There are things you might not expect when you visit Detroit.

Your cellphone might roam to Canada if you have a smaller carrier such as US Cellular.

You’ll find yourself watching Canadian television.

Parking is free, or nearly so.

The city is spread out and surrounded by woods, much like Portland.

But one surprising thing that doesn’t get enough press: there are 125 outdoor murals downtown.

That’s right. Detroit is ground zero for street art.

Many of these are funded by companies and crowdsourcing. There is an associated festival and a Facebook page.

Here are a few of the murals:

Businesses have murals

The photos above are ones I took when visiting the Eastern Market. They are a small fraction of the Detroit murals. Even parking garages have murals.

Click here for more. 

and also here.

And here.

And here.

Detroit has a long history of murals beginning with Diego Rivera in the 1930s. Yes, you can see a Diego Rivera mural in Detroit–inside the Detroit Institute of Art.

Workers struggle while bosses and the public (including Dick Tracy) look on.)

Rivera painted people of all races working together–something that didn’t happen in 1932

Characters from cartoons of the 1930s look on

While boss man tells workers how to do their jobs…

You can also spend a day outside staring at the art–everything from the bizarre to the political and even art from famous artists and street artists.  Here’s a guide to more street art. Detroit is the #2 city to visit this year according to the Lonely Planet but in street art, it’s Number 1.