Detroit is a place.
Detroit . Detroit is a major port on the Detroit River , a strait that connects the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway . The City of Detroit anchors the second-largest economic region in the Midwest , behind Chicago , and the thirteenth-largest in the United States . Detroit is best-known as the center of the American automobile industry , and the `` Big Three '' auto manufacturers General Motors , Ford , and Chrysler are all headquartered in Metro Detroit .