Editor’s Letter: Looking Back on 2025

It’s not often that history is made when we are closing an issue, but it happened this month.

December 15, 2025

Kate Walsh // Photograph by Brad Ziegler

On Nov. 4 at 9:12 p.m., the Associated Press declared Mary Sheffield the winner of Detroit’s mayoral race, which will make her the first woman and the first millennial to hold this position. It’s not as though her win came as a surprise — the Detroit City Council president handily won the primary back in August — but stranger things have happened in elections. One thing we did know for certain when planning this issue was that December would be Mike Duggan’s last month in office. You can read writer Steve Friess’s interview with Detroit’s exiting mayor here, with photography by Brad Ziegler.

Another given this month is that there will be gifts to buy and an Hour Detroit Gift Guide to peruse. This year’s mood-board theme reminds me of the gift guides that I saw in New York Magazine when I moved to NYC after college. They helped me discover the city: the products were so cool and unique, I just had to go to the stores to at least see them. Kudos to Creative Director Lindsay Richards, stylist/writer Giuseppa Nadrowski, and photographer Rebecca Simonov for creating this gorgeous and festive layout.

Lastly, what would a December issue be without a Year in Review? Here are our top 12 articles and social media posts of 2025, excluding our very popular “Things to Do in Metro Detroit” article, which is updated weekly.