The trouble is that 8 Mile is the rule for commercial districts in Metro Detroit, not the exception. The exception is just that it is a lot seedier than most, but essentially equally uninteresting.

I took Van Dyke from Detroit up to 30 mile-or-so for a wedding 5 years ago. It was like the background of a Scooby Do cartoon repeating itself over and over. I thought, "How could there be a God that would allow this to happen?" It's all so bland and crappy. Then it makes people think someplace like is Ferndale is cool, just because it isn't that.