When people think of technology and creative places in the United States, San Francisco and Silicon Valley are often the first that come to mind. But in the last few years, Detroit has been making its name known as a hub for creativity and technology.
In her infographic published last week, Rilee Chastain from Detroit’s Hello Innovation, highlighted some geeky facts about Detroit.
Did you know Detroit has the only floating post office in the United States? Or that Detroit was the first city to assign phone numbers, way back in 1879?
Check out the key takeaways from the infographic.
Source: Hello Innovation / Infographic: 13 Geeky Facts About Detroit.
Key Takeaways
Move over San Fran and Silicon Valley. In the last few years, Detroit’s been home to the new “tech gold rush.” Many creative and innovative companies are making their way to Motor City to set up shop and take advantage of the entrepreneurial energy that flows throughout the city.
But why Detroit? Because it’s a geek’s paradise!
Just check out these awesome, geeky facts about the city of Detroit.
- Floating Post. The J.W Westcott II, America’s only floating post office, resides in the Detroit River.For over 100 years, this floating vessel has been delivering mail from below the Ambassador Bridge to thousands of residents.
- Dream Cruise. Metro Detroit plays host to the Woodward Dream Cruise, the world’s largest one-day automotive event, where nearly 1.5 million people (and 40,000 classic cars) gather each year.
- Nearly 10 percent of metro Detroit jobs are tech related
- We are #1 in advanced auto industry jobs
- Detroit’s the only point in the U.S. where you can enter Canada by driving south
- The Motor City was the birthplace of Motown and Techno music
- Detroit’s WWJ radio was first to broadcast radio reports–it’s still operating
- Gotham has Batman. New York has Spiderman. Detroit? We have Robocop! On June 3rd, 2014 (RoboCop Day in Detroit), the man himself showed up to throw the first pitch at the Detroit Tigers game.Our city’s such big fans of our fighting hero that we raised over $67,000 on Kickstarter to build a statue of RoboCop right in Detroit, MI! In RoboCop we trust.
- Give you the hand If you ever ask a Michigander where they’re from, chances are they are going to pull out their hand at you. No, we’re not being rude! It’s just our favorite way to show out-of-towners where in the Mitten State we hail from! (Detroit is just south of the thumb.)
- Detroit was the first city to assign phone numbers way back in 1879
- Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in Detroit before making it famous in Washington, D.C.
- Detroit has more registered bowlers than other city in the country
- Technology jobs have increased by 15 percent in metro Detroit
