Any insight??

To Anyone Interested,

So I hope this doesn't strike you as strange, or at least not too much, but I have been strongly considering moving to Detroit. My ex is from there and when I went to visit him once, I fell in love with the city. It was the most bizarre place I had ever been in my life. Everything was so old and crumbling. I grew up in New York City, Brooklyn specifically, and I had never seen so much abandoned stuff in my life, not to mention anything that I could feel the history of. Sure, museums and whatnot, but no structures or life that felt old. Everything is constantly being renovated and updated. Actually, I think I've only been inside a big abandoned structure once or twice. It's pretty mindblowing.

I am an aspiring photographer, went to photo school and all that, and while my work is mostly commercial feeling, I decided that I want to do a photo story there. For some reason, that city speaks to me and I'm at a place in my life where I need to go with my gut. Maybe make it into a book or something - I'm not really sure yet where or how the final images will be displayed - but I do know that I want to go and explore. Through all the research I've been doing as of late, I've found only bad stories about the city falling apart and photos of dilapidated building after building, house after house. There have been a few sparse articles here and there that showcase Detroit in a good light. When I was there, my experiences were always good and pleasant, despite the post-apocolyptic feel. I went back recently at the beginning of the month to assist on a photo shoot with Eminem. Unfortunately, we were incredibly busy and had no time to explore the city, but it was a great time. I'm kind of tired of everyone bad-mouthing it and I kind of want to live there to see if it is just as terrible as everyone makes it sound. I feel like it's pretty bad, but if people actually give enough of a damn, they can make it better. If drug dealers can buy up whole blocks, why can't artists?

Anyway, I guess what I'm looking for from you is insight. If you can give me any information that I may have otherwise not been able to find, it'd be a huge help. I'm really interested in that city, in the people there, the culture, and trying to represent it in a positive light. I'm not there to shoot the abandoned scenery that everyone flocks to photograph. I want to show the people there, the vibrancy that I know exists in little pockets around the city, and the fact that there IS life - not everyone just curled up and died. I found a documentary called "Requiem for Detroit?" that I plan on watching soon; maybe it'll give me some perspective.

Hopefully I'll hear from you. In any case, I wanted to sincerely say thank you for giving me some inspiration through your article. I'm going to start a blog dedicated to Detroit and my experiences there. I'm visiting again from May 21-30th and am deeply excited about spending an extended period of time there. If you can point me in any directions in specific, it'd be greatly appreciated.

Thanks you again and I hope to hear from you soon,
Maegan

Meaghan,

Did you grow up in the Heights?

Maegan, I also grew up in New York City, though in Staten Island, which obviously has a much different feel than Brooklyn. I also became captivated by Detroit after visiting the first time. Hope you have a nice time when you visit. You should be able to see and experience much of the city in that time. I would recommend you also stop by the DetroitYes! picnic on the 29th and make some new friends.

Maegan, thanks for the thoughtful and interesting first post. Welcome.

There are a couple of articles in today's Detroit News that might interest you and provide you with some networking opportunities for your visit. First is an article about Phillip Cooley, one of the proprietors of Slow's BBQ who has also pursued a variety of community building interests in Detroit. Give him a call. http://www.detnews.com/article/20100...ebuild-Detroit

Next is an article about Avalon Breads. The owners, Jackie Victor and Ann Perreault, have built a thriving retail and wholesale bakery/breadmaking business in a unlikely location. They have also incorporated social justice and community building causes into their business model. Currently, they are pursuing expansion through a partnership with a very successful group of guys who own restaurant and entertainment locations in Ann Arbor, Royal Oak and Traverse City. Give them a call too. http://www.detnews.com/article/20100...--microbrewery

Interested in an inside look at the arts community? Give Ric Geyer a call. He owns the arts incubator known as 4731 Gallery and Studios. http://4731.com/ He can certainly introduce you to several photographers working in the city as well as to some gallery owners.

Want to see some places to live? Call Phillip Cooley's brother, Ryan Cooley at O'Connor Realty. http://www.oconnordetroit.com/ He can hook you up to the best/cheapest places to rent or buy.

Do your interests in the city extend to learning about examples of successful schools or other programs for kids in the city? Here's a couple of ideas. First, take a visit to the Detroit Waldorf School. http://www.detroitwaldorf.org/ It's a cool place and there's likely to be a school play or concert going on during your visit. Also, you might want to visit Youthville Detroit. http://www.youthvilledetroit.org/ This place on Woodward Ave. in the New Center area is very well run and provides an example of how to successfully engage kids who mostly come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Visits to either of these institutions might give you some photography opportunities.

Hope these ideas help you.

In my opinion this is a great place to live. The cost of real estate makes home ownership feasible, very high quality homes at that. it also makes rents much more affordable that most big cities.

Detroit has a great deal of entertainment offerings: theaters [[live), music venues, a good art institute, a good deal of beautiful architecture, a great live music scene, a good arts scene, casinos, sports arenas, many old historic churches to visit, good affordable restaurants and a waterfront that keeps improving.

People here are personable and helfpul. And you will probably find they like to party if that appeals to you, particularly in our brief :) warm season. There are many events like festivals, concerts and ethnic events to keep you busy just about every weekend. the Midtown [[Cass Corridor) area is a very artsy/bohemian neighborhood for creative types.

If you can live with the considerable amount of deterioration and blight, you are going to find a great deal of wonderful places and things.

As much as I love living here, please use your NYC city smarts, they will be essential here in the city in particular. As far as I'm concerned crime is worse here than most big cities and the best prevention is avoidance.

And the suburbs are also wonderful, a good number of us in DetroitYes live in the suburbs. However, I think most of us find the city more interesting.

If you move here, welcome to Detroit!

http://gothamist.com/2010/05/03/patt...ing_anothe.php

Okay, I am now in love with you, rjlj. Patti Smith was one of my favorites back then. I saw her once at the Detroit Film Theater.

Yes, yet another super cool thing about Detroit, the Detroit Film Theater at the DIA!!

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If drug dealers can buy up whole blocks, why can't artists?

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:mad: In a sane world, artists would have the money drug dealers have. :[[

I hope you enjoy your visit in late May. I agree you should check out the DY picnic on Belle Isle.

If you want to experience a feeling of nostalgia for the city that was, come sit on my porch for a few hours. I recently inherited a home in Islandview Village [[near Belle Isle). It is 101 years old. The 3 story home is a little shabby on the outside but inside is a perfectly maintained home. We inherited this home because the owner, a dear dear friend, knew we would do everything in our power to maintain it and love it.

The neighborhood on our block is 1/3 urban prairie, 1/3 established well maintained homes and 1/3 young couples rehabbing homes. You would certainly get a feeling for what was, what can be and that ghostly feeling of desolation and loss of past glory.

I always time out since I take too long to organize my thoughts so I will do a second post.

Sitting on our porch gives me a sence of place and belonging. It is roofed so it feels like an outdoor room. It takes me back to a past time where everyone sat outfront and knew their neighbors and chatted with neighbors passing by. That is still the case. Of course some passer bys are drug dealers, homeless people and their like. Believe it or not verbal exchanges are all friendly.

Odd story, yesterday, my husband was outfront doing some work. A lady walked by and had an empty GQ of beer in a bag. She asked my husband if he would "recycle" it and moved on.

Once when we were visiting our now deceased friend, my vehicle was parked across the street and my window was open. I looked out the window of the house and saw a bum in a wheel chair who had no legs hanging through the window of my car to see what he could steal. I didn't freak because the only thing in his reach was a daily newspaper. He stole it. Talk about pathos.

There is a T shirt that has been been around for years which states, "Detroit, where the weak get eaten". A lot of truth to that. None the less, I love this city. So much heart, so much generocity, so much grit and so much poverty.

There really is a stark beauty to the city as it now is. Should you move here, I hope you have the ability to capture on camera the reality of Detroit. Call it beauty and the beast!

I can't see a day when Detroit loses it's sense of place the way New York and others have.

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Originally Posted by Michigan

Meaghan,

Did you grow up in the Heights?

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No... I'm not sure what heights you're specifically speaking of...?

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Originally Posted by cman710

Maegan, I also grew up in New York City, though in Staten Island, which obviously has a much different feel than Brooklyn. I also became captivated by Detroit after visiting the first time. Hope you have a nice time when you visit. You should be able to see and experience much of the city in that time. I would recommend you also stop by the DetroitYes! picnic on the 29th and make some new friends.

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I will definitely be there!! Thank you so much. Do you happen to have a personal email address? Or a real name? Hahaha... I'll be attending with a friend I'm going to be staying with for the week. It'd be great to meet in person. My mom moved to Staten Island actually - rent was getting too expensive in Brooklyn.

Swingline - thank you so much for all your articles!! I'm going to hopefully visit a bunch of these places and meet these people when I visit at the end of the month. I'm extremely excited to explore. I think I'm going to hit up your real estate friend for sure, they seem like the best people to ask about neighborhoods and whatnot. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help. Will you be at the picnic March 29th? I'd love to meet.

Kryptonite - would you be able to give me any insight as to the crime part, in particular? Honestly, growing up in NYC, I have very seldom, if ever, felt unsafe walking around. When I visited my ex, he made me feel extremely scared in pretty much every part of Detroit. I have an iPhone [[as many of us New Yorkers do) and he told me that I'm the only person he knows with a smartphone and I should probably stay off it as much as possible. I guess I wasn't there for very long and I don't really know where the city is vs. where the suburbs are vs. where boundaries are of anything, so if you could inform me, it'd be helpful. I've done a little bit of reading but ultimately don't know what is where in the city. I do appreciate your encouraging and helpful post, so thank you. I really need to make a list of places to go when I get there.

And RJLJ, I couldn't agree more with her sentiment.

Sumas, I would love to take you up on your offer - thank you. I really desire to meet locals and capture something that no one else has cared to. I hope I can meet you and say thank you in person for your post. I hope I can survive out there; I think New York City now possesses a softness that it didn't decades ago. Granted, I wasn't around then when it was as bad as all the stories I've heard in the 70s, but I have a true desire to explore the city of Detroit. I love New York, it will always be my home, and I will always come back to it regardless of where I move. I can't stay away from it for too long. But please let me know if there is any way I can take you up on your offer.


Sorry for my distracted and all-over-the-place reply. I'm a little distracted right now.

M, the DY picnic is May 30 on Belle Isle. If you are not leaving until the 31st why not come for brunch with your friend and then depart for the picnic since the Belle Isle bridge is maybe 7 blocks away. We went last year and it was great fun and good food.

Islandview is a historic district. The Moses Field house is one of the oldest in the city. Check the web for history on it. It is a few blocks up the street and a DY member restored it. Check the DY archives since Erik C did a very nice virtual tour of the area.

My email is sueview2@sbcglobal.net.

Mgindi-

Welcome to the City, most folks are friendly, even the crooks.

Before anyone reccomends a section of the City, you should really tell us how much you want to spend ... at $2,000 a month you could have a massive home with your own canal and dock, but maybe boating isn't your thing. Maybe you hate mowing grass, or love Meis vanDer Rohe, or are like a gaga ZaZa and only a penthouse will do.

Maybe loft living in a burned industrial area fires you up, or you fancy yourself Mrs. Cleaver in pearls and a push-up. Maybe living on a golf course gets you swinging, or you crave urban homesteading, maybe you'd dig being a part of mini farm, or irish neighborhoods sets your Jamesons alight.

I respect your creative flare, and vim for Detroit; but before you select anywhere you should sketch for us your dream digs.