8 Mile Road forms the boundary between the city of Detroit, Michigan (and Wayne County) and Detroit's northern suburbs in Oakland and Macomb Counties. Residents of Detroit, and, as a whole, the state of Michigan, refer to this road (and other "mile" roads) as "Eight
Mile", or "Eight" (as in 8 and Woodward).
The name comes from the Mile Road System, a method used to delineate east/west roads through the Detroit area. Mile roads begin at the intersection of Woodward and Michigan Avenues in downtown Detroit; therefore 8 Mile Road is approximately 8 miles north of that point.
History
8 Mile Road, which is one of Michigan's most popular roads, didn't start to have a huge historical significance until the
1950s. Starting out as dirt road, 8 Mile was designated as M-102 in 1928. It was around this time when 8 Mile was widended into a divided highway between Gratiot and Woodward, where M-102 originally ran. As more people started moving out to that area, 8 Mile Road was widened into a divided highway west of Woodward,
all the way to Grand River in 1942, where M-102 was extended. In the early 1960s, 8 Mile Road was widened from a total of four lanes (two lanes on each side of the divided
highway) to a total of eight lanes (four lanes on each side of the divided highway), much like it is, today. This was due
to the growing population of Detroit suburbs such as Ferndale, Oak Park, Warren, Hazel Park, and Southfield.
Racial and Economic Divide
The road has long served as a de facto cultural dividing line between the predominantly poor African-American city and its wealthier, predominantly white northern suburbs. Although in fact this line has become blurred as certain communities immediately north of the road (notably
Southfield and Oak Park) have gained black residents in recent years, the perception of 8 Mile as the chief dividing line between races and classes
persists, in part because the suburban counties of Oakland and Macomb remain, on the whole, significantly whiter and more
prosperous than the city of Detroit.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the median family income for the city of Detroit, whose population was 81.55% African-American,
was $33,853, and 26.1% of the population lived below the poverty line. By contrast, the median family income for Oakland County,
whose population was 82.75% white, was $75,540, and only 5.5% of residents lived below the poverty line.
The south side of 8 Mile Road (which is Detroit), is the location of many gentleman's clubs, as Oakland County (north of
8 Mile Road) prohibits those types of clubs within its borders.
In 1973, in an attempt to show that he was serious about Detroit's problems with crime, mayor Coleman Young rhetorically told nefarious elements of the city to "hit Eight Mile." In a sign of the cultural divide between city and suburbs,
Young's comment won some praise from city residents but sparked angry condemnation from suburban leaders, with whom Young
had poor relations throughout his tenure as mayor.
Urban Renewal
Parts of the city of Detroit were experiencing urban renewal; neighborhoods which middle-class people would have generally avoided in the recent past have become more fashionable. To
the north of 8 Mile, once-pristine suburbs such as Warren have experienced decay and population loss. In addition, some suburban communities to the north of 8 Mile (notably Southfield and Oak Park) have become increasingly black, a sign that the racial demographics of the area are changing. Patterns of racial segregation
persist to the east of Woodward Avenue, where suburban communities remain overwhelmingly white.
Geography
8 Mile Road extends west of Detroit and is also the boundary between Wayne and Washtenaw counties on the south and Macomb, Oakland, and Livingston counties on the north. For much of its length, in Wayne County, 8 Mile Road is designated as M-102. Past Middlebelt Road in Livonia, 8 Mile Road becomes known as Base Line Road because it was the base line for surveying the Northwest Territories
8 Mile Road generally follows a straight line east of Northville. Between Griswold Street and Taft Road, 8 Mile bends toward the north, avoiding the city center before returning to its base
line. Further west, 8 Mile crosses Pontiac Trail (which connects South Lyon and Ann Arbor) before becoming a dirt road; it then ends about a mile east of Whitmore Lake. West of Whitmore Lake, 8 Mile Road picks up briefly and crosses US-23; 8 Mile ends shortly thereafter, at a junction with Hall Road, a local road near Hamburg.
8 Mile film
The movie 8 Mile, starring Detroit area hip hop artist Eminem, as well as his song "Lose Yourself", both take their names and subject matter from this high-traffic and broad thoroughfare. On April 11, 2006, Eminem's friend and fellow rapper in D12, DeShaun Holton also known as Proof, was shot to death at the CCC Club on a stretch of 8 Mile Road.
Eminem's mother Debbie Mathers was carjacked at a gas station on 8-Mile road on January 23rd, 2004. James Antonio Knott
is currently serving a prison sentence as a result. He could be released in 2008.
8 Mile in Music
There are a number of songs that name-drop "8 Mile."
Eminem - Lose Yourself
Eminem - 8 Mile
Eminem Ft. 50 Cent - 8 More Miles
Uncle Kracker Ft. Kidd Rock and Paradime - Heaven
Angry Aryans - North Side Of 8 Mile
8 Mile in surveying
8 Mile Road is also known as Base Line Road, and marks the baseline used in the survey of Michigan land. It forms the boundary for many southern Michigan counties. Prior to the system used in Michigan, county
boundaries were often set by geographic markers such as rivers, hills, and trees, and were therefore rather irregular. Michigan
counties in the Lower Peninsula tend to be regularly bounded, and evenly sized, except in the cases of counties bordering one of the Great Lakes.
Where 8 Mile deviates from the base line in Northville, a portion of Base Line Road is a residential street, running from Old Novi Road to Center Street (Sheldon Road). Running
slightly off alignment east of Old Novi because of a tributary of the River Rouge, Base Line reconnects to 8 Mile via Griswold Street.
