City Institute
Formally DXF, City Institute provides a deeper understanding of Detroit. www.thecityinstitute.com
Formally DXF, City Institute provides a deeper understanding of Detroit and shares lessons learned with other communities to help create an equitable and thriving future for all. Services include in-person and virtual tours, Learning Journeys, workshops, keynotes, and consulting.
Old Redford showed up. Now we're heading to Hamtramck.
Join City Institute and New Economy Initiative for the next Small Business Social Hour on Thursday, May 21 from 4-7 PM at Hamtramck Bazaar Events & Community Development . Connect with entrepreneurs, founders, and small business owners from across Detroit and Metro Detroit. Food and refreshments from neighborhood businesses provided. Capacity is limited.
Register here: https://www.thecityinstitute.com/public-tours
In collaboration of Hamtramck Bazaar Events & Community Development and ProsperUs Detroit.
05/13/2026
For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we’re highlighting a few of our favorite AAPI-owned spots across Detroit’s food and beverage landscape. These are the places shaping the city in real time through flavor, culture, and community.
Swipe through. Visit them. Bring friends. Make them a regular part of how you eat and spend in this city.
And when you do, check them off the Detroit Checklist.
Download the updated 1000+ Detroit bars and restaurants checklist here: https://www.thecityinstitute.com/detroit-checklist
There is the Detroit you see in the headlines, and then there is the Detroit you get to know on foot.
On Sunday, May 17, our Downtown Walking Tour starts at the Rotunda Bar inside Book Tower and winds through the streets, stories, and history that make this city what it is. From Campus Martius to Paradise Valley, from the Guardian Building to the Spirit of Detroit, our guide will help you see how the past still lives in every block and what it might take to build something more equitable from here.
Whether you have lived here your whole life or you are just visiting, you will leave with a deeper sense of place. Tickets start at $10. Grab your spot, https://www.thecityinstitute.com/public-tours.
Last night was everything.
Thank you to everyone who came out to Firebird Tavern to celebrate 20 years of City Institute in Detroit. The room was full of people who have walked with us, learned with us, and believed in this city alongside us. That meant everything.
And a huge thank you to the sponsors who made the night possible: Greektown Neighborhood Partnership, Checker Bar, Grand Trunk, Golden Fleece, Good Cakes and Bakes, and Firebird Tavern.
20 years down. More to come.
Twenty years of City Institute deserves a party. Tomorrow night, we are having one.
Join us at Firebird Tavern on May 7 to celebrate two decades of tours, programming, and community in Detroit. This is a night for everyone who has ever taken a tour with us, attended an event, supported the mission, or simply believes that Detroit deserves to be understood on its own terms.
You are invited. Bring someone who should know what City Institute is about.
Details and information at the link on our website.
https://app.gopassage.com/events/cityinstituteturns20
Thanks to our sponsors: Greektown Neighborhood Partnership, Checker Bar, Grand Trunk, Golden Fleece Restaurant and Firebird Tavern.
Two days away, Detroit.
City Institute is turning 20 and we are celebrating at Firebird Tavern this Thursday. Party Like It's 2006 is a reunion for everyone who has been part of this work over the last two decades. Come raise a glass with us.
Thursday, May 7th | 5:00-9:00 PM | 419 Monroe St
Thanks to our sponsor: Greektown Detroit Neighborhood Partnership
Checker Bar, GrandTrunk, Golden Fleece and Firebird
Get your ticket before the night arrives: https://app.gopassage.com/events/cityinstituteturns20
05/04/2026
Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for the Detroit in Context Downtown Walking Tour.
What makes these tours worth coming back to is not the route. It is the conversation. The questions people ask when they finally have the context to ask them. That has been true for 20 years of tours in Detroit and it was true again yesterday.
If you were on the tour, we want to hear from you. What landed? What surprised you?
And if you missed it, the next tour is May 17th. Details at the website.
https://www.thecityinstitute.com/public-tours
Parking is handled. Now you just have to show up.
There is a parking lot right next to Firebird Tavern off Mccombs for $12 all day, plus free parking on weekday evenings at the Greektown parking structure. You can also walk, bike, or street park.
However you get there, get there. May 7th, 5:00-9:00 PM. We will see you then.
Registration link in bio.
If you think you know Detroit's downtown, this tour will challenge that.
The Detroit in Context Downtown Walking Tour is not a sightseeing route. It is a guided conversation about how Detroit's history shows up in the buildings, blocks, and spaces you pass every day including the racist policies that shaped the city's geography, the loss of the Black business district at Paradise Valley, and the ongoing work of equitable development.
Join us this Sunday.
Detroit in Context Downtown Walking Tour Sunday, May 3 at 1:00 PM Book Tower, Rotunda Bar 1265 Washington Blvd, Detroit Tickets from $10
Register here: https://www.thecityinstitute.com/public-tours
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
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Address
440 Burroughs Street, #118
Detroit, MI
48202
Opening Hours
| Monday | 10am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 10am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 10am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 10am - 5pm |
| Friday | 10am - 5pm |