The best decisions you can make in Detroit [PHOTOS]

Support Black-owned businesses. Detroit is one of the biggest Black-majority cities in the U.S., and its Black-owned businesses are the backbone of the city.

Kayak the Detroit canals. Did you know Detroit has a canal district? It’s like a Midwestern Venice, with houses right along the water. Bring your own kayak or take a guided tour with Detroit River Sports.

Volunteer at a community garden or farm. Detroit’s massive size and shrinking population make it attractive for urban farming, and by some counts these farms make up the city’s largest industry. Talk to your local neighborhood farmers to see how you can help.

Shop local for gifts. Stop giving all of your money to Jeff Bezos and support local businesses instead. There are plenty of local shops selling unique gifts that your loved ones will love.

Check out local music. The Motor City’s music scene remains undefeated, and any night of the week you can catch amazing live music at a variety of bars and clubs. Who knows, that band you saw might one day become the next big thing, and you’ll be able to say you saw them before everyone else.

Visit the city’s century-old cemeteries. Put some respect on their names. You can visit memorials to former Mayor Coleman Young, former governor Lewis Cass, and the MC5’s Fred “Sonic” Smith at Elmwood Cemetery, while Woodlawn Cemetery has Aretha Franklin, Rosa Parks, and several members of the Ford family.

Take a guided tour of the city. Think you know Detroit? We guarantee you’ll learn something new on a guided tour. The Detroit Bus Company offers a number of themed tours, as does The Black Scroll Network, the tour service run by the city’s official historian, Jamon Jordan.

Vote in local and statewide elections. Only 45.8% of Wayne County voters cast a ballot in November, and an even lower 33.8% in Detroit — well below Michigan’s 56.8%. Many elections were decided by razor-thin margins,and decisions made in the statehouse and city hall will affect your lives. Vote!

Don’t wait until the last minute to stock up on supplies before a winter storm. Yeah, we know, sometimes the local weather forecasters oversell storms that never come. But storms do hit Southeast Michigan, and you don’t want to be fighting over rolls of toilet paper at Meijer, so stock up ahead of time.

Hang out at a dive bar. Saddle up to the bar, order a cheap beer, and get ready for the stranger next to you to talk your ears off with their life story. It’s the reason dive bars are great, and metro Detroit has plenty of them.

Read local media. Stay informed and support your local news publications. In Detroit, there are plenty to choose from, including the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Hour Detroit magazine, MLive, Crain’s Detroit Business, Axios, and Between the Lines, among others… oh, and a little alt-weekly that has been serving the community since 1980 called Metro Times.