Originally Posted by
TexasT
The neighborhoods aren't "urban" of course, but Detroit certainly is. It's about proximity to things a real city offers. Culture, sports, entertainment, dining, diversity of people and cultures, events, etc. Sorry, you don't get those in St. Clair Shores to the extent you do living near downtown Detroit, where I can catch an off-Broadway show at the Fisher or Fox, go to a pro football, baseball or hockey game, see Van Gogh's "Bedroom in Arles" at the DIA on loan from the Louvre, catch a wide variety of local music acts, buy some kiszka from Srodeck's Polish deli in Hamtramck or fresh tortillas from Los Galanes in Mexicantown or fried saganaki in Greektown, or buy my vegetables fresh from the farmer in the largest farmers market in the country at Eastern Market and my meats fresh from the butcher in Gratiot Central Market, attend the Hoedown, Jazzfest, EMF, and Blues Fest, or run into the wide variety of people I've met from all over the country with such differences in opinions and mindsets [[which is extremely hard to find in the suburbs) - I can do all of that within 5 minutes of my house [[maybe 10 min to get to Hamtramk) and a $5-10 cab ride back home after I've had a few drinks at Rodin or Roast or Motor City Wine or Sugar Shack or wherever I go for the night.
Yes, you can drive from the suburbs down to do these things but you don't do them as often when it's such a pain and I like to be out 3-5 nights a week doing these things. That's just what my life is like. If these things are valuable to you - and I get that they aren't to some people - then living in the city, specifically near downtown, is a must. I couldn't replicate my Chicago-lifestyle [[that I loved) in Birmingham; I can in Detroit. Detroit isn't Chicago or NYC or San Fran, no, but after living in Chicago for years, I'm pretty damn satisfied here. It's not the most urban, but it still has a lot of remnants left from its heyday when it was one of the top cities in the country that are still going strong today. If you enjoy your life in Oakland and Philly, you'll be just fine with the level of urban that Detroit supplies. If you've lived in a major city, you get it.
My firm has an office in Birmingham that I sometimes work out of. My in-laws lived in Plymouth and are now in Northville. I have spent a decent amount of time in these areas - they are nice yes, but I'd be miserable if I lived there. Just depends on what you like.