The worst aspect of contemporary Detroit?

[sumas]

I am certainly not alone in this community regarding care about our children. We all care. I am so charmed that many many kids want to show me their report cards. One young girl who has been held back is now going to high school. I am thrilled for her.

[nain rouge]

Well, I'll definitely agree that roads are far from Detroit's biggest problem. But as someone else mentioned, it would be a lot less annoying if this city had decent transit, or if all those dead ends weren't in dead neighborhoods.

But yeah, the economy and the culture of crime are the real enemies. There's no doubt.

[sumas]

Paragraphs, paragraphs. They are your friend.

Sorry getting senile, your comments make no sense either.

[Dan Wesson]

Sorry I fail to see the humor, please tell me why it is a gas. I worry about neighborhood kids, they are important and need to know a community cares!!!

It's all good. I know where you are coming from. It 's about the prose and if parsed, lends itself to an ironic allegory.

[sumas]

It's all good. I know where you are coming from. It 's about the prose and if parsed, lends itself to an ironic allegory.

Well at least that sounds fun. Sorry my intentions are good and it does seem like I am a target these days. So BFD. I have made real and virtual friends on this forum. I am not leaving.

[casscorridor]

The worst aspect, to me, has to do with infrastructure. Had Detroit built up a rapid transit system early on [[1900s-1960s), or even up until the failed chances in the 70s and 90s, the city would look drastically different.

The loss of population and tax base could have been minimized, leading to less abandonment and perhpas prevented the freefall decline in city services. Some of the 1990s growth could have been funneled into the city rather than the suburbs and Detroit would probably look more typical as an urban center, rather than a shell.

[Hermod]

Sorry getting senile, your comments make no sense either.

It is like the church bulletin which says "This Sunday being Easter, the pastor will call Mrs Smith to come up and lay an egg on the altar."

[Dan Wesson]

Well at least that sounds fun. Sorry my intentions are good and it does seem like I am a target these days. So BFD. I have made real and virtual friends on this forum. I am not leaving.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!

Haven't you seen the sticky on using the F in your BFD?

You know this site could use some more funny and expressive emoticons.

[jaytheory]

The decimation of our once, second-to-none fabric of incredible architecture throughout the entire city. And the street cars. We were the Art-Deco capitol of America. Detroit had charm! Lee Plaza was only one of many Art-Deco buildings at one time in Detroit. We no longer have a city of great architecture aside from approximately 10 strong neighborhoods. Detroit is now a city that's majority vacant land, burned out homes and tiny auto garages that are falling over. No flow, no continuity. Because of this, the city isn't walk-able. This kills the density factor that many city-dwellers seek. Being able to walk slowly through various neighborhoods and admiring the architecture in the summer, winter, spring and fall.

No matter what, those buildings will NEVER be duplicated again. Wiped off the map and forever gone. SAD!! Today we see Detroit rebuilding itself to resemble the suburbs. Suburban-style homes with siding etc...

I would also say no retail is also a miserable aspect of contemporary Detroit.

while i agree with you, you forget Detroit created the suburb, the streetcar suburb, 6mile and gratiot or any other cross street you can think of outside of Downtown/midtown is a suburb,

theres no difference between grand river and southfield and maple and orchard lake, besides struggling and thriving. they are the same. same look same feel, if Grand River and Southfield, turned in to the place to be over night, it would be exactly like maple and orchard. strip malls, big houses and parking lots. a suburb. its that now, just quite a bit rougher

[313WX]

you forget Detroit created the suburb, the streetcar suburb, 6mile and gratiot...theres no difference between grand river and southfield and maple and orchard lake

There are people who actually think 6 Mile and Gratiot or Grand River and Southfield were suburban like Orchard Lake and Maple?

Well Jesus be a Tylenol for my blown mind. Detroit's a lot further gone from the great city it was in the 1950s than I originally thought...

[sumas]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!

Haven't you seen the sticky on using the F in your BFD?

You know this site could use some more funny and expressive emoticons.

Sorry, I see tremendous wit and wisdom on this forum. It is not me, so mea culpa. Just an older perspective. I love my city, my home, my neighborhood. our kids. We live a pretty quiet life and the area kids really mean a lot to us.

Die hard Detroiters. So many problems but they can be addressed.

So I guess for arm chair non resident folk, I live my life , I improve my home, engage in community, engage area kids. I do something to improve quality of life, know my neighbors, isn't that what is important?

[softailrider]

The worst aspect, to me, has to do with infrastructure. Had Detroit built up a rapid transit system early on [[1900s-1960s), or even up until the failed chances in the 70s and 90s, the city would look drastically different.

The loss of population and tax base could have been minimized, leading to less abandonment and perhpas prevented the freefall decline in city services. Some of the 1990s growth could have been funneled into the city rather than the suburbs and Detroit would probably look more typical as an urban center, rather than a shell.

I don't think more transit would have made a huge difference. Middle class still would have left. Divisive, corrupt leadership didn't help the issue.

[preserve]

Blight, mindless tagging and graffiti

[Hermod]

Blight, mindless tagging and graffiti

Those are the effects, not the causes.

[BMan]

Getting back to the original question, the vanishing retail leaves few reasons for people to want to tolerate all the other problems.

[313WX]

Those are the effects, not the causes.

The question in the OP was "The worst aspect of contemporary Detroit?", not "What were the cause and effects of Detroit's decline?"

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Growing up, working there and now visiting family the very real sense of never ever feeling safe.

Always on the lookout, swimming with the sharks.

Bike jacked twice had to fight 'em off. Robbed at knife point at middle school. Being a safety boy on the corner of baldwin and palmer had my watch stolen that was elementary school. Car tires slashed, radios stolen crap like that. Personal safety. Living around gangs, drugs and thugs. Fighting, hopefully giving as good as you got.

Went for a drive in the D two years ago, had my wife, daughter and baby grandson. We went through a neighborhood my wife and I lived in years back. I went down some streets between 7 mi and state fair, barlow, westphalia. Them streets looked like a bomb went off and they were war zones with cars, appliances and debris askew in the streets.

Then it dawned on me, I had the most precious people to me in that little Scion. What if we had a flat? What if that car broke down? I got a little worried and said to my myself, what the hell am I doing here with my family?

No more manure tour Bub. Get your ass out of dodge. On the way out, down 7 mile towards the Chrysler, I saw cops in their squad cars and they looked so out of place.

Like I said...

Growing up, working there and now visiting family the very real sense of never ever feeling safe.

Forget downtown, midtown it's the east side this ghetto rat came from.
Say all you want about resurrection, till it's made it way to 8 mile then over to 94, I'm not a believer.

Dan
I had similar experiences growing up down on the east side back when the BK's and Errol Flynns were big throughout Detroit, walking home or riding a bike in the hood became a game of survival, with my head on a constant swivel.

I also made the same mistake while visiting family a few years back, we had a rental car and I was driving through the urban prairie parts of my old eastside neighborhood and thought to myself what the hell am I doing here with my wife and little kids driving through burned out crack houses with all kinds of nefarious characters hanging out up to who knows what, we probably looked like meat on a hook on 4 wheels!

[sumas]

Getting back to the original question, the vanishing retail leaves few reasons for people to want to tolerate all the other problems.

Actually I regret all the local stores that have been lost. However, I can pretty much get anything I need or want right in my community near downtown. On line purchases are a great supplement. About the only time I foray outside my community is to Home Depot for items not carried by local hardware stores.

[Detroitnerd]

As always, the leadership.

[preserve]

Hermod, I read "what irritates you the most?" I replied.

[iheartthed]

The decimation of our once, second-to-none fabric of incredible architecture throughout the entire city. And the street cars.

You can still see a Detroit street car operating... If you go to San Francisco. Apparently, San Francisco bought up street cars from other cities that dismantled their systems. The street cars in SF still pay tribute to the city where the street cars were acquired with a sign on the car, and it reads like a who's who of decayed urban centers [[Cleveland, Detroit, Newark, Baltimore, etc.).

Which brings me to what I think one of the worst aspect of Detroit is: lack of foresight.

[Detroitnerd]

The question in the OP was "The worst aspect of contemporary Detroit?", not "What were the cause and effects of Detroit's decline?"

I think what Hermod is getting at is that Detroit was a fine, wonderful place of upstanding people and strong, tight-knit communities. And then a bunch of black people moved in and changed all that.

Seriously, I think that's what he's always on about.

[SDCC]

Employment opportunities

[daddeeo]

CRIME. No one will want to subject their family to that willingly.

Employment opportunities

[poobert]

I can only pick one thing? Can I just say "everything" then?