A few years ago, while living in Dearborn, a friend asked me to join him and his family for a picnic. It was during the pandemic, and I figured we would sit on blankets somewhere in the grass, perhaps under a tree. Instead, we ended up meeting in the parking lot of a hotel, each of us on fold-up chairs next to our cars, with nothing above us to shield us from the sun. It鈥檚 not that my friend liked being in a parking lot; it鈥檚 just that back then, there were really no parks in Dearborn.
Today, I suspect my friend would likely choose to host a picnic at a different location in Dearborn, the newly opened in the city鈥檚 west end. On Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud celebrated the completion of the first of three parks that are part of the (PEACE) Project, a $29.2 million grant-funded investment into the city鈥檚 public parks, green infrastructure, and existing outdoor facilities. The second park, in the city鈥檚 east end across from the , opened in November, and a sports facility is planned to open in 2025 in the city鈥檚 south end.
The PEACE park, by , takes up about a block and is located next to a free parking garage. It looks like the type of garden one might see in a museum courtyard, with square patches of grass intersected by wide footpaths, all in a neat, arresting geometric pattern. In the middle is an elevated stage with state-of-the-art audio equipment. Off to the side is a semiclosed circular area to sit in, offering an ideal space for an outdoor meeting, as well as another table with a built-in chessboard. Tucked in the corner are some of metro Detroit鈥檚 cleanest public bathrooms. Public Wi-Fi is available, too.
When I visited, on a Friday afternoon in November, the park was hosting a coffee festival, featuring some of Dearborn鈥檚 most celebrated coffee shops, most of which are owned by Yemeni Americans. Mayor Hammoud walked around, in tennis shoes and a hoodie, shaking hands and giving hugs to those who needed a postelection embrace.
Of Michigan鈥檚 southeast cities, Dearborn has the youngest population; a sizable number of its residents are teenagers or even younger. For Hammoud, this park 鈥 and the two forthcoming 鈥 will give them a space in which to gather, an alternative to the usual hang spots in Dearborn: the shawarma restaurant or the mosque parking lot. But there is another purpose to the PEACE park, too.
鈥淚t is about encouraging Dearborn residents to visit other parts of the city,鈥 Hammoud says.
East Dearborn is historically an Arab-dominated area, and this park, on the city鈥檚 west end, is a way to encourage more intermixing within Dearborn鈥檚 diverse communities, he says.
鈥淚 hope people outside of Dearborn come to this park, too, to see the amazing things this city has to offer,鈥 he adds.
Ibrahim Alhasbani, the founder and owner of , agrees. He opened his Yemeni coffee shop in Dearborn back in 2017 and now owns more than 20 branches across the U.S. It鈥檚 customary to see his coffee shops packed at 10 p.m., and in many ways, he is the reason why Yemeni coffee is so popular across metro Detroit.
When he created his coffee shop, he wanted to give people a sort of third place to gather, aside from their homes and places of worship. Now, they have a fourth space, the PEACE park. But the park offers something that even his caf茅 can鈥檛 provide.
鈥淚n the summer, this shade here in the park is everything,鈥 he says. 鈥淎t last, we can hang out outside in the summer.鈥
This story originally appeared in the January 2025 issue of 糖心vlog安卓版. To read more, pick up a copy of 糖心vlog安卓版 Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our will be available on Jan. 6.听
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