21,962	:: average household income, in dollars, of Pontiac
150,001	:: average household income, in dollars, of Bloomfield Hills
57,573	:: average household income, in dollars, of Birmingham
36,835	:: average household income, in dollars, of Royal Oak
28,964	:: average household income, in dollars, of Ferndale
18,742	:: average household income, in dollars, of Detroit
4,383	:: average household income, in dollars, of Highland Park

Woodward Avenue: Highway M-1. The first paved highway in America. The first place that the automobile became a cultural symbol. The first road to connect Detroit with the rest of Michigan. The home of the Woodward Dream Cruise. The home of some of the wealthiest areas in the world.

Woodward Avenue: Highway M-1. The advent of the cliche of American vanity. The home of the Woodward Dream Cruise, an event in which rich people drive expensive cars around for no reason at all. The road that passes through the poorest area in Detroit, an area with a corrupt government and no police force at all. The hotbed of Detroit's racial riots in the 1960s. The site of countless layoffs and factory closings. The home of jaded teenagers with nothing to do and nowhere to go thanks to the lack of reliable public transportation. The home of some of the poorest areas in Michigan.

This photo essay was made to expose the true image of Woodward Avenue, in the eyes of Ben Chodoroff, a 17-year-old suburb kid with a car and some gas money. Ben doesn't see Woodward as a happy place, obviously. He sees Woodward as a pulsating blood vessel filled with SUVs in the north and degenerated buildings in the south. Hopefully, this photo essay will help you see his point of view.