Dodge Park: Sterling Heights' riverfront living room

For a city its size — Michigan’s fourth-largest — Sterling Heights keeps its heart in one surprisingly green place. That place is Dodge Park, where the Clinton River bends through the middle of town. The park is the city’s year-round living room. It has riverside trails, a splash pad, a farmers market, and winter ice skating. There’s a modern community center too, on the banks of a river that’s cleaner and livelier than it has been in decades.

Once a year it becomes something bigger. Sterlingfest has been staged at Dodge Park since 1983. It’s one of metro Detroit’s larger summer fairs — three days of headline concerts, a juried art fair, a carnival midway, and fireworks. The crowds come from all over Macomb County. The rest of the calendar, the park hosts everything from cultural festivals to movie nights. That fits a city that has become one of Michigan’s most internationally diverse. Big suburb, small-town main square — Sterling Heights just built its main square on a river.