Dream Cruise. Why not Detroit?

**Cliffy** · August-16-14, 04:32 PM

I just came back from the Dream Cruise since I live down the street from Woodward and I have to say their are definitely less cars this year and less people. I think the flooding in this area took a toll on everyone. Who wants to go to the dream cruise when you have to clean your basement up and who knows what else.

**Inkadinkado** · August-16-14, 04:49 PM

Why no cruise in Detroit. Maybe for the same reason that the Back to the Bricks adjunct in Flint had seen a gradual shift of activities from Flint and into their suburbs. Unsupervised youth running wild and intent upon being destructive and causing a spectacle is more than real car fans want on what is meant to be a fun weekend. A crowd assembled in seconds and pummeled the obvious outsider in the Steve Utash incident. Why should car fans expect anything different when given the choice of cruising south?

There are still car guys in Detroit. I'd like to see them stage cool events and thereby demonstrate that fun and safe cruises can be had. A string of those would do wonders for the "poor me" view posited earlier in the thread.

**Pam** · August-16-14, 05:35 PM

I saw one of these cars in the cruise one year. Would have come in handy during the flood this week: [[Amphicar)

http://youtu.be/C0QDPHocUgg

**Gpwrangler** · August-16-14, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Cliffy

I just came back from the Dream Cruise since I live down the street from Woodward and I have to say their are definitely less cars this year and less people. I think the flooding in this area took a toll on everyone. Who wants to go to the dream cruise when you have to clean your basement up and who knows what else.

I saw quite the opposite. Traffic was backed up to 9 mile this year. Ferndale was busy all the way to 8 mile. It was awesome. Definitely more cars than last year. I would love to see the cruise extend way below 8 mile.

**Smirnoff** · August-16-14, 07:49 PM

Not as many muscle cars this year [[big drop); plenty of trucks, SUV's, & foreign.........heard they are trying to ban all non-muscle vehicles driving on Woodward during the cruise, unless a steep fee is paid in advance.

**softailrider** · August-16-14, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by Gpwrangler

I saw quite the opposite. Traffic was backed up to 9 mile this year. Ferndale was busy all the way to 8 mile. It was awesome. Definitely more cars than last year. I would love to see the cruise extend way below 8 mile.

I agree, I think it was way more crowded this year in every area, even up to where Woodward Avenue ends in Pontiac.

**softailrider** · August-16-14, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by poobert

I guess the question is: why would Detroit want the Dream Cruise?

Taking this completely objectively, whether you love or hate the Dream Cruise, is there any positive economic impact to it? Most businesses seem to hate the constant gridlock that drives away their normal patronage. You're essentially just creating an artificial traffic jam.

Which brings me to the subjective: it is completely stupid.

Doesn't matter if it's stupid or intelligent or not highbrow enough for some people - it's very popular. I'd like to know what other annual events draw people from other states and countries to this area? I don't think there are many. I'll bet the vast majority have a great time and leave with a positive impression of the region.

**Gpwrangler** · August-16-14, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Not as many muscle cars this year [[big drop); plenty of trucks, SUV's, & foreign.........heard they are trying to ban all non-muscle vehicles driving on Woodward during the cruise, unless a steep fee is paid in advance.

Muscle vehicles only? That would be kinda ridiculous. Anything 20 years or older is fine. Too many fart can exhausts and ridiculous grandma cars with 22" rims but different strokes for different folks I guess.

**Cliffy** · August-16-14, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Not as many muscle cars this year [[big drop); plenty of trucks, SUV's, & foreign.........heard they are trying to ban all non-muscle vehicles driving on Woodward during the cruise, unless a steep fee is paid in advance.

That would be illegal and never is going to happen. I agree about the lack of "Classic Cars". Most of the cars I saw were 2006 and newer.

**stinkytofu** · August-16-14, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by Cliffy

That would be illegal and never is going to happen. I agree about the lack of "Classic Cars". Most of the cars I saw were 2006 and newer.

Yeah, no way in hell they could ever enforce that. I'll fully admit I'm a Dream Cruise hater [[live a few blocks from 11 Mile/Woodward) and I'm sure tons of people would fight that.

**Zacha341** · August-16-14, 10:16 PM

Seems some drove their cars thru deep water as though they owned this 007 special, retractable wheels, directional fins and all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeBqf6bYZak

Originally Posted by Pam

I saw one of these cars in the cruise one year. Would have come in handy during the flood this week: [[Amphicar)

http://youtu.be/C0QDPHocUgg

**Cincinnati_Kid** · August-16-14, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by poobert

I'm normally one to decry sloth around here but turning a question about the Dream Cruise into a sermon about handouts and self-reliance? What the hell? This board is a can of mixed nuts.

Maybe most Detroiters don't want the Dream Cruise and aren't actually asking for it. This one isn't.

Everyone I know in that corridor is planning some way around it/to escape it.

I'm not anti-car but a traditional car show in a bucolic setting seems much more appealing to me than sitting in traffic, wasting gas. People here are generally stupid, though.

Good post poobert, I'm getting a little tired of some of the "Holier Than Thou" attitudes myself. The cruise isn't in Detroit because of fear of crime. That is the main and only reason.
Although this year, they've managed to extend it to Palmer Park at Six Mile, then loop back north.

**Gistok** · August-17-14, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

Good post poobert, I'm getting a little tired of some of the "Holier Than Thou" attitudes myself. The cruise isn't in Detroit because of fear of crime. That is the main and only reason.
Although this year, they've managed to extend it to Palmer Park at Six Mile, then loop back north.

OK... first you complain why the cruise doesn't come into Detroit... then you state that it does... from the border with Ferndale to the border with Highland Park...

Maybe your criticism shouldn't be directed at the cruise people... but with Highland Park.... are they interested in extending it?

**erikd** · August-17-14, 03:45 AM

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

I don't know, but I'd assume the Cruise isn't in Detroit because the creators weren't residents.

So rather than whine, go get dome cars and cruise. Most good things are created, not handed out.

Envy and jealousy are sins for a reason. Our broad society focuses on fairness. Better to focus on self-reliance. There's a lesson here for Detroiters.

The racist and classist assumptions and assertions on this thread are largely incorrect and mostly based on the longstanding racial and city/suburban divide that permeates everything in our region.

Contrary to the popular belief of many metro Detroiters, things can happen or exist without an underlying nefarious motive.

The wide street design of northern Woodward, featuring a large median with designated U-turn loops, coupled with long enough distances between traffic lights, makes it a perfect road to cruise up and down on. This type of street design is also found on Gratiot and Telegraph, which is why those streets have also been popular cruise streets for decades.

This type of divided multi-lane street, featuring the optimum cruising distance between traffic lights, is most commonly found in the suburbs, and fairly rare within the city proper.

**erikd** · August-17-14, 05:01 AM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

Good post poobert, I'm getting a little tired of some of the "Holier Than Thou" attitudes myself. The cruise isn't in Detroit because of fear of crime. That is the main and only reason.
Although this year, they've managed to extend it to Palmer Park at Six Mile, then loop back north.

The cruise won't go past Six Mile because that is where the Woodward median ends. If the cruisers go south of Six Mile, they would have to make a turn down a cross street, loop around the block, and then make a turn back onto Woodward.

It's not about a fear of crime, it's about the fact that Woodward south of Six Mile is not conducive for cruising.

It's the same reason why eastsiders don't cruise Van Dyke, Garfield, Hayes, or Groesbeck. The eastside cruisers from Sterling Heights, Shelby, and Clinton Twp don't drive all the way down to Roseville and Eastpointe because they think it's particularly safe or nice. They go there because that stretch of Gratiot is conducive for cruising.

**softailrider** · August-17-14, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by erikd

The cruise won't go past Six Mile because that is where the Woodward median ends. If the cruisers go south of Six Mile, they would have to make a turn down a cross street, loop around the block, and then make a turn back onto Woodward.

It's not about a fear of crime, it's about the fact that Woodward south of Six Mile is not conducive for cruising.

It's the same reason why eastsiders don't cruise Van Dyke, Garfield, Hayes, or Groesbeck. The eastside cruisers from Sterling Heights, Shelby, and Clinton Twp don't drive all the way down to Roseville and Eastpointe because they think it's particularly safe or nice. They go there because that stretch of Gratiot is conducive for cruising.

Unless you're cruising in a semi with a 40 foot trailer attached, there's enough room to make a u turn ANYWHERE on Woodward south of 6 Mile.

**Wheels** · August-17-14, 08:18 AM

This is why most cruisers wont go past 6mile.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/detr...in-palmer-park

**erikd** · August-17-14, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by softailrider

Unless you're cruising in a semi with a 40 foot trailer attached, there's enough room to make a u turn ANYWHERE on Woodward south of 6 Mile.

If traffic is light, you can make a U-turn on Woodward in the city south of 6 Mile. If traffic is heavy, as it is during events, and as it would be in a scenario where the dream cruise comes south of Six Mile, that isn't realistic.

A single car making a U-turn on Woodward in Midtown in light traffic is totally doable. A steady stream of hundreds of cars doing it in a dream cruise situation would not be doable.

**Kathleen** · August-17-14, 08:54 AM

We extended our usual early morning drive of the Woodward Dream Cruise loop down through Palmer Park, but at 8:15 in the morning, they were still putting up signs and only a couple later model classic cars were present. Since we don't cruise once we've completed our loop, we didn't make it back to Palmer Park to see how it turned out.

Didn't see anything on the news last evening, but this morning's Freep has some coverage:

Hundreds pack Palmer Park in Detroit's unofficial Dream Cruise
http://www.freep.com/article/2014081...e-Detroit-cars

**rex** · August-17-14, 09:01 AM

yea softailrider. Thats simply not a reasonable solution. I wasn't aware that it stops at 8mile. It makes sense for it to go to HP but if it doesn't it doesn't. State Fair bus stop is sketchy. Neighborhoods between Woodward and John R are drug and prostitution areas and once you hit 8 mile there are more indigents. Are Detroit police stopping cruisers at 8 mile? Im not sure they could.

**Kathleen** · August-17-14, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by rex

yea softailrider. Thats simply not a reasonable solution. I wasn't aware that it stops at 8mile. It makes sense for it to go to HP but if it doesn't it doesn't. State Fair bus stop is sketchy. Neighborhoods between Woodward and John R are drug and prostitution areas and once you hit 8 mile there are more indigents. Are Detroit police stopping cruisers at 8 mile? Im not sure they could.

Officially the Dream Cruise runs 8 Mile to the Pontiac Loop. But frankly there is very little traffic in the 1/2 mile north of 8 Mile. Very few cruisers and spectators between the light at Marshall and 8 Mile, perhaps due to the 8 Mile overpass bridge.

**softailrider** · August-17-14, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by erikd

If traffic is light, you can make a U-turn on Woodward in the city south of 6 Mile. If traffic is heavy, as it is during events, and as it would be in a scenario where the dream cruise comes south of Six Mile, that isn't realistic.

A single car making a U-turn on Woodward in Midtown in light traffic is totally doable. A steady stream of hundreds of cars doing it in a dream cruise situation would not be doable.

You might have a point except not everyone would be u tuning at the same place. It's a real big street.

**Honky Tonk** · August-17-14, 10:51 AM

There used to be, [[maybe still are) car events in Detroit, but nothing on the scale of the Woodward Cruise. The Mexican guys used the do a "Lowrider Parade", hydraulics and all. Those were really entertaining to watch. There was another yearly in the Roostertail parking lot. In regards to the 22" wheeled "gramma cars", some of the kids have done terrific work on theirs, and I think the good ones are sharp. Not every car in the Dream Cruise is a winner either.