[ImaMichigander]

I think that there may be an age shift on who considers Dearborn to be part of Downriver. I don't have a strong feeling about whether it is Downriver or not-- but wouldn't be surprised if it was included in the Downriver Communities.

BUT, when I worked for a Downriver hospice with volunteers, I could ask the older volunteers (65-80+) to really go to any of the Downriver Communities and they gladly would, but Dearborn was like asking them to drive to the far side of the moon. Allen Park was ok, Dearborn, literally right next to it, was not.

So maybe it's an age thing?

I wonder it Wikipedia weighs in?

[ImaMichigander]

Downriver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Downriver is the unofficial name for a collection of 18 suburban cities and townships in Wayne County, Michigan south of Detroit along the western shore of the Detroit River.[1]

The name derives from the fact that the Detroit River, after running more or less west along the banks of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, then bends to flow largely south before emptying into Lake Erie. Communities to the south of the city can thus be accessed by traveling downriver (as opposed to upriver) along the waterway.

In the early to mid-20th Century, the urban communities in the northern and middle parts of Downriver were mainly populated with workers who were employed by the dozens of auto factories, manufacturing suppliers, ship builders, steel mills and chemical plants that called the area home, including the Ford Rouge Plant Complex, Great Lakes Steel, McLouth Steel, and BASF.
While heavy industry is still an important source of jobs, these communities became home to more white collar workers in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries as the economy of Metropolitan Detroit diversified, larger single family houses were developed and improved freeways made commuting longer distances feasible.

Brownstown Township, Flat Rock, Gibraltar, Huron Township and Rockwood in the southern parts of Downriver were predominately rural communities during the first half of the 20th Century. While these communities experienced significant population growth and became more suburban during the second half of the 20th Century and 2000s, some working farms can still be found in these towns.

Today, Downriver overall is largely known as a southern suburban Detroit region with middle-class residential neighborhoods and recreational opportunities focused on boating, fishing, bird watching and waterfowl hunting areas around the Detroit River.
Downriver itself is mentioned in a song by the band Journey "Don't Stop Believing," there referred to as "South Detroit".

The following communities make up Downriver:
Allen Park
Brownstown Township
Ecorse
Flat Rock
Gibraltar
Grosse Ile
Huron Charter Township
Lincoln Park
Melvindale
River Rouge
Riverview
Rockwood
Romulus
Southgate
Taylor
Trenton
Woodhaven
Wyandotte

Differences of communities
Downriver communities near Detroit and Dearborn (such as Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, River Rouge, Melvindale and Ecorse) were developed in the 1920s-1940s and are identified by brick and mortar homes (often bungalows), tree-lined streets and Works Progress Administration-designed municipal buildings.

Communities that developed further south — like Southgate, Taylor, Riverview, and Trenton — in the 1950s-1970s are more closely identified as tract homes and subdivisions. Through the 1980s, areas such as Huron Township, Flat Rock, Rockwood, Woodhaven and Romulus were undeveloped, some of which still have operating farms.

The Downriver cities of Ecorse, Gibraltar, River Rouge, Riverview, Trenton and Wyandotte as well as Brownstown Township directly border the Detroit River. Grosse Ile Township is an island community located in the middle of the Detroit River between mainland Downriver communities and the Canadian towns of LaSalle, Ontario and Amherstburg, Ontario.

Socially speaking, the Downriver communities collectively have a distinct cultural identity within suburban Detroit although some individual Downriver communities share many similarities with towns in the western, northern and eastern suburbs of Detroit.

Taylor is the most populous city in the Downriver area and includes the Wayne County Community College Downriver Campus, Michigan State Police Metro South Post, Southland Center, a state of the art sports complex called the Taylor Sportsplex, Oakwood Heritage hospital, Taylor Meadows and Lakes of Taylor golf courses, Wallside Windows Factory, Cruisin' Telegraph, and a very large park called "Heritage Park" in the center of the city where in August, the city hosts the Junior League World Series.

Sorry it's a bit long, but I think this answers some questions...

[bjeanthejellybean]

Originally Posted by djmilf

Just to set the record straight...

My mother's family comes from Dearborn, going back to the 1920's. Many of my family's extended social group still resides in Dearborn. Every one of these Dearborn residents, from my grandfather and grandmother to my parents' friends to my friends would be AGHAST at being considered part of Down River.

Well aren't they special! What a snob!