A person's home, block, and neighborhood form the essential building blocks of community identity. The neighborhoods that surround McNichols Road (6 Mile) and Livernois—Bagley, Martin Park, The University District, and Fitzgerald—all have a charm that is distinct. These communities are home to The University of Detroit Mercy and Marygrove College, as well as a number of beautiful residences and longstanding businesses.

They are also certain to undergo change as investment spreads to the northwest section of the city, particularly the redevelopment of vacant land and properties in the Fitzgerald neighborhood.

Photographer and Detroit-native Bree Gant captured some of the people, places, and things that make these neighborhoods stand out.



 
Alexis El-Amin, owner of The Mason Jar: Get Holistically Healed, a food store at 4088 W. McNichols Road. El-Amin recently moved to Detroit from Wilmington, N.C. and soon after opened her store in the University District.






 
Baked goods at The Mason Jar.




 
Homes in a neighborhood near McNichols and Livernois.




 
The Metro Detroit Barber College, located in the Fitzgerald neighborhood. Raymond Ware purchased the property in 1993 and ran it as a barber shop before converting to a barber's college in 2009. According to Ware, the building was once a bank and a church.




 
Ms. Helen Wright, 82, the owner of E&H Printing Co. She's run her printing shop at 17395 Livernois for over 40 years. Her first location was at Warren and Grand River, which was impacted during the 1967 unrest in Detroit. She then moved to a location at Warren and Epworth before settling at Livernois. She prints, she says, "everything but money." Business, and times, are changing. "I'm a union printer, and that's what keeps me afloat," she says. "You know people have computers now. It's not the old type of printing that we did."




 
Statue of the Virgin Mary on the Marygrove College campus.





 
Vernor's mural on the side of a building on West McNichols Road.


This story is part of Model D's "On the Ground" series, which gives voice to the community members, businesses, and developers who make the Live6 neighborhood come alive. Support for this series is provided by the Kresge Foundation. 

All photos by Bree Gant.