LA Times writer finds Mexico in Detroit, sees Southwest growing

Los Angeles Times writer visits Detroit and finds Mexico.

Excerpt:

Within a few years, Mexicantown and surrounding southwest Detroit were reborn. "Other than downtown, this is the only neighborhood that is succeeding in Detroit," Steve Tobocman, state representative for this part of the city, told me over lunch at Taqueria Lupitas on Bagley Street. "Sure, you can find a couple of blocks here and there, but you can't find an entire residential community and say that the quality of life has actually gotten better over the past 15 years."

Demographer Kurt Metzger agrees. Over the last decade, downtown Detroit has seen renewed investment and gentrification, but "in terms of density, entrepreneurship and diversity," Metzger says, "southwest Detroit is the most vital part of the city. And in a city where people shop for food at corner 'party stores,' it's the only area where you can find fresh fruits and vegetables."

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