Anyone out downtown tonight?

**BrushStart** · May-13-11, 11:01 PM

Wow. Well, I went to Midtown for dinner and drinks, and when I left downtown at 5pm, it was starting to get busy, but when I got back at 9:30-ish, downtown was ABSOLUTELY NUTS! I have never seen this many people downtown in all the time I've lived here, EVER. There were easily 250k people out and about down here. The streets were complete parking lots, no traffic flow whatsoever. My parking garage was JAMMED PAKED- nobody able to get in or out. Mobs of pedestrians were swarming the sidewalks from the Hoedown to the Tigers game to the show at the Fox and Filmore theaters to the Friday night bar crowd. I have been listening to the sound of sirens for the past 2 hours with the cops and EMS trying to clean up the mess. Part of me loves the surge of activity while the other part of me wants these people to go the hell home. People are so hammer-faced, I don't know how they are going to drive. One girl outside my building was passed out drunk laying on the sidewalk. People were climbing into or out of car windows driving down the road. Wild, man. Wild.

agrahlma · May-13-11, 11:16 PM

It's insane tonight! I'm just sitting back and watching the show!

**gthomas** · May-14-11, 12:33 AM

Yea it actually look like a city downtown! I was walking my dog and every street downtown was packed and filled with people! I was excited to see life after 6pm...keep it comin. People were having a good time...I enjoyed walking around tonite...

**gthomas** · May-14-11, 12:35 AM

All we needed was more retail and eateries on woodward open @ nite and we will be fine...

**Flintoid** · May-14-11, 07:27 AM

In a sort of related post, we had the same situation here in Downtown Flint last night. The streets and restaurants were packed! Impossible to find parking, restaurants were full, etc. Hopefully this is becoming a trend for the whole summer.

**gnome** · May-14-11, 09:37 AM

yep sure was wild ... my wife was sprayed by a couple of punks with some sort of lighter fluid smelling stuff; we hurried back to this quiet street where we parked, I was very worried and wanted her to get out of those clothes ... I finally convinced her to change when this obviously drunk or deranged Irish fool ran up to our car to leer at my now embarrassed wife.

The fool is yelling about Jezebell this and that ... we got the hell out of there.

oh, later I saw the Irish fool yelling at some kids to get off the grass.

**BrushStart** · May-14-11, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by gnome

yep sure was wild ... my wife was sprayed by a couple of punks with some sort of lighter fluid smelling stuff; we hurried back to this quiet street where we parked, I was very worried and wanted her to get out of those clothes ... I finally convinced her to change when this obviously drunk or deranged Irish fool ran up to our car to leer at my now embarrassed wife.

The fool is yelling about Jezebell this and that ... we got the hell out of there.

oh, later I saw the Irish fool yelling at some kids to get off the grass.

I believe I also saw this same jackass yelling at people on the street, though, I thought his accent to be more Scottish than Irish, but I could be wrong.

**gnome** · May-14-11, 09:53 AM

it was the inflamed red nose - looked like you could squeeze sterno from it - that threw me; but now that you mention it, the haggis-scented breath should have tipped me off.

Oh, yeah the bride is fine, ..

**SWMAP** · May-14-11, 10:10 AM

People are carrying lighter fluid around and spraying people? This is fun and makes an exciting evening out on the town?
Standards sure have changed.

**stinkytofu** · May-14-11, 10:28 AM

Last night was crazy. I work downtown and then went to the Tigers game. Traffic at five or so was just nuts - with Hoedown going on, Tigers going on, Flaming Lips at State Theatre, others out and about on a Friday night, Michigan Avenue all messed up, and that package fear at the RenCen shutting down Jefferson.

Most of the people going to Hoedown seemed like drunk 16 year old girls and ......y boys from Howell . I thought the confederate flags flying off trucks were a particularly nice touch.

Nonetheless, downtown certainly was humming. Fun to see.

**gnome** · May-14-11, 10:50 AM

See, that's what is going to happen if white people continue to be allowed to move into the city. They are fine one-on-one, but get them together and they just don't know how to behave. It's in their blood, that ConFlag thing, ... that and the whooooping fist pump! oh, yeah, and the hook-'em-horns gang sign.

Trouble. Thank the Lord Jebus we only have to put up with them one day a year.

Like their money though.

**1KielsonDrive** · May-14-11, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

See, that's what is going to happen if white people continue to be allowed to move into the city. They are fine one-on-one, but get them together and they just don't know how to behave.

Originally Posted by gnome

It's in their blood, that ConFlag thing, ... that and the whooooping fist pump! oh, yeah, and the hook-'em-horns gang sign.

Trouble. Thank the Lord Jebus we only have to put up with them one day a year.

Like their money though.

That's f*+#^+@g hilarious. And, oh so true.

**1KielsonDrive** · May-14-11, 12:55 PM

It's funny because we had a bunch of kids running around shirtless in the streets of The Hamtown last night. They also opened their trunk lids and played extremely loud rap music and danced in the middle of the street. Having done at least a few foolish [[and fun) things in my life, I wasn't necessarily put off as much as amused by all of this, except when they almost got hit by speeding autos. Oh yeah, there seemed to be a lot of cars driving the wrong way on side streets, too. Spring is much too late. We have too much pent up demand for warm nights.

**wolverine** · May-14-11, 12:59 PM

I think this is great to see more people downtown, but form the sounds of it, the wrong kind of crowd. Certainly a couple, or few....or maybe a thousand will make everything a bit less enjoyable. I just hope for the day when Detroit can sustain busy crowds shopping and not acting up.

**Lowell** · May-14-11, 01:19 PM

I noticed the same thing when I passed through downtown after a perfect-weather-for-handball afternoon on Belle Isle. I entered on Lafayette around 7, worked my way through to Campus Marius then headed out Michigan for burgers at Nemo's. It was a people-everywhere scene with the Tiger game crowd and the Hoe-downers. It felt like a hazy July evening. Absolutely delightful.

**1KielsonDrive** · May-14-11, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by wolverine

I think this is great to see more people downtown, but form the sounds of it, the wrong kind of crowd. Certainly a couple, or few....or maybe a thousand will make everything a bit less enjoyable. I just hope for the day when Detroit can sustain busy crowds shopping and not acting up.

Yes, yes, yes.

**Gistok** · May-14-11, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

I was very worried and wanted her to get out of those clothes ...

Gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd that's cute.... you can always spot them newlyweds.....

**Django** · May-14-11, 09:46 PM

Yeah, thats the ticket.

Honey, that smells like lighter fluid, youd better get out of those cloths, NOW.

**fryar** · May-15-11, 01:48 AM

Originally Posted by gnome

[[...) that ConFlag thing, ... that and the whooooping fist pump! oh, yeah, and the hook-'em-horns gang sign.

Undeniably, some of those the hoedown brings into the city are not the most erudite.

**rid0617** · May-15-11, 05:16 AM

Originally Posted by stinkytofu

Last night was crazy. I work downtown and then went to the Tigers game. Traffic at five or so was just nuts - with Hoedown going on, Tigers going on, Flaming Lips at State Theatre, others out and about on a Friday night, Michigan Avenue all messed up, and that package fear at the RenCen shutting down Jefferson.

Most of the people going to Hoedown seemed like drunk 16 year old girls and ......y boys from Howell . I thought the confederate flags flying off trucks were a particularly nice touch.

Nonetheless, downtown certainly was humming. Fun to see.

GOOD LORD, I thought once I moved out of the south I would leave the confederate flags behind.

**brizee** · May-15-11, 06:39 AM

Originally Posted by rid0617

GOOD LORD, I thought once I moved out of the south I would leave the confederate flags behind.

I was looking for a business a few weeks back. i got turned around in a hood in either Livonia or Redford. A huge garage sized Confederate flag with "IT AINT COMIN DOWN" at the bottom.

Lovely communities we got here.

**Roq** · May-15-11, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by brizee

I was looking for a business a few weeks back. i got turned around in a hood in either Livonia or Redford. A huge garage sized Confederate flag with "IT AINT COMIN DOWN" at the bottom.

Lovely communities we got here.

ugh, or you'll see it plastered all over a huge pickup truck that has over sized tires, chrome mufflers, and truck balls.

**joesmithrocks** · May-15-11, 10:33 AM

I love the ammount of people the hoedown brings to the neighborhood. But they are the worst visitors we get. They trash the place more than any other visitors. They trash our parking lot, our sidewalks. They even trash the elevators in my apartment building. Friday night they threw bottles out our garage onto the street, and the pissed out of the garage onto people on the sidewalk below. They harass our neighrborhood homeless people. Trash the people mover and basically show no respect for anything down here. This crowd is worse than the fireworks crowd by far. And none of the other riverfront festivals bring this kind of crowd. It's too bad, because I really do love the numbers, and the general buzz of activity.

**BrushStart** · May-15-11, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by joesmithrocks

I love the ammount of people the hoedown brings to the neighborhood. But they are the worst visitors we get. They trash the place more than any other visitors. They trash our parking lot, our sidewalks. They even trash the elevators in my apartment building. Friday night they threw bottles out our garage onto the street, and the pissed out of the garage onto people on the sidewalk below. They harass our neighrborhood homeless people. Trash the people mover and basically show no respect for anything down here. This crowd is worse than the fireworks crowd by far. And none of the other riverfront festivals bring this kind of crowd. It's too bad, because I really do love the numbers, and the general buzz of activity.

Yeah, I was trying to walk through a crowd of them with my girlfriend, said "pardon me" and got spit on. It's a good thing my girlfriend didn't notice the wad of snot on the back of my coat until I was more than a block away, otherwise I would have ended his day at the beach.

Also, I saw a bunch of people wearing confederate flags as capes. I kept thinking, we're less than a football field away from the Underground Railroad monument on the riverfront. What a bunch of losers.