Corktown’s residential streets and Michigan Avenue businesses lie west of Downtown Detroit. Midtown’s museums and Wayne State University sit farther north around Woodward and Cass avenues. The Riverwalk follows the Detroit River, with greenways extending inland toward neighborhood streets.
This guide connects the Corktown and Midtown profiles with those public routes. The Detroit city overview introduces the wider city, and the area directory links to the neighborhood profiles currently available.
Corktown: residential blocks and Michigan Central
Corktown grew around successive immigrant communities working in Detroit’s industries. South of Michigan Avenue and west of the Lodge Freeway, its historic district retains detached houses, rowhouses and churches among the residential streets. Most historic homes remain private residences.
Michigan Central’s former train depot now anchors a technology and cultural campus, with public ground-floor visits and guided tours. The station’s visitor information identifies an east-side entrance and the Bagley Mobility Hub for parking. Roosevelt Park in front of the building is a separate city park, redesigned in 2023 to join land previously divided by a road.
Photo: Brian Mulloy / Robert Duffner; CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and converted to WebP.
Midtown: museums around Woodward and a campus on Cass
Midtown brings major cultural institutions close to Wayne State’s campus. The Detroit Institute of Arts is at 5200 Woodward Avenue, near the Detroit Historical Museum and the public library’s Main Branch. The DIA’s visitor page gives current gallery information and its free general admission arrangements for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
Away from Woodward, Old Main’s clock tower marks Wayne State’s frontage at 4841 Cass Avenue.
The Woodward streetcar: Ferry, Warren and Canfield
The QLINE station guide identifies Ferry Street for the DIA, Historical Museum and Main Branch library area. Warren Avenue serves the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Michigan Science Center. Canfield Street serves MOCAD, the Majestic Theatre and the N’Namdi Center.
The QLINE follows Woodward between Downtown and New Center, with rides currently free. Corktown’s Michigan Avenue corridor and the Michigan Central campus lie west of that streetcar route.
Two greenway approaches to the riverfront
The Southwest Greenway connects the Michigan Central area with Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park on the west riverfront. Its route runs from Bagley Street to Jefferson Avenue along a former railway corridor. The northern entrance is at 2209 Bagley Street near Wabash, close to the Corktown end of this guide.
East of Downtown, the Dequindre Cut connects Eastern Market with the riverfront through a mostly below-street-level railway corridor. Its path has separate walking and cycling lanes, with entrance ramps at surrounding streets. The Conservancy’s riverfront map shows these greenways alongside the Riverwalk and waterfront parks.