcards in one place and—for the first time, in full color—frames them alongside meticulously researched writing, offering context and stories behind each image. It is a history book. It is a picture book. It is a window into the history of Detroit. As the city grows and changes, there is value in observing a Detroit that is frozen in time. This beautiful collection would make an excellent conversation piece in the home of any local history aficionado.

Suggests ways for Detroit to become a smaller but better city in the twenty first century and proposes productive uses for the city's vacant spaces.

Journalist Amy Haimerl and her husband had been priced out of their Brooklyn neighborhood. Seeing this as a great opportunity to start over again, they decide to cash in their savings and buy an abandoned house for 35,000 in Detroit, the largest city in the United States to declare bankruptcy. As she and her husband restore the 1914 Georgian Revival, a stately brick house with no plumbing, no heat, and no electricity, Amy finds a community of Detroiters who, like herself, aren't afraid of a little hard work or things that are a little rough around the edges. Filled with amusing and touching anecdotes about navigating a real-estate market that is rife with scams, finding a contractor who is a lover of C.S. Lewis and willing to quote him liberally, and neighbors who either get teary-eyed at the sight of newcomers or urge Amy and her husband to get out while they can, Amy writes evocatively about the charms and challenges of finding her footing in a city whose future is in question. Detroit Hustle is a memoir that is both a meditation on what it takes to make a house a home, and a love letter to a much-derided city.

Step Inside a Detroit You've Never Seen. The Motor City. The City on the Strait. The Arsenal of Democracy. Detroit is the city that put the world on wheels. Once the fourth largest in the country, its streets were filled with bustling crowds and lined with breathtaking landmarks. Over the years, many of Detroit's most beautiful buildings-packed with marble, ornate metalwork, painted ceilings and glitz and glamour-have been reduced to dust. From the hallowed halls of Old City Hall to the floating majesty of steamships to the birthplace of the automotive industry, Dan Austin, author of Lost Detroit and creator of HistoricDetroit.org, recaptures stories and memories of a forgotten Detroit, giving readers a glimpse into some of the most stunning buildings this city has ever known. Book jacket.

They were the typical American family on a typical American road trip—Dad behind the wheel, Mom in the passenger seat, their five adorable kids piled in the back. And, of course, their beloved dog strapped to the roof. Wait . . . what? Now for the first time, here is the completely true—and only mildly embellished— shaggy-dog story of Seamus Romney, the famously fetching Irish setter whose master, future presidential candidate Mitt Romney, plopped him atop the family station wagon for that infamous 1983 car trip. From the majesty of Mount Rushmore to the fabulousness of San Francisco, from the sacred temple of Salt Lake City to the hallowed halls of Washington, D.C., here at last is Seamus’s rooftop account of that headline-grabbing journey . . . unleashed. Doggedly chronicled by satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin (NPR’s All Things Considered), and cleverly illustrated by Colleen Clapp (The Chris Matthews Show, NBC News), this American tale is more than just the story of a dog on a hot tin roof. It is the inside (well . . . overhead) look at the Man Who Would Be President and the wild ride that’s sweeping—and bewildering—the nation.

A practical guide to what's working in urban reinvention with examples drawn from Detroit and other cities.