At the turn of the 20th century, the township of Livonia was largely a rural community populated with farms, dirt roads, and a number of cheese factories. A few decades later, as the auto industry boomed in Detroit, white-collar workerssought places to raise their families outside of the city, and neighborhoods in Livonia went up seemingly overnight. The result was the creation of a quintessential American suburban city, one in which urban and rural lifestyles converged and formed a new kind of community. This bookcelebrates Livonia's development from the 19th to the 21st century, as it evolved from wilderness into a city that is routinely rated as one of the best places to raise a family in the United States.
Author David MacGregor is a lifelong resident of Livonia. An award-winning playwright and screenwriter, MacGregor teaches film and American studies courses at Wayne State University, and worked in close collaboration with the Livonia Historical Commission, which generously provided materials for publication in this book.