Photos

This is a view of the Central Business District of Detroit on a beautiful September afternoon. It is taken from an abandoned skyscraper just off Woodward and John R.

The buildings in the foreground make up Merchant's Row, a popular shopping district on Woodward Avenue. From the 1970s to the 1990s, this area was in deep decline with multiple vacant structures and empty storefronts, but in recent years a resurgence has occurred. Residents are steadily moving into many of the loft conversions in this neighborhood and the shops and restaurants are coming back. Other additions have helped to improve the downtown area, including the new Compuware headquarters (not pictured) and Campus Martius Park. However, some structures remain vacant, including the one from which this photograph was taken.

The prominent buildings in the background include, from left to right, the Guardian Building (red brick with flag, far right), 1001 Woodward (black slate office tower), the Penobscot Building (setbacks on roof, tallest in city from completion to 1977), the David Stott (red brick), the Book Cadillac Hotel (wide building with copper cornice, recently renovated from abandoned structure to 5-star hotel for $300 million), and the Book Tower (Gothic tower with large green copper roof).