Alter Road is a north-south street of approximately four miles length in southeastern Michigan's Wayne County. Although Alter Road itself is completely within the Detroit city limits, it is a symbolic dividing line between the overwhelming African-American City of Detroit and the likewise overwhelmingly Caucasian City of Grosse Pointe Park. Like 8 Mile Road, another well-known thoroughfare of ethnic and economic demarcation in Metro Detroit, Alter Road has long been considered something of a "Berlin Wall" to separate communities. In fact, quite literally, there are places at which concrete barriers have actually been erected so as to reduce the interaction between the two cities. A prime example would the intersection of Alter and Goethe, just south of Mack Avenue, at which—right where the City of Grosse Pointe Park's propertly line commences—that municipality has closed off Goethe to thwart both vehicular and pedestrian movement. Along nearby Mack Avenue—another border between the two municipalities—the City of Grosse Pointe Park has likewise made some of its intersecting north-south side streets inaccessable to vehicles so as to reduce the potential for criminal activity, with the intersection of Mack and Wayburn Avenues in Grosse Pointe Park constituting a prominent example. Official language(s) English de-facto Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 11th 96,889 mi² 250,941 km² 239 miles 385 km 491 miles 790 km 41. ... Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. ... Nickname: The Motor City, Motown Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (Latin for, We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes) Official website: http://www. ... Grosse Pointe Park is a city located in Wayne County, Michigan. ... Eight Mile Road separates the city of Detroit, Michigan and its northern suburbs. ... The Detroit CMSA is colored in yellow. ... Remnant of the Berlin Wall near Potsdamer Platz, June 2003. ...

The four-mile stretch of Alter Road provides many contrasts. At its southernmost, below Jefferson Avenue, there is a picturesque park with a still-functioning lighthouse, and generally well-kept dwellings. This particular stretch of the Road parallels the narrow Fox Creek. It is at this southern end that Alter Road leads to the Detroit River and to the southern starting point for Lake St. Clair. North of Jefferson Avenue, however, Alter Road is quite blighted as is much of the City of Detroit. Its northernmost blocks, between Warren Avenue and Chandler Park Drive offer a somewhat in-between of the two extremes. There is speculation that during the early development of the City of Detroit, Alter Road became a city boundary because it was the farthest point that the Detroit Fire Department was able to offer coverage. This may well have been one of several reasons that Grosse Point Park then developed as a seperate municipality. Landsat satellite photo, showing Lake Saint Clair, as well as St. ... Public beach on Lake St. ...

The Florida-based rock band Alter Bridge takes its name from former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti's childhood experiences around Grosse Pointe Park and near Alter Road; as a child he was forbidden to venture past the bridge. The band's debut album "One Day Remains" has gone 3x Platinum since its 2004 release, and Tremonti is widely recognized as one of the strongest and most prolific guitarists in hard rock today.

Author Doug Tanoury has published a poem—on the internet—about this thoroughfare entitled, simply enough, "Alter Road."

In 2003, it was reported that the NBC television network had ordered a script for a new drama entitled "Alter Road" based upon the novel of the same name by Detroit area author Lowell Cauffiel. David Schwimmer's Dark Harbor Productions was said to have been the executive producer of the project which was to have revolved around two families separated by race and class along the Detroit-Grosse Pointe Park border. Apparently, there was a loss of interest and the program was never televised. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... David Schwimmer David Schwimmer (Hebrew: דיוויד שווימר, born November 12, 1966) is a Jewish American actor, born in Astoria, New York, USA. He is best known for his role as Ross Geller in the television sitcom Friends. ...