Surprising changes in Detroit from 2006 - 2026:
Detroit as a brand: Shinola Detroit didn't exist in 2006. Nobody would have ever expected a Detroit themed luxury brand to be created, let alone be successful. Luxury brands associated with cities was something that was still mostly the domain of New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, or Milan. It still is.
Similarly, while the style of pizza that is now known as "Detroit style pizza" had existed long before 2006, nobody would have expected it to become a national and international sensation. If you went back to 2006 and asked for "Detroit style pizza" most people would be confused by the question. There was a New York style and a Chicago style, but "Buddy's style" still hadn't yet become "Detroit style".
Detroit as a destination: Prior to the last decade or so, Detroit was never really much of a tourist destination at any point in the city's history. People visited Detroit for specific reasons, primarily work or family. Some people in nearby places might come for big concerts and shows that stopped in the city, but very few people ever went to the city just to be a tourist. By 2006 this was still mostly true but something has clearly changed since then. Music festivals in Detroit such as Movement annually attract a global crowd to the city. Detroit has increasingly become a stop on the circuit for international tourists curious about the city's history. And the city is competing for more shows and conventions than ever before.
Obsolescence of the Renaissance Center: The Ren Cen was still Detroit's star in 2026, and that seemed unlikely to change. Fast forward to today and the office towers of the Ren Cen have been vacated and it's scheduled for a partial demolition.
Resurgence of Corktown: Corktown revolved around Tiger Stadium for a century. It was a huge blow when the team moved to Comerica Park and many predicted that the neighborhood would never recover. There was some loss but it was nowhere near as bad as the predictions. Slows BBQ, which opened in 2005, became hugely important to Corktown's resurgence. Although it was still not well known in 2006, the restaurant quickly became a destination for diners all across Metro Detroit. From there it became an obligatory stop for people visiting Detroit. Today there are a number of popular bars and restaurants in the area.
Michigan Central Station: Related to above, more people expected MCS, the infamous abandoned train station located in Corktown, to be torn down by 2026 than for it to have been fully restored to a functional building. It's still shocking for many people (myself included) to see it in its restored state.
Success of the Detroit Riverfront and Dequindre Cut: The first phase of the Detroit Riverfront had already been opened by 2006, but it wasn't yet clear how popular this investment into the city's waterfront would be. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that the Detroit Riverfront is the single most popular investment in public works in the city of Detroit since at least the 1950s. I can't immediately think of anything built in Detroit within the past 80 years that can compare in terms of popularity. It's more popular than the Detroit People Mover.
The Gordie Howe Bridge: Yes, the second bridge had already been proposed by 2006, in the aftermath of 9/11, but it was still then so theoretical that it was hard to take seriously. A new bridge seemed about as realistic as Detroit getting a subway.
The "Detroit" Pistons: The Lions had already returned to Detroit from Pontiac by 2006, but there was fear that Detroit would lose the Red Wings to a location in the suburbs because of the steady decline of Joe Louis Arena. It was still unthinkable that the Detroit Pistons would return any time soon because of their home at the still relatively new Palace of Auburn Hills. The Palace was still less than 20 years old in 2006. Fast forward twenty years and the Pistons have been back in the city for almost a decade already.
Severity of the population decline: A declining population had been a feature of Detroit's since the 1950s. But I think most people (naively) expected that Detroit would never drop below 900,000 in population. When some demographers started to warn that Detroit would probably land at a population around 800k at the 2010 census, it was thought to be so absurd that they were accused of crying wolf. Detroit ended up with an official 2010 census population of 713,777. While this really should not have been a surprise, it was nonetheless a shock to most people. Not many people thought that Detroit's population in 2026 would start with a 6.
The widespread disappearance of urban fabric: Related to the above, the city had never seen the scale of erasure of urban fabric that happened over the past 20 years. Thanks to a number of demolition grants from the federal government the city successfully erased many, many miles of structures, effectively wiping many neighborhoods off the map. Before the city got into the demolition business it was much more common for buildings to sit dormant. Physically, many parts of the city look much less urban than it did 20 years ago. For example:
2007:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/s5zP33RNJv6L28xa9
2026:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AwWke2BFp4mRCcFS9
A non-black mayor: In 2006 I would have thought Detroit would elect a woman mayor before another white male mayor, and I would've been wrong. Twenty years ago Detroit's population was overwhelmingly black, and today the city's population is still almost as overwhelmingly black. By 2006 there had not been a non-black mayor of Detroit since 1973, over 30 years. By 2026 the mayor of Detroit had been white for 12 of the 20 years since 2006. On Jan. 1, 2026, Detroit's first woman mayor took office.
Bike lanes: I can't say for sure that there were no bike lanes in Detroit in 2006, but I can say for sure that there were not a lot of them. Today there are over 200 miles of bike lanes in the city.