If you were 22-26 yo, would you move to Detroit RIGHT NOW? Why?

[michimoby]

It's a fact that to people across the nation, Detroit is a professional death sentence...Conning 20-somethings that had nothing to do with ruining this town, to live in this warzone and help "bring it back" is the biggest scam going.

I disagree with your first sentence. The conversations I've had with New Yorkers about my time living in Detroit has been extremely vibrant and engaging, especially in professional settings. If anything, I'd say that my short-term experiment living in Detroit has provoked an incredible amount of discussion around the city's future. The novelty of moving to a distressed city provides a heap of positive returns for someone that moves away to other cities seeking employment.

[[Note: I realize that my above comments probably evokes a visceral reaction within a lot of lifelong Detroiters, but I think it's important to understand how those that are emotionally and financially detached from Detroit perceive those that are fully attached -- or used to be.)

Your latter statement, 48009...that requires a whole lot more digging. If anything, I'd love to see the Gilbert/Venture for America/Challenge Detroit crew get together and figure out what exactly they're trying to accomplish through their heightened sense of attention toward young professionals. If they're under the unified impression that they're out to rescue the city from itself and its past transgressions...then, yeah, a recalibration is in order.

[48009]

I disagree with your first sentence. The conversations I've had with New Yorkers about my time living in Detroit has been extremely vibrant and engaging, especially in professional settings. If anything, I'd say that my short-term experiment living in Detroit has provoked an incredible amount of discussion around the city's future. The novelty of moving to a distressed city provides a heap of positive returns for someone that moves away to other cities seeking employment.

[[Note: I realize that my above comments probably evokes a visceral reaction within a lot of lifelong Detroiters, but I think it's important to understand how those that are emotionally and financially detached from Detroit perceive those that are fully attached -- or used to be.)

Your latter statement, 48009...that requires a whole lot more digging. If anything, I'd love to see the Gilbert/Venture for America/Challenge Detroit crew get together and figure out what exactly they're trying to accomplish through their heightened sense of attention toward young professionals. If they're under the unified impression that they're out to rescue the city from itself and its past transgressions...then, yeah, a recalibration is in order.

Fascination is one thing, getting people to move here is another story.

Living in Detroit when you have other options on the menu is a sacrifice. Again, that's not an opinion, that's a fact. I simply struggle with why someone that has alternatives would even bother.

[dtowncitylover]

I simply struggle with why someone that has alternatives would even bother.

Because sometimes people prefer the challenge than the easy way out.

[48009]

Because sometimes people prefer the challenge than the easy way out.

Interesting. Define challenge in this context, please.

[dtowncitylover]

Interesting. Define challenge in this context, please.

They want to rebuild and redefine a city. You can't do that in NYC or Chicago or LA. And that takes a lot of work, considering the condition the city is in.

[bailey]

They want to rebuild and redefine a city. You can't do that in NYC or Chicago or LA. And that takes a lot of work, considering the condition the city is in.

Which is true, but you have to admit, as a population, that is a vanishingly small one. I mean, look, when they show up in countable numbers, its a friggen long form story in the NYTimes.

Meanwhile, more than half the people moving to Chicago are from here because they don't want to wait, and they want options OTHER than being an activist/urban pioneer/city redefiner.

[48009]

Which is true, but you have to admit, as a population, that is a vanishingly small one. I mean, look, when they show up in countable numbers, its a friggen long form story in the NYTimes.

Meanwhile, more than half the people moving to Chicago are from here because they don't want to wait, and they want options OTHER than being an activist/urban pioneer/city redefiner.

You have one life on Earth. College graduates willingly spending the most exciting time of their life in what is currently literally the worst major city in the country is hard for me to comprehend.

[48009]

They want to rebuild and redefine a city. You can't do that in NYC or Chicago or LA. And that takes a lot of work, considering the condition the city is in.

Most of the 20-something college educated people I know couldn't give a **** about rebuilding a city. They want to work, make money, have fun and be around like minded people NOW. Rebuilding a city is a nobel thing, I guess, but a very small fraction of 20-somethings care about wasting their life away on such an effort.

[bailey]

Most of the 20-something college educated people I know couldn't give a **** about rebuilding a city. They want to work, make money, have fun and be around like minded people NOW. Rebuilding a city is a nobel thing, I guess, but a very small fraction of 20-somethings care about wasting their life away on such an effort.

To them it's not "wasting" their lives. They want to be here, they want to affect change. Detroit needs 10k more of them.

I really don't get the hostility.

You have one life on Earth. College graduates willingly spending the most exciting time of their life in what is currently literally the worst major city in the country is hard for me to comprehend.

which raises the question; why the hell are you spending your 20s in Birmingham? Talk about wasting your 20s.

[dtowncitylover]

Most of the 20-something college educated people I know couldn't give a **** about rebuilding a city. They want to work, make money, have fun and be around like minded people NOW. Rebuilding a city is a nobel thing, I guess, but a very small fraction of 20-somethings care about wasting their life away on such an effort.

"Having fun" is subjective. If someone likes to work in a drab office all week then get wasted on $20 shots on the weekend in Lincoln Park, that's their preference. But some young adults, like the ones moving to Detroit, want to work, live, and play in a city that needs them and where they feel appreciated with creating a new and revived environment. They have fun just like the rest of the young adults across the nation.

Like, bro, do you even go to the city? Have you even met people doing what you are complaining about? Ask them what they are doing and why they are doing it? Probably not, because you "asked" the question here so you can stand your Chicago/Bham pedestal and tell us all how awful and stupid those people are.

[motz]

Living in Detroit when you have other options on the menu is a sacrifice. Again, that's not an opinion, that's a fact. I simply struggle with why someone that has alternatives would even bother.

My roommate and I recently interviewed 10+ people to move in to our extra room at our place in Woodbridge. Out of those roughly 10 people, only 2 were from the Metro Detroit area. Saying no one wants to move here from out of state, saying it is a death sentence, etc is just flat out wrong. It might be a death sentence for an old fart from Birmingham such as yourself, but not for someone in their 20s-30s.

You seriously need to stop posting about your unabashed hate for Detroit. It is a tired old schtick that we have all heard for years and years and years, especially those of us who moved from the suburbs to Detroit. Its old, you're old, Birmingham is old, get over it. Things are changing.

[bailey]

My roommate and I recently interviewed 10+ people to move in to our extra room at our place in Woodbridge. Out of those roughly 10 people, only 2 were from the Metro Detroit area. Saying no one wants to move here from out of state, saying it is a death sentence, etc is just flat out wrong. It might be a death sentence for an old fart from Birmingham such as yourself, but not for someone in their 20s-30s.

...but I thought the perk of living in Detroit was not needing roomates? j/k

Yes, he's being overly general and all that "death sentence" stuff is pure bullshit.

The issue is given the Chicago/"real city" vs Detroit ..MOST, not all, but a huge amount of the state's next generation are leaving. 56% of new Cook County residents are from Michigan... and most of them are products of the Michgan's taxpayer's largess through public universities. http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward...210079901.html

Illinois is reaping the advantages of a world-class education system without paying for it. The University of Michigan, a legacy of the state’s days as an industrial powerhouse, is ranked 29th on U.S. News and World Report’s list of national universities. The University of Illinois is 46th. Because Chicago is a more attractive labor market than Detroit, Illinois is poaching a higher caliber of college graduate than it produces on its own. [[The University of Chicago is ranked 4th and Northwestern is ranked 12th, but both are private universities.)
The free ride won’t last forever, though. As Michigan becomes poorer and less educated, it won’t be able to attract the same quality of professors or maintain its universities’ educational standards. Someday, a degree from Illinois will mean more than a degree from Michigan. Michiganders will still be moving to Chicago -- but they may not be getting the jobs that pay for condos in expensive neighborhoods.

The issue is how do we keep the college grads here. I say it has to do with massive investment in infrastructure to make Detroit the core city it's supposed to be. However, we're getting parking shuttle trolley and a soon to be had fire sale at the DIA. So.... I doubt it.

[48009]

My roommate and I recently interviewed 10+ people to move in to our extra room at our place in Woodbridge. Out of those roughly 10 people, only 2 were from the Metro Detroit area. Saying no one wants to move here from out of state, saying it is a death sentence, etc is just flat out wrong. It might be a death sentence for an old fart from Birmingham such as yourself, but not for someone in their 20s-30s.

You seriously need to stop posting about your unabashed hate for Detroit. It is a tired old schtick that we have all heard for years and years and years, especially those of us who moved from the suburbs to Detroit. Its old, you're old, Birmingham is old, get over it. Things are changing.

I'm a "20-something" graduate student from Chicago living in Birmingham but O.K., slugger.

[dtowncitylover]

I'm a "20-something" graduate student from Chicago living in Birmingham but O.K., slugger.

THIS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING. 1) You're from Chicago[[land) which already means you have a chip on your shoulder and think you are God's gift to the Midwest. And 2) You live in Birmingham, which means you're probably from the north shore or Elmhurst or Palatine because if you were from the city you could probably handle living in Detroit or at least see that Detroit has great potential and not have this attitude you have.

[48009]

THIS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING. 1) You're from Chicago which already means you have a chip on your shoulder and think you are God's gift to the Midwest. And 2) You live in Birmingham, which means you're probably from the north shore or Elmhurst or Palatine because if you were from the city you could probably handle living in Detroit or at least see that Detroit has great potential and not have this attitude you have.

Yea, that's it. Just not tough enough for your burnt out, rotten [[sorry, "ruin porn"), illiterate, crime infested city. You sound ridiculous.

[dtowncitylover]

...and yet you don't deny.

You Chicago people just love to rip on Detroit. And that's exactly what you've done. Suppress your inferiority complex from NYC and LA by having a superiority complex on Detroit, Milwaukee, Indy, etc.

[noise]

I'm a "20-something" graduate student from Chicago living in Birmingham but O.K., slugger.

Which graduate school accepts an illiterate with no ability to craft a clear, accurate argument?

[mwilbert]

Fascination is one thing, getting people to move here is another story.

Living in Detroit when you have other options on the menu is a sacrifice. Again, that's not an opinion, that's a fact.

Actually, that is an opinion, not a fact.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by 48009
Fascination is one thing, getting people to move here is another story.

Living in Detroit when you have other options on the menu is a sacrifice. Again, that's not an opinion, that's a fact.

Actually, that is an opinion, not a fact.

Actually, it's a pretty close to fact....

Despite the increase in job openings in Michigan, many employers continue to experience difficulty in trying to persuade workers to accept positions there because of the state’s reputation for having a challenging labor market environment.

http://michiganeconomy.chicagofedblogs.org/?p=377

[48009]

Actually, it's a pretty close to fact....

http://michiganeconomy.chicagofedblogs.org/?p=377

How dare you post facts on here that confirm what anyone with a brain or a few thousand frequent flier miles already knows?