Dearborn, MI

The diverse city of Dearborn, Michigan, is the birthplace of Henry Ford. It is located just west of Detroit and is home to about 90,000 people. It is a regional hub for education, employment, health care, and shopping. Residents enjoy close-knit neighborhoods, tree-lined streets, and a variety of cultural attractions. Dearborn's residents are active in their community. They belong to 54 churches and five mosques, support 35 neighborhood associations, and volunteer for 13 service clubs. More than 100 special events take place in the city each year, including the annual Arab American Festival, the Memorial Day Parade (Michigan's oldest and largest), and the city's Homecoming, which attracts 150,000 people each August.

ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES

Dearborn is a regional employment center that is home to an estimated 4,000 small and large businesses. In fact, so many jobs are located in Dearborn that the city's daytime population swells to more than 150,000 people. Automotive manufacturing and steel processing are the leading industries in Dearborn. The city is the headquarters of the Ford Motor Co., AAA of Michigan, and Carhartt, a maker of work wear. Dearborn is also home to Eppinger Manufacturing, Dearborn Sausage, and Al Wissam designer fashions. Other major employers are the Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center and Severstal Steel.

NEIGHBORHOODS AND DISTRICTS

Dearborn is known for its variety of well-maintained neighborhoods that are made up of everything from senior citizen apartment towers to urban townhouses to million-dollar estates. Forty-three parks, eight public pools, and four library branches provide places for families to mingle, play, and learn. Among the city's neighborhoods are:

• Aviation: a subdivision of brick homes built in the 1920s and 1930s. English Tudors and colonials line the streets. The commercial district has bakeries, bookstores, boutiques, grocery stores, offices, and sidewalk cafes.
• Highland: a tight-knit residential community where neighbors get together for ice cream socials and an annual Halloween party.
• Riverbend: a residential neighborhood on the west side of Dearborn with about 200 homes in a mix of architectural styles. The neighborhood is bordered by the Rouge River and is known for its distinctive street lamps and signs.

EDUCATION

Henry Ford Community College: HFCC serves more than 25,000 students every year. The school offers the largest registered nurse program in Michigan and is recognized as a leader in health-care training.

University of Michigan-Dearborn: This four-year public university has an enrollment of more than 8,500 undergraduate and graduate students. In 2008 U.S. News and World Report ranked the University of Michigan-Dearborn as one of the five best master's-level universities in the Midwest.

HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CARE

Dearborn residents have access to two nationally acclaimed medical centers.

• Henry Ford Medical Center-Fairlane: This hospital is part of the Henry Ford Health System, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of Michigan residents. The Dearborn location is home to doctor's offices, surgery units, and adult and pediatric emergency rooms.
• Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center: OHMC is a full-service teaching hospital with more than 600 beds. It is routinely recognized as one of the top 100 cardiology hospitals in the country, and completed a $110 million expansion in 2005. The hospital provides general and emergency medicine, as well as outpatient services. It is also home to a labor and delivery unit.

SHOPPING

Shoppers from all over Michigan love Dearborn for its large national chains and small, family-owned boutiques. Fairlane Town Center is one of the largest indoor shopping centers in Michigan. The mall's 200 stores attract ten million shoppers every year. But many other shoppers are drawn to Dearborn's three business districts and their specialty shops and restaurants.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Visitors and residents have no trouble finding something to do in Dearborn. Its many attractions include the most-visited tourist attraction in Michigan: the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, a world-class performing arts center and large cultural museum.

• Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village: More than 1.5 million people visit The Henry Ford every year. It is the largest indoor-outdoor American history museum and entertainment center in the country. It includes an IMAX theater and Ford factory tours.
• Ford Community and Performing Arts Center: The center is the largest municipally owned facility of its kind. It contains a 1,200-seat theater, an art gallery, two indoor swimming pools, a fitness area, and a climbing wall.
• Arab American National Museum: This is the only museum of its kind in the world. It highlights the diversity of the Dearborn region and showcases the shared experiences of ethnic groups and immigrants.

LOCAL MEDIA

Dearborn is well served by the local media. It is part of the Detroit television market, the 11th-largest television market in the country. Major network affiliates are:

• WJBK (FOX), Channel 2
• WDIV (NBC), Channel 4
• WXYZ (ABC), Channel 7
• WKBD (The CW), Channel 50
• WTVS (PBS), Channel 56
• WWJ (CBS), Channel 62

In print media, Dearborn is covered by the Press & Guide, as well as the major Detroit newspapers Crain's Detroit Business, The Detroit Free Press, and The Detroit News.