I’ve been a magazine nerd since I was 10 and stashed away Dynamite magazines in my closet as if they were priceless collectibles.
I kept those magazines for years, flipping through them every now and then, remembering what was going on in my little world at the time and in the world at large — or at least in TV, movies, jokes, and games.
My office at Hour is a kind of dream space for that 10-year-old kid. I have stacks and stacks of magazines in here, covering 30 years of life in metro Detroit. For the past year, I’ve scoured their pages, looking for covers and articles to include in each issue’s Anniversary section, leading up to our 30th anniversary next month.
This past month was an especially fun one, as the topic was our annual City Guide, which typically highlights things to do in metro Detroit. From its debut in 1998 through 2004, it was a 20-plus-page section called The List, featuring more than 800 food, drink, and recreation listings.
Since then, each City Guide has taken on a theme (see more on page 23), and it’s not always a brand-new idea. This year’s theme, Hidden Detroit, was also done in 2017.
But the great thing about living in a metropolitan area is how much can — and does — change in nearly a decade.
While this issue is one of the most labor-intensive of the year, it’s also one of the most fun — especially with a theme like this. Some of the hidden gems are based on past experiences (like a favorite off-the-beaten-path shop), while others answer questions we’ve long been curious about: What does the view look like from the top of the Fisher Building? Where does a museum keep the items of its collection that aren’t on display?
We needed to take some field trips to find these answers, and those outings I took with associate editor Jack Thomas, assistant editor Will Reaume, and photographer/history buff Brad Ziegler were truly three of the coolest days I’ve spent at this job — or any job. (And I’ve had some interesting ones!)
I hope this issue answers your questions about some of Detroit’s well-known landmarks and introduces you to many fascinating things to see and do across metro Detroit.
This story originally appeared in the April 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.
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