Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. In 2006 Detroit ranked as the United States' eleventh most populous city with 918,849 residents. The Metro Detroit area is a sprawling region with a population of 4,467,592. The Windsor-Detroit area, a critical commercial link straddling the Canada-U.S. border, has a total population of about 5,900,000.

Many Detroit inner-city neighborhoods endured a painful decline from the 1960s and 1970s leaving many areas of the inner-city with urban blight. In the 1990s, the city began to enjoy a revival, much of it centered downtown. Comerica Tower at Detroit Center (1993) arose on the city skyline. In the ensuing years, three casinos opened in Detroit: MGM Grand Detroit, Motor City Casino, and Greektown Casino which are now adding resorts. The city's riverfront is the focus of much development; in 2007, the first portions of the Detroit River Walk were laid, including miles of parks and fountains. This new urban development in Detroit is a mainstay in the city's earnest desire to reinvent its economic identity through tourism. Along the river, upscale million dollar condos are going up, such as Watermark Detroit, some of the most expensive the city has ever seen.

Metro Detroit suburbs are among the more affluent in the U.S., in contrast to the poorer areas of the inner-city. Lifestyles for rising professionals in Detroit reflect those of other major cities. This dynamic is luring many younger residents to the downtown area. Luxury high rises such as the three Riverfront Towers have views of Hart Plaza and Canada. The New Center area contains examples of historic housing redevelopment. The Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel will include a number of luxury condos. The east river development plans include more luxury condominium developments. A desire to be closer to the urban scene has attracted young professionals to take up residence among the mansions of Grosse Pointe just outside the city.

Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major manufacturing center, most notably as home to the Big Three automobile companies, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. The city is an important center for global trade with large international law firms having their offices in both Detroit and Windsor.

There are hundreds of offices and plants in the automotive support business including parts, electronics, and design suppliers. The domestic auto industry is primarily headquartered in Metro Detroit. New vehicle production, sales, and jobs related to automobile use account for one of every ten jobs in the United States. The area is also an important source of engineering job opportunities. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the Windsor-Detroit region and $13 billion in annual production depend on the City of Detroit's international border crossing.

With its dependence on the auto industry, the Detroit area is more vulnerable to economic cycles than most large cities. A rise in automated manufacturing using robot technology, inexpensive labor in other parts of the world, and increased competition have led to a steady transformation of certain types of manufacturing jobs in the region.

Firms in the suburbs pursue emerging technologies including biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology, cognotechnology, and hydrogen fuel cell development. The city of Detroit has made efforts to lure the region's growth companies downtown with advantages such as a wireless Internet zone, business tax incentives, entertainment, an international riverfront, and residential high rises. Thus far, the city has had some success, most notably the addition of Compuware World Headquarters, OnStar, EDS offices at the Renaissance Center, PricewaterhouseCoopers Plaza offices adjacent to Ford Field, and the 2006 completion of Ernst & Young's offices at One Kennedy Square. On November 12, 2007, Quicken Loans announced its development agreement with the city to move its world headquarters, and 4,000 employees, to downtown Detroit, consolidating its suburban offices, a move considered to be a high importance to city planners to reestablish the historic downtown.

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