What Could Have Been – Residents Lament Near Total Lack of Water Access in Metro Detroit

Touching 4 Great Lakes, Michigan is a Water Wonderland - even the license plates will tell you. But there is one corner of Michigan where access to the water is more aspirational then a natural born right of Michiganders. That's the area around Detroit where public access to the region's water is limited by industry and private development.

The stark realization was brought to light recently on the Detroit area subreddit on Reddit. An image of an old (1950s era) highway map showed a park area along the shores of Lake St. Clair labelled 'St Clair Shores Bathing Beach' located at the end of Eleven Mile Road.

The question was asked if this area ever contained a public beach. And the answer appears no. Further, the discussion sparked on how shocking little public land there is on the lake and riverfronts.

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SE MI completely dropped the ball with public water access.

Yeah there’s a handful of metro parks and the Riverwalk but 98% of the lakes and shores around here are private/developed.

Amen. Lake St. Clair has to be the most inaccessible lake ever. But hey, you can drive down Lakeshore and look at it though.

In fairness, the southern riverfront has been for the steel industry for the last 100 years, the pivot will take some time.

Contrast that to the Lake Michigan shoreline on the westside of the state. Yes, there are undeniably multi-million dollar lakefront estates in every city and town from New Buffalo to Mackinac City. But there are dozens of state, county and city parks the entire run of the shoreline that are open and accessible.

The area that might have been the St Clair Shores Bathing Beach at 11 Mile and Jefferson is public land today, home to city hall, the library and a small park, but not the blocks and block of beach promised by a long-ago misguided map.

There are those who are natives to West Michigan or transplants who feel that side of the state is superior to the east side. Here, perhaps, is one more arrow for that quivver.