RAW Detroit

Covering the heartbeat of Detroit through stories, businesses, food, and events. Independent media built to keep you connected to the city.

09/04/2026

Tesla Cybercabs are showing up on roads around metro Detroit.

The Cybercab is Tesla's two-seat robotaxi, built with no steering wheel and no pedals. The ones spotted here have both, plus a safety driver, which is how Tesla runs test units on public roads.

Southeast Michigan has more automotive engineering and proving grounds than anywhere in the country, so test vehicles pass through all the time.

Tesla has not announced anything official for Michigan.

09/03/2026

Detroit’s new JW Marriott is almost finished on the riverfront, and it opens in early 2027.

The 600-room hotel is rising on the site of the old Joe Louis Arena, part of the new Water Square development, connected to Huntington Place by a skybridge. It’s timed to open before Detroit hosts the Men’s NCAA Final Four in March 2027.

At 25 stories and $396.5 million, it’s one of the biggest hotels Detroit has built in decades. It’s already taking bookings into 2029.

The building that replaced Joe Louis Arena is nearly done.

09/02/2026

For the first time in more than 30 years, you can walk onto the Boblo Boat.

The SS Ste. Claire, the 1910 steamship that carried generations of Detroiters to Boblo Island, opened its restored first deck this week as a walk-through museum at Riverside Marina on the east riverfront.

It almost didn't make it. The Ste. Claire made her last Boblo runs in 1991, sat deteriorating for decades, and a 2018 fire tore through her upper decks during restoration. The crew rebuilt from the hull up.

Inside there's a timeline of Boblo history, a souvenir stand, and the same popcorn and cotton candy from the ride to the island. It's $10 for adults, $5 for kids, $25 for a family of five, and every dollar funds the rest of the restoration. Reservations at bobloboatdetroit.com.

09/02/2026

Pewabic Pottery is opening a second Detroit studio in Little Village, its first new location since 1903.

The Pewabic Neighborhood Studio is going into the Cadillac Arts Centre at 1533 Cadillac Blvd., a short walk from the original East Jefferson pottery. It's a teaching and community space, not a store, so the tile and gift shopping stays at the original.

The studio is fully accessible, anchored by the Progressive Art Studio Collective, which supports artists with disabilities building careers in contemporary art.

It opens later this fall.

09/02/2026

Amon-Ra St. Brown is on a Red Bull can, and you can only buy it in Michigan. 🏈

Red Bull put the Lions receiver on a limited-edition can, the first active NFL player they've ever done. It has his signature on the side and a design based on the routes he runs.

Look in the energy drink aisle wherever Red Bull is sold. It came out August 31, days before the Lions open at Ford Field on September 13.

08/26/2026

Detroit-style pizza has traveled about 6,600 miles. It's showing up on menus across South Korea, at pizzerias that put the Motor City right on the sign.

The first was Motor City in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood, opened in 2016. A co-founder tried the style, flew to Michigan to learn it, and brought it home to Korea.

The square pie with the crispy cheese edge comes from Detroit's auto plants, baked in blue steel pans first used to hold parts on the factory floor.

08/25/2026

The Basilica of Ste. Anne was founded on July 26, 1701, two days after Detroit itself was founded. It's the second-oldest continuously operating parish in the country, and right now it's closed and wrapped in scaffolding for its biggest restoration in generations.

The project is a $55 million effort: about $30 million to restore the basilica, rectory and campus, plus a $20 million endowment to keep the parish funded long-term.

The money comes through The Catholic Initiative, a nonprofit created by the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation. That's the family behind Pulte Homes, the company William J. Pulte started in metro Detroit in 1950 and grew into one of the largest homebuilders in the country. Mark Pulte chairs the nonprofit.

The setup is unusual. The nonprofit bought the campus outright under a Vatican-approved deal that guarantees the parish exclusive use for 200 years, then took on the restoration and upkeep. Ste. Anne is the first major test of the model.

Work started in November 2025, with completion targeted between Christmas 2027 and spring 2028. Until then, weekend Masses are at Most Holy Trinity Church on Porter Street, and Fr. Timothy Laboe took over as rector on July 1.

Share this with someone who loves Detroit history.

08/25/2026

Cars at The Station returns to Michigan Central September 11 and 12, free, no ticket needed.

More than 18,000 people came last year, with over 1,000 registered vehicles filling Roosevelt Park under the restored station.

This year has vehicle displays, ride-and-drives, food trucks, live music, and RADwood Lite, the '80s and '90s car display.

Registration is closed, but coming to look is free. Hours haven't been announced yet.

08/23/2026

The Detroit Jazz Festival runs September 4 through 7, free, no ticket required. It's the 47th year, and this year all three main stages are consolidated into one Hart Plaza footprint.

The lineup includes Ron Carter, Bob James, Ravi Coltrane, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Take 6, and Kurt Elling with Yellowjackets. Joe Lovano is artist-in-residence.

The festival closes September 7 with Coltrane 100, a set marking the centennial of John Coltrane's birth.

08/22/2026

Lee Plaza on West Grand Boulevard has been empty for about 30 years. The first 117 apartments, all for income-qualified seniors, are targeted to open in the fourth quarter of this year.

Residents will pay no more than 30 percent of their income in rent, and the affordability is locked in for at least 45 years. Most projects like this expire after a decade or two.

Thieves pulled more than 50 terra cotta lion heads off the building in 2000 and 2001. Six turned up embedded in $600,000 condos on West Bryn Mawr in Chicago, bought for under $1,000 each. The FBI got involved because they crossed state lines. Twenty-four lions and three griffins came back in 2002, most of them anonymously, and nobody was ever charged.

The lion heads are being recreated for the restoration.

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