Places to exploreMuseums, parks, neighborhoods and icons
Metro Detroit mapWhat Metro Detroit is, and what every town is about
The Henry FordRosa Parks’ bus, Greenfield Village and the Ford Rouge Factory
RenCen: live trackerThe Renaissance Center’s past, present and future, up to the minute
Gordie Howe BridgeThe new bridge to Canada: live waits, tolls, and yes, you can walk it
ToursBy boat, by bike or on foot, with a local guide
Escape roomsOne hour, one lock and your crew
Plan a meetingVenues, hotels and what’s on in town on your dates
Metro Detroit Oakland County City
Gold-glass towers and Metro Detroit's second business hub, right above 8 Mile
Nothing on our calendar here this week yet.
01 / Why it matters
Head out of Detroit on the Lodge Freeway (M-10) and the gold-glass towers of Southfield Town Center pop up almost the second you cross 8 Mile. Southfield is Metro Detroit's big office town: with 27 million square feet of office space, only downtown Detroit has more in the region. Lear Corporation calls it home, among many others.
On paper it's a young city, incorporated only in 1958, but the roots go way back: the first settler, John Daniels, showed up in 1823. The real turning point was Northland Center, Victor Gruen's 1954 mall, billed at its debut as the largest shopping center in the world. It was a milestone in the story of the American mall; it closed in 2015 and has since been largely torn down.
The official motto is "The Center of It All," and it fits. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, many Jewish families moved up from northwest Detroit, and by the 2000 census the city had an African American majority. Today it's an office district, a college town and a quiet, leafy place to live, all at once.
02 / Known for
Southfield Town Center's five linked towers went up between 1975 and 1989 as the Prudential Town Center; the tallest, 3000 Town Center, rises 402 feet.
Northland Center (1954–2015): the J. L. Hudson Company's Victor Gruen-designed mall was a milestone for American shopping centers.
The Reynolds Metals regional sales office is a 1959 Minoru Yamasaki design wrapped in a gold aluminum grille; the Detroit Free Press called it a "Jewel on Stilts."
Lawrence Technological University started in Highland Park in 1932 and moved to Southfield in 1955.
Auto supplier Lear Corporation is headquartered here, on Telegraph Road.
03 / What’s on
Oct 18, 2026, 1:30 PMHoly Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery · Preservation Detroit leads a guided tour on Sunday, October 18, at 1:30 p.m. at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in Southfield. Established in 1928 and one of six Catholic cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Tickets available.
04 / Places
Radisson Hotel Southfield-Detroit26555 Telegraph Rd, Southfield, MI 48033
The Westin Southfield Detroit1500 Town Center, Southfield, MI 4807505 / What to do
Eight acres of flower gardens and fountains at Civic Center Drive and Berg Road. It's where Southfield's first town hall and fire hall stood, now joined by a historic Methodist church and two old homes. Summer brings gazebo concerts.
Official site ↗The new library opened on the Civic Center grounds in 2003 and covers more than 127,000 square feet. Perfect for a rainy day.
Official site ↗Several miles of wooded trails with interpretive signs and fishing platforms on Ten Mile Road, east of Inkster Road. City parks are free and open dawn to dusk.
Official site ↗06 / History
John Daniels, the first settler, arrives in what is now Southfield.
Ossewa Township is organized and renamed Southfield 17 days later.
Northland Center opens on March 22, billed at the time as the world's largest shopping center.
Southfield becomes a city on April 28, with about 29,000 residents.
Construction starts on the Prudential Town Center; the last tower is finished in 1989.
Northland Center closes on April 15; demolition begins in 2017.
07 / Born here
08 / People
Population and area are Census Bureau figures (Southfield city).
Change since 2020, per the Census Bureau estimate: −0.6 percent.
