Detroit Research Project

**Vic_doucette** · January-20-10, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by sumas

If you come to town I suggest you meet with the Editor of MetroTimes. If memory serves me right he did a several day walking tour of Grand Blvd. The people he met and their stories were interesting.

Actually, that was News Editor Curt Guyette who did the stories, and it was a walk along Outer Drive, not Grand Boulevard. I liked 'em.

Part I: http://metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6586

Part II: http://metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6605

Good luck.

**AlexStana** · January-20-10, 11:03 PM

@RickBeall, Vic_doucette

Thank you!

**RickBeall** · January-23-10, 02:59 PM

Hi Everyone,

I was just interviewed by the "Boys from Bowling Green". It was very interesting.

I thought your intrepid DetroitYes.com reporter should report back immediately. Do you remember this summer when the Bangladeshi people had an instant festival practically on my front steps with no advance warning and I hung out my window and reported on it all weekend? They ran the Slushi machine electrical line into my house? [[Got free slushies all weekend.) Ha. Well, so I thought time for more first hand reporting, taking myself into the danger zone. For you. ;-)

The agreed upon place to meet was Cafe 1923 in Hamtramck. I arrived before they did, so I settled down in a chair in the back. I was a little early and after a minute past 11 AM they were a little late, so I bummed a bit because I had not brought any reading material. I had already read the Metro Times and Real Detroit .... and the copy of the Hamtramck Review was the same as last weeks. What's with that? Well, just about then 4 men walked into the back room. They asked if I was Rick. I said yes, and then without asking me a single further question, without sharing a single word amongst themselves, the professor and graduate students strapped me down to a table, drained my blood and ran it through a filtering machine, like a kidney dialysis machine, which ran through a particulate analyzer that showed the contents in bands. They compared the blood to that of an native Michigan Huron Indian.

They found bands of Hastings Street, Paradise Valley, Brush Park, Southfield ... and peanut butter and jelly which were not present in the blood of the native American. On the spot, they then compared the blood to that of a local rock and found even more differences.

Well, you might be able to tell I am stretching the truth a little Well, maybe stretching it a lot. I had two of those big bowls of coffee at Cafe 1923 so my thoughts may be be a bit scattered, so let me start again.

I did meet with professor Josh and a couple graduate students from Bowling Green at Cafe 1923. I just came back from the interview 20 minutes ago We had a real lively discussion. I thought it was lively because I did most of the talking.. I signed a release form [[which someone had accidentally stepped on [[dirt and wear marks near the corner)). They were still suffering a bit from what I call "road hypnotism" because they had just gotten out of their car after driving all the way from Bowling Green, Ohio. They asked if they could record the conversation. I said "Sure". I settled down to turn the conversational crank, and they recorded it right across the street from the largest sausage maker in the region, Kowalski Sausage while our national government tries to grind out their sausage behind closed doors .... I think I'm losing my train of thought .... maybe that's why I've never been able to understand Hamtramck politics, it's all been decided in the Kowalski sausage plant but I keep obsessively listening to city hall? Illuminati, Kowalski Sausage -- they nearly rhyme. Let me restart.

It was a very nice morning. A very pleasant conversation with real nice people. Sometimes when you talk you somehow manage to learn a little bit about yourself, the conversation was sort of like that. We talked about Detroit and DetroitYes.com As I talked, and thought about that I was born in Southfield, went to Wayne State, lived in Hamtramck and Highland park --I realized that all my life I have sort of circled around Detroit, but I was sort of wishing that they could interview more of you guys who were born and raised in Detroit and read the DetroitYes.com boards. You are the guys who have real blood invested in Detroit.

A bit of vanity entered in my thoughts too, I thought it was cool that someday, maybe my name might be listed in a scholarly journal in a footnote or something.

I further thought there are waves of swirling dust in the air of Detroit as old things, both good and bad fall. The dust sometimes illuminates the old because it settles on it, while still obscuring the new.

I think the professors think DetroitYes.com shows glints of the new.

So I encourage anyone who likes good conversation to get interviewed. I mean why not? Why have other people represent you? You meet a few nice people and get a free cup of coffee.

I was there for about a hour and a half, and it was like many of the great, coffee fueled conversations at Cafe 1923. What beats a good coffee house conversation on a Saturday morning on an excellent topic?

**RickBeall** · January-25-10, 11:28 PM

Alex asked about the songs inspired by Detroit Yes. Here is a link to the thread that contains it:

http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?t=3454

And there will be a new addition to the list in about 2 weeks.

**AlexStana** · January-31-10, 11:18 PM

Thank you, Rick, that sounds great!

**AlexStana** · January-31-10, 11:28 PM

Hello all,

We [[two professors and two graduate students from Bowling Green State University) are going to be in Detroit this coming weekend, and we hope to get some more interviews done. Last Saturday Rick Beall kindly talked to us for an hour and a half about Detroit and DetroitYes! - we had a great conversation and it was really informative. Like I said, we hope to get more such great interviews, so if you have an hour or so to spare on Saturday February 6th, please contact us. The coffee and/or food is on us!

Thank you!

jatkins@bgsu.edu
419 372 3403
astana@bgsu.edu

**RickBeall** · February-03-10, 01:58 PM

I wanted to encourage everyone to get interviewed. Don't let my silly "Creative Writting 101" above put anyone off [[if it did, you never read it? well that's ok).

I was interviewed a weekend or so ago and it was fun.

I think of it this way. Being part of a successful acedemic study will help bring some prestige to Lowell's great site here. Prestige is a form of publicity. Publicity often leads to increased traffic and revenue for Lowell. Maybe Lowell will get an honorary degree in Siteology. [[g)

I know Lowell has to pay monthy fees to keep this site going. VBulletin board is not free software. So Lowell is paying good money for this "great work".

So by getting interviewed you are indirectly helping DetroitYes.

I also want to add that all of this is just my opinion, I did not clear this with Lowell, or even the Bowlling Green guys before posting this. But it makes sense to me.

Free coffee, great conversation! You could have the Bowling Green guys meet you at Avalon bakery. I'm just sayin.

**exmotowner** · February-03-10, 02:11 PM

Hey Alex. I have not lived in Detroit for about 25 years, but still love the city very much. I used to just go downtown and walk in the buildings just to look at them. Yea I got thrown out of a couple [[they just said they were private) they were not rude about it, but usually the lobby was what I was wanting to look at any how. Detroit has so much more than just the ruins. I would venture to say what is left is just as beautiful as any of the ruins. Just look around and you will be amazed at the city. I still am homesick after 20+ years being gone. [[coming back up for the historic wayne preservation theater tour in August though and very much looking forward to it). Be careful in your urban splunking and enjoy.

**Lowell** · February-03-10, 02:28 PM

I would like to chime in here to add my bit in encouraging others to participate in this project. I too interviewed with profs Atkinson and Rosati, about a year ago, and can likewise confirm what others have written regarding the very cordial and relaxed manner in which it was conducted. While the study is formal and academic, the people doing it are very informal and, dare I say, normal.

RickB, thanks for the kind words. Yes it does cost a good deal to run this site, but between occasional donations of members and Google ad revenue, the real dollar costs are being covered. That is much appreciated since this is a labor of love that I would do anyway.

**RickBeall** · February-05-10, 11:37 AM

Coffee and pasties at the Avalon Bakery for any DetroitYes folk what want to be interviewed by the Bowling Green academic folks. Man, I wish I could do it again. Everyone here has a story to tell.

[[Note: I am pulling the Avalon out of my hat, no one will be there, unless you call or email Alex at the above number.)

**fryar** · February-03-11, 03:44 AM

I originally posted this comment to that other thread about this topic, which has by now been moved to the Detroit Connections board, but I thought this might interest more than a few folks here who would only see it in the Discuss Detroit forum.

I came across the final product here earlier.

The following essay explores the role of intertextuality and interactivity in the construction of an “alternative cityscape” for the city of Detroit within a web community called DetroitYES! Using qualitative content analysis, we examined different portrayals of the city in [[1) the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit virtual tour found on the DetroitYES! website, and [[2) discussion threads posted by members of the DetroitYES! web community. The analysis revealed that the intertextual components of the virtual tour alluded to Detroit as a ruins similar to Athens and Rome, while members of the web community added their own images and information about the city through the interactive forums. The intertextual allusion imbued the city with a nostalgic history that transformed the abandoned industrial architecture into the lost city of a forgotten empire worthy of exploration, discussion, and debate. Such a nostalgic vision was constantly in flux as members of the web community challenged aspects of the virtual tour through discussion threads. The analysis demonstrates that the simultaneous use of intertextuality and interactivity within key aspects of a web community can create the potential for “diffused intertextual production,” which can build a brand of civic collaboration that re-imagines physical environments. In the case of Detroit and DetroitYES!, such diffused intertextual production allows for the generation of nostalgia and the shaping of architecture, which in turn influences a “participatory civic identity” for members of the online community, and their performances within Detroit.

**Gannon** · February-03-11, 10:09 AM

I'm late to this thread...someone asked me about it, might've been Django, which brought it to my attention.

I've got to be in San Diego this weekend, but would not mind discussing things another time.

Sorry to miss out on free Avalon goodies, hope you have space for those who show. Their 'dining' area isn't as private as the 1923 Cafe's back room...which is finally useful to me now that the smokers have to go outside! [[been toying with the idea of doing a weekly Open Mic there again, with another out at the coffeeshop on Lahser at GR...I really want to create a non-alcohol FSC scene and these two joints are the best.)

Cheers, and if we don't ever meet...good luck with this project AlexStana. Hit me up with a private message, and perhaps we can have some e-discussion. I'm way better through my fingertips anyways, it seems interviewing folk who gravitate and blossom through this non-verbal format [[at least non-face-verbal) is a bit counter-productive to me. My bet is you'll find the majority of those you meet to be within the spectrum of Asperger's Syndrome...and perhaps other 'diagnoses' which have high discomfort in face-to-face encounters as a symptom.

**Gannon** · February-03-11, 10:43 AM

Some of us spend time here because this format is exactly a type of filter...you can interact with others without the usual hiccups from visual assumptions and judgements [[although the ethereal allows for other forms of those, which we've greatly enjoyed AND suffered over the years!).

Even our old friend ItsJeff [[RIP) grew into his skin more between here and the other on-line forums he participated in, from what I gleaned from casual discussion. His mother said he became different...better, more comfortable with himself...due the overwhelming love and support he discovered here.

I know others who've been able to meet like-minded/hearted/spirited individuals on this forum and create some curiously positive projects they couldn't have done as well alone...with even more curious 'confirmations' from the Universe that they're participating in something larger than themselves [[Cub's Georgia Street project and the story of the great-grandfather of someone doing the SAME thing for the SAME reason one hundred years ago...on the SAME street...comes to mind.)

The interaction between this ethereal discussion space and tangible reality IS an interesting topic...

**Pam** · February-03-11, 10:43 AM

I've got to be in San Diego this weekend,

This is from last year. I think they are done now.

**Gannon** · February-03-11, 10:55 AM

Oh, thanks Pam. I always have a bit of trouble with space and time.

**Gannon** · February-03-11, 10:59 AM

Is there some OTHER project being done? I'm sure it was Django who talked something up with me recently...perhaps he didn't see the year either. [[Hell, the two of us together probably couldn't discover what planet we're on most times!)

**Kathleen** · February-03-11, 12:57 PM

This is still the same ongoing project. The profs were in town just a couple weeks ago interviewing a few DYes folks.

Not sure how close they are to wrapping up their research. If I find out, I'll let you know.

**Gannon** · February-03-11, 01:54 PM

Thanks Kathleen.

Hope you're feeling better...and don't go gauging that by how much WORK you can get done, either. LOL.

**DocTerry** · February-03-11, 02:29 PM

I participated in the previous interviews - are you looking for new participants, repeats, or both?

**fryar** · February-04-11, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by DocTerry

I participated in the previous interviews - are you looking for new participants, repeats, or both?

DocTerry, you've given me a good laugh. Those other posts are from last year. I just recently found their research, and posted a link to it on this otherwise old thread.

**Gannon** · February-04-11, 06:39 PM

Fryar,

I heard through some of the tangibles that this is still going on...there is STILL dialogue happening...perhaps a round two or something.

Kathleen confirmed it here.

I'm NOT talking with them unless I get free access to the resulting papers, though!

LOL

Cheers

**Kathleen** · February-04-11, 07:28 PM

Yes, just to reiterate, the research is still ongoing...over the last few months, I've been in touch with the profs and have pointed them to a few folks who have participated and provided additional insights, etc.

If I hear from the profs, I'll let you know if they are done or are still looking for a few more folks to interview.

Thanks, Gannon. I am feeling much better. Hope to be out and about tomorrow at some of the Saturday events around town!!

**Dirtyrat** · February-11-11, 02:14 PM

Hi Folks, Our research is indeed still alive and well! We'll be back up in Detroit in the coming weeks doing some interviews and other research. If anyone would like to do an interview with us, definitely send us an email at the addresses below. We'll meet you where ever you'd like.

Cheers! Josh and Clayton.

jatkins@bgsu.edu
419 372 3403
crosati@bgsu.edu

**p1acebo** · February-11-11, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Dirtyrat

Hi Folks, Our research is indeed still alive and well! We'll be back up in Detroit in the coming weeks doing some interviews and other research. If anyone would like to do an interview with us, definitely send us an email at the addresses below. We'll meet you where ever you'd like.

Cheers! Josh and Clayton.

jatkins@bgsu.edu
419 372 3403
crosati@bgsu.edu

What was it again? The research that is. I would be interested in meeting with you.