This is exactly what I'm talking about. Cavalier dismissal - denial, rather - that there is simply anything wrong with Metro Detroit besides, well, Detroit itself of course.
The dismissal, based on a personal anecdote [[look at how they come out of the woordwork), flies in the face of the seemingly obvious trends that have gone on here for years.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...ETRO/904020403
Just because your kid lives in Metro Detroit doesn't mean we've bucked a demographic trend.
Cities have been around since time immemorial. The great cities of the world - New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Brussells, Berlin - have ALWAYS been "walkable." Walkability is not a "fad." It is how most of the world - and every human being before the 20th centry - gets places. Walking is good for your health and good for the environment. It save money on gas, which does not appear to be getting any cheaper. I think any reasonable person would recognize that.
On the other hand, this idea of driving everywhere that you so espouse has only been widespread for the past 60 years or so, in our giant suburb of a region, which is altogether looking pretty anemic right now. Yet, bafflingly, you suggest that walking to get somewhere is
merely a trend, akin, to say, disco.
Not only do I not want to live in a region that finds Warren and Rochester to be the pinnacle of civilization, why would I want to live with people who feel that way? I want to live with like-minded people who like to walk places, value transit for so many obvious regions, and think cities and the environment are important. It's clear we're not going to agree on those things and that any attempt to change things in the deep void that is Michigan is fruitless. It is made up of Shollins and Hemrods, who elect Shollins and Hemrods. Geriatric and dismissive.
I'm leaving before I become old and complacent enough to think that a big screen TV in my Warren ranch house are what this world has to offer.