The
City of Grosse Pointe is mainly a residential town with a population just below 5,000. Nestled between the City of Grosse Pointe Park and Grosse Pointe Farms, the City has fared well during the past few years, despite the region's overall recession. Unemployment has remained low among Grosse Pointe residents, and new businesses are finding a relatively strong market for niche products and services. The well-educated adult population and sense of cohesion within the City has played a strong role in maintaining the economy.
Like the other Grosse Pointes, the City maintains a very high standard of living and boasts a number of features that contribute to the overall quality of life. These features include the nationally acclaimed Grosse Pointe Public School System, the exceptionally low crime rates, the numerous quality neighborhood organizations, and the overall sense of ownership in the long-term health of the community. It also doesn't hurt that the City of Grosse Pointe, along with the other Grosse Pointes, provides the County's only access to Lake St. Clair.
While the majority of the city is residential, Grosse Pointe City also has a small downtown known as "The Village". Spanning a three block stretch of Kercheval road from Neff Rd. to Cadieux Rd., The Village is occupied by single and two story retail and office buildings. The Village has been home to many famous stores such as Jacobson's, which closed earlier this decade, and Saunder's which reopened in The Village a few years ago. The structure once occupied by Jacobson's has been transformed into a multi-tenant building with various clothing and retails stores as well as a Trader Joe's grocery store.
Beyond physical development, the Village plays a vital role unifying an already close-knit community. The Village is the primary route for the community's annual Thanksgiving parade and is a safe hang out spot for teenagers and young adults.
In the past few years, the City of Grosse Pointe has taken steps to revitalize The Village. Beginning in 2008, a Downtown Development Authority (DDA) was formed to reinvent the downtown and make it more vibrant. Zoning laws were changed to allow for greater maximum heights on buildings, and more area around was zoned to commercial. The city is planning on converting municipal surface parking lots into a hotel and wants to put
lofts above existing first floor businesses. The aim is to turn what was becoming a relatively quiet downtown into something a bit more vibrant, and generate the foot traffic found in cities like Royal Oak and Birmingham.
Nick Posavetz is an Assistant Development Officer for Wayne County's Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE)
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