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With the EFM/consent agreement, crime and other negative news [[even positive things are getting ripped on "style" issues) dominating DYes and other media, what do you all think are the BEST things about Detroit? I love it when I drive down a random road and see community gardens, the DIY ethic that brought us several great places.
Detroit has some of the most beautiful architecture in the nation. The Guardian Building and Book Tower in particular are among my favorite buildings, and I would love to see them in person.
As much as I hate Detroit [[and Michigan) for all of its faults, the city and state does indeed have some bright spots [[and I would miss thsee things when I move elsewhere).
Coney Islands
Pizza [[Loui's, Pizzapapalis, Jet's, Papa Romano's)
Motown
History
10 Cent Bottle Deposits
Better Made Chips
Faygo Pop
Vernors
Natural Beauty
Abundance of Fresh Water
Those that are fighting in the trenches against all odds to make their city a little bit better .
The amount of vacant land in the city, lol , if you build it they will come, and maybe even burn it down,
Beautiful old churches in the city, some of them are works of art,
The big 3
The pride in telling other your from Detroit,
The border between Detroit and the points, like flipping the switch on and off,
Tigers beating the Yankee and then me texting my cuz in ny and texting smack
People lament the loss of the old neighborhood.
Indeed, many old neighborhoods are literally gone. However I live in one that is still very much going.
I know many people say Detroit is suburban in layout, but Detroit is very much more like the old neighborhood than the post-war suburb. Where I live neighbors actually talk to each other and look out for each other because frankly we have to - so we are friends and we get together and have drinks with each other too. There are no attached garages to avoid the outside world and everyone has a big front porch. There are no McMansions, only '20's tudors and pre-war bungalows. The focal point of the living room is the fireplace, not the plasma tv. There is no Ruby Tuesdays, only the corner bar. Which people walk to. And when you're a city Catholic like me, you go to your neighborhood church that doesn't look like a handball court. You know, one that actually looks like a church.
Detroit is also where all the eccentrics go to escape ridicule. Anything goes here. It's strange not to be strange. In Detroit you will meet the strangest, most colorful, interesting people. Where elsewhere neighbors would gossip and sneer, no one bats an eye here.
While so much of Detroit is lost, little pockets of Detroit like mine are an anachronism like that in many ways and I love it. In part because it is so old to begin with and full of such eccentric folk, and in part because corporations have left the neighborhoods untouched. It's like living in the 1940's - except my street is full of both black and white folk.
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Originally Posted by poobert
That sounds very nice. Where do you live, if I may ask, poobert?
Sure. I live in East English Village.Quote:
Originally Posted by gameguy56
To keep it balanced, it's far from perfect. Foreclosures and people walking away have been a problem, and then the house becomes vunerable to scrappers. Of course the vacancy and market in general has caused the housing prices to drop dramatically too. And yes, higher crime than in the 'burbs, but still remarkably docile - unlike the typical Detroit cliche, there are tons of kids and families playing outside when its warm. All in all the unique features above make it a very pleasant, and certainly unique place to live. Though this is the exception for Detroit, not the rule, the better neighborhoods throughout the city still provide this old neighborhood feel and I love that.
The river
Proximity to Canada
Belle Isle
DIA, Great Lakes Museum, main branch Library
Some decent colleges and universities
Nearly unlimited clean water [[this is becoming more and more important)
Cheap land and housing
Hardly any natural disasters or catastrophes
Some very nice architecture
Good sports teams [[well at least one is usually decent any any given time :)
Some pockets of promising entrepreneurship
Riverwalk and Dequindre cut
Some really good restaurants and bars
Eastern market
Since everyone already named all of the good stuff, I'll just add a few more:
Motown Records
Techno
and the Jazz Festival.
Outstanding food at every price point
Outstanding Michigan beers to compliment any food
Vibrant communities next door to surreality
Eccentric folks doing their thing
Summer sun, Belle Isle, Festivals, and laid back bike rides all over the city
Musicians who care a lot
Artists who care a lot
Being able to listen to CBC radio.
And don't forget CJAM 99.1 from Windsor- way better than anything on the American sideQuote:
Originally Posted by ordinary
I almost forgot about that one.
Also, the new state park downtown. That area is great.
For SW Detroit, I love the diversity and activist/community spirit. There are so many groups trying to improve things on their own rather than waiting on the city. Also, taco trucks are a huge plus and it is very cool to see the kids playing soccer in the street during the summertime. Additionally, MI Ave. and W. Vernor are both long stretches where the business community is still relatively strong.
For midtown, Wayne State University has to be one of the best things about Detroit. I can't imagine what that area would be like if it wasn't there! I haven't been yet, but I hear the river walk downtown is quite nice.
I love the wonderful memories of growing up in Detroit. My schools, elementary, jr. high and high school were all within walking distance. The Charlevoix bus would take us downtown to Hudson's or Kresges. The wooden floor at Littman's on Jefferson and Lillibridge. Riding my bike to Belle Isle, fishing on the canal with my Dad using a bamboo pole. The Tambor submarine behind Brodhead Armory on Jefferson. The Booth theatre, the Chinese Teapot restaurant on Jefferson between Lemay and Fairview. Archway Bowling Alley. Playing kick the can in the alleys behind our house. The tunnel of trees in the summer and the snow tunnels in the winter. The smell of burning leaves and so much more....wow, I'm feeling very mellow right now.
Poobear, EEV is a great community! Grew up there when it was DEAR, now renamed. Went back to care for Mom for her last seven years of life. It was still great. Live now in a different east side "Village" of Detroit.
The great thing about viable Detroit communities is our neighbors. I can't extoll them enough.
Sorry got the name wrong .... poobert!
Oh what the heck, I have been insulted on this forum many times for being an unabashed Detroit supporter. What's one more time?
Great neighbors, great housing stock and actually most city workers try hard to perform in a bad scenerio. Not terribly worried about city managers, city bankruptsy Etal. Will work around what ever gets thrown at us.
The only thing that worries me is lack of schooling and resources for our kids. Programs exist but not sure kids can find them on their own. My neighborhood works hard to identify kids at risk. Some make it, some don't. Poverty, ignorance and parental lack of guidance do take a toll.
Just do not assume that a vast majority of Detroiters do not care. We do!
Being able to buy weed @ any gas station. LOL
Or liquor storeQuote:
Originally Posted by 313hero
Memories of the Bob-lo boat.
The possibilities.
The People.
Being in an environment in which the landscape isn't fake and meticulous everywhere. Having nature and mortor in the same space. Where you see things that actually inspire creativity and emotion and movement.
Walking past a stranger, them actually saying hello to you.
The fact that this city in it's entirety has yet to become a police state, even if we need more good cops.
And what poobert said. A city for those of us who don't fit in, in other places...:)
Freedom. And a city worth fighting for.
Crickets and cicadas lingering with electrical wires.
The old homes and the stories they hold.
The rouge plant, endlessly industrious.
The people. The passion. The perseverance.
The art.
The history of radical ideas and radical politics.
Parallel universes mingling together.
Lafayette Coney Island
Motown
The beautiful buildings [[Fisher, Guardian, Penobscot, Book Tower)
First off, ^^^^ all of the above^^^!
For me personally the great, semi-subterranean art scene has been the best thing. This is a place that forces one to think and to react. As a result, it is a great source of inspiration, expression and creativity.
The cards have been tossed in the air and we are remaking a city and a metropolis, unlike places like Chicago, Toronto or New York that are 'made' and routinized.
This can alternately be frightening, exciting and depressing but it is never dull. Detroit's not the place for everybody but for an artist it is a great place to be.
Level terrain, relatively continuous street grid, light auto traffic and mostly asphalt pavements instead of concrete = cyclist's paradise!
Do you cycle at night as well? Commute?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rolfsy
Sounds like my Neighborhood in northwest Detroit Bagley area !Quote:
Originally Posted by poobert
Nortwest? Are there two Bagley's?Quote:
Originally Posted by Detroitdave
Quote:
Originally Posted by gameguy56
I commute burb to burb, north of city proper. Generally ride recreationally during daylight, but sometimes head into the city before sunup.
Belle isle, Let's help preserve it, I just don't get people bitch about a 10 fee for a yearly pass to the park even 15 isn't bad,
Agreed, and let's put a couple cops on it to weed out the druggies [[no pun intended, lol). Actually if they're just smoking weed I don't care but the other weirdos need to be kicked off the island!Quote:
Originally Posted by GUSHI
The never ending supply of spent brass on the streets.:pQuote:
Originally Posted by 313hero
I'll answer as a true outsider - someone not from Detroit [[or even Michigan) who has never lived there. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas and have been living in Wicker Park in Chicago the past few years. My husband, a native Detroiter dying to get back, has convinced me to move to Detroit [[which we will, next month!)
Here's some of the things that have made me fall in love with the city since he first took me there three years ago:
-Eastern Market. I adore this place. And I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.
-Detroit has all four major sports AND the fans actually support them. I've never seen opening day like Detroit does it.
-Some of the best museums in the country. I could spend all day at the DIA and Henry Ford. What true national gems that, until I met my husband, I didn't even know were there.
-stunning architecture downtown. I also like that you have parks downtown [[Campus Martius and Grand Circus). That's one thing I have found lacking in Chicago's and Houston's downtowns.
-some great stock of really beautiful old homes. We looked around Indian Village, Boston Edison, West Canfield...those homes are stunning
-a vibrant music scene. My brother is a musician is as excited as I am that we're moving to Detroit.
-Buddy's Pizza! Detroit square>>>Chicago deep dish
-I like the entrepreneurial and collaboratiev spirit I see down in Midtown and Corktown. I see the community getting together and cleaning up the streets, mowing overgrown fields, just taking care of their own community instead of waiting for someone else to come along and do it. Not every Detroiter cares about Detroit, but what I've seen the community band together to do has really impressed me.
-I love the freedom that Detroit's current situation allows for. Spontaneous softball games and dog parks at old Tiger Stadium. Planting a garden on that uninhabited lot. Coming from hyper-regulated Chicago, I especially look forward to that.
-I like that I can afford to buy a house in the city. My husband and I are both young professionals [[29 and 30 years old) and we'd never be able to buy in Chicago. Now we're looking at a possible single-family house.
My favorite city in the US is New Orleans. I've spent more time there than any city [[other than Houston and Chicago) and I was married there. My brother is at LSU right now and he's in NOLA as much as he's in Baton Rouge. We were talking on the phone yesterday [[he's planning to come stay with us a couple weeks this summer in Detroit) and he remarked how similar the vibe in Detroit is to the vibe in NOLA -both have their problems but both also have unique culture and a gritty determinism. I will miss Chicago but I'm really looking forward to heading out y'alls way!
Well, we all would love to have you! Welcome to Detroit and welcome to the Forum!
Stromberg2
At this particular moment in the city's history, I love that it's kind of turned back into a frontier town, which at least allows the possibility to fix mistakes that were made during the early 20th century, which are many. What I really want to see, though, is people of means and goodwill [[whether from within or without) to find a neighborhood school, park, and/or business district, and just all-out build a village around the node instead of all this disconnected, if still even noble, infill.
Welcome TexasT, Detroit might not be everyone's dream but I love it. In a strange way each area is like a small town. I love when we have out of town guests that seem shocked that when we go out the door, neighbors yell out saying Hi, or run out to hug us. We are all family here.
While not an artist, I do see the raw beauty of our city.
best music scene ever. the best jazz festival and the home of techno, Motown and punk [[punk is debatable)
I like the suggestions Detroit makes.
They suggest you have a drivers license if you drive.
They suggest you dont buy pot at gas stations, or sell it.
They suggest you drive the speed limit and stop at lights/stop signs.
Oh so many suggestions, I could go on and on.
I prefer suggestions. Lets face it, a lot of folks live here because of the lawlessness. I know many who dont cross Eight Mile unless they have to.
Jus stirrin the pot.
I have too many favorite things about Detroit to decide on what I like "best" but I'll say this: When I am sitting on the Riverwalk on a sunny day, drinking a Faygo Orange, munching on a Roast Beef sandwich from Lou's Deli, enjoying the views of the beautiful Detroit River while relaxing in the shadow of the HQ of one of the greatest companies in history, all while being surrounded by people of all races AND watching a bunch of good looking women stroll by, that's just about a perfect moment right there.
There should be no debate about punk. Long live Iggy!Quote:
Originally Posted by louis