Detroit gets a grocery ... but good luck getting there on public transportation

Detroit could use a little economic good news. The announcement recently that the Shoppes at Gateway Park still has a pulse and Meijer, the Grand Rapids-based super store chain, will anchor this long-delayed project qualifies as worth cheering about. It should put revenue in the city's empty coffers.

The location is right on the Detroit city line at Eight Mile and Woodward Avenue. It's less than a mile from Palmer Woods -- probably the city's nicest neighborhood -- and just south of Royal Oak, the region's urban-chic restaurant, shopping, and entertainment district. The east-west expressway, Interstate 696, has an exit there, and there are no other large shopping centers in the immediate area.