Cass Corridor

In the early 1960’s, the area known as Cass Corridor (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 Tech High School (with it’s new building in 2005 it is 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 website for a comprehensive listing). This includes some of the most significant musical endeavors to come out of the Motor City. Detroit’s famous Gold Dollar rock dive was located in the heart of the Cass Corridor. Many of Detroit’s bands got their start playing here including the White Stripes, Brendan Benson and the Electric Six. Only a few blocks down and 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. 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 combinded the neighborhood with the Cultural District and 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.