Photos from the 35-acre, 3.5 million square foot sprawling Packard Plant are now on-line.

Not only were luxury cars built here, but engines for WWII PT boats, P40s, P-51 Mustangs, Lancaster bombers, and various other British and Canadian aircraft. Packard was a key to the America’s Arsenal of Democracy.

One major advantage America had during WWII was our factories were safe from enemy bombers. Ironically, one of Detroit’s greatest war plants looks bombed today.

Wikipedia has a bit more information on the history of Packard.

There’s another Alleycat in Downtown Detroit this weekend. Here’s the scoop from their press release:

“From the team that brought you the Drug Wars race, comes the Traffic race.

This is perhaps the closest we can come to a rush hour NYC alley cat race. There will be a Tigers game, a Wings Game, and the Electronic Music Festival going on.

It’s going to be a little tough due to crazy amounts of traffic and people. You must understand that this is an unsanctioned event and YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF. This race will be EXTREMELY dangerous.

Here are the details. (more…)

Today I rode over to the Georgia Street Community Garden on Detroit’s eastside, not far from the Better Maid potato chip factory.  Cub is developing the garden first for growing vegetables and later for fruit trees.  Members of the DetroitYES forums came by today to help kick start the garden effort.  It was simply a great day to work outside and meet other DetroitYES forum members as well.

The Ford tractor shown in the gallery below was from another nearby urban farm.  The more I bike around Detroit, the more of these I’m bumping into.  A new community garden is underway on Second Avenue in Highland Park.  I noticed an established garden over in North Corktown.  And then there are the goats.

It’s a great thing to grow your own food.  It costs less, it’s fresher, and it’s local.  With all the vacant land and lower density,  urban farming is something Detroit can pull off easier than nearly any other urban city.

Mexicantown is always fun to ride through. It’s a dense and diverse community with plenty to see and do. And it has my major bike ride requirement: good locally-owned bakeries.

But this area is even more fun to ride through during Cinco de Mayo. The Mexican pride seems to overflow into Hispanic pride and it’s all good cause for celebration.

Vernor, the main drag, gets clogged with slow moving cars. It’s more like riding a bike through a parking lot than the heart of the main business strip. There is a bit of drinking going on so it’s probably best ending ones ride before sunset.

Also, yesterday saw lines at all the restaurants. Apparently the I-75 re-construction isn’t hurting business too badly, at least for Cinco de Mayo.