Midtown Detroit was gripped by gridlock Saturday night.
The reasons: Noel Night, spring-like temperatures, a wide range of attractions and almost daily publicity for the past year about the neighborhood’s renaissance.
For blocks in every direction around the focal point – Woodward Avenue near the Detroit Institute of Arts –- drivers inched forward, searching in vain for parking spaces.
Traffic was restricted on Woodward as far north as I-94, and by 7 p.m., a long line of cars stretched several blocks further north.
It was the 40th annual Noel Night, sort of a community open house from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. during which dozens of stores and institutions open their doors for free.
“How do I get to the Artists’ Market,” asked a puzzled visitor near Cass and W. Warren.
“It’s at Forest and Woodward,” she was told.
“Where’s that?”
Tens of thousands of people jammed sidewalks, thronged outside of such institutions as the Traffic Jam restaurant and Avalon Bakery, and inspected new establishments, like the recently opened Auburn apartments at Canfield and Cass.
“I think it’s too big for the room,” said one young woman as she observed the kitchen island in the one-bedroom model apartment that was open for inspection.
On the Auburn’s first floor, Hugh and Nora, housewares stores with an attitude, were jammed. Hugh, which bills itself, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as a store for swinging bachelors, showed “Mad Men”-era show-business videos on the wall.
Across the street the vibe was more contemporary at the Spiral Collective at Cass and Willis, above.
Inside a deejay with an awesome sound system played a funky version of “O Christmas Tree.” A block south, a family ate ribs at the outdoor table next to Slow’s take-out store.
It could be snowing and 10 degrees next year on Noel Night, and the crowds will be smaller. But should it be 54 degrees with little wind again, like Saturday, here are two pieces of advice: plan routes and parking in advance and arrive early.
