Troy
Upscale shopping at the Somerset Collection, a genuinely outstanding international food scene, and being the metro's modern business-and-retail powerhouse.
The story
Troy’s symbol is a beaver, and its main drag is named — genuinely — Big Beaver Road, after a dam that beavers built across a creek here back when this was all farmland. (Yes, locals have heard every joke. They’re fine.) Settlers from New York organized Troy Township in 1827, naming it for Troy, New York, and for a century it stayed agricultural, with farmers hauling produce down to Detroit’s Eastern Market by horse-drawn wagon before dawn.
Here’s what makes Troy unusual: when it incorporated as a city in 1955, it had no traditional downtown at all. So instead of a Main Street, Troy planned itself around commerce — and became the business and retail engine of the suburbs. Today it’s the largest city in Oakland County (about 87,000 people) and has the second-highest property value in Michigan after Detroit itself. Its crown jewel is the Somerset Collection, a sprawling, genuinely luxurious mall famous for the glass skywalk that connects its two halves over Big Beaver. But the real insider draw might be the food: Troy’s diversity has made it one of the best places in the entire metro for international cuisine, from incredible Asian and Indian restaurants to Middle Eastern gems. It’s not quaint — it’s modern, prosperous, and quietly delicious.
Did you know?
- Troy’s main commercial road is named Big Beaver Road — after an actual beaver dam — and the beaver is the city’s official symbol.
- The Somerset Collection, one of the most upscale malls in the country, is famous for the enclosed skywalk that links its North and South buildings across Big Beaver Road.
- Troy was planned without a traditional downtown — it deliberately organized itself around business and retail, and now has the second-highest cumulative property value in Michigan, after Detroit.
- Troy Sports Center is the official practice and training facility of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.
- Thanks to its diverse population, Troy is one of the metro’s top destinations for international food — a genuine paradise for adventurous eaters.
Notable locals
Troy’s “notable locals” lean more corporate and athletic than Hollywood — this is a city built around business, after all. It’s produced actor Martin Klebba (Pirates of the Caribbean) and U.S. national-team soccer player Taylor Kornieck, and it’s long been home base for major companies (Kmart’s old headquarters sat right on Big Beaver). But the real stars here are the institutions: a world-class mall, a Red Wings training rink, and a restaurant scene that pulls food lovers from across the metro.
