CH. 7 loads bus with Suburbanites afraid of the CIty and brings them down

**ColonelMack** · September-01-11, 06:23 PM

Very Cool
http://detroit2020.com/2011/08/31/de...ge-some-minds/

Steve bennet · September-01-11, 06:45 PM

Sounds pretty dumb actually. That or that was a poorly written article.

"Susan Lough admitted her mind had been changed. She’s planning to go to a Tigers game....."

Right.....

**Goose** · September-01-11, 06:59 PM

Watch as Channel 7 takes suburban white guys into Detroit on a trip they soon won't forget... when their bus makes a wrong turn on Woodward and they come face to face with BLACK PEOPLE!!!!!

**tetsua** · September-01-11, 07:03 PM

Reminds me of the time I took a co-worker who was born, and raised in Grosse Pointe to Belle Isle for the FIRST TIME. While Belle Isle doesn't have a tremendous amount to do, he couldn't believe how nice it was.

Where's the second video?

**English** · September-01-11, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by Goose

Watch as Channel 7 takes suburban white guys into Detroit on a trip they soon won't forget... when their bus makes a wrong turn on Woodward and they come face to face with BLACK PEOPLE!!!!!

Dun-dun-DUN!

Can't... stop... laughing! How come Channel 7 doesn't do this in reverse -- take a bunch of Detroiters who have never been to northern Michigan or the UP so that we can see what it's like?

**Anchor Bar** · September-01-11, 07:19 PM

How is that poorly written, exactly?

**Roq** · September-01-11, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by Goose

Watch as Channel 7 takes suburban white guys into Detroit on a trip they soon won't forget... when their bus makes a wrong turn on Woodward and they come face to face with BLACK PEOPLE!!!!!

Will they be asked for change? Will someone give them a threatening look? Tune in at 11:00 to see if our intrepid suburbanites survive the trip.

**oldredfordette** · September-01-11, 07:22 PM

Why would anybody watch television "news"?

**runnerXT** · September-01-11, 07:26 PM

unfortunetly what i got out of it was America's weight problem. That 15 year old girl was the only one without a weight issue?

**GoGrixdale** · September-01-11, 07:32 PM

$100 says daughter Becky has been here before ...and back since

**Goose** · September-01-11, 07:36 PM

that video has spoof material written all over it, i can see one of the people in the van asking if the glass is bulletproof, and i can also see dave chappelle stumbing onto the bus with some antics....

**tetsua** · September-01-11, 07:38 PM

One of the things that this special doesn't cover, is the perception people have that they'll get attacked in the city simply because they're white [[like a criminal is going to give a person a pass because they're black).

**tetsua** · September-01-11, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by runnerXT

unfortunetly what i got out of it was America's weight problem. That 15 year old girl was the only one without a weight issue?

LOL, they're fat because they live in the burbs. You don't see too many burbs around there with too many sidewalks now do you. They probably just sit in their houses scared most of the time.

**GoGrixdale** · September-01-11, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by tetsua

LOL, they're fat because they live in the burbs. You don't see too many burbs around there with too many sidewalks now do you. They probably just sit in their houses scared most of the time.

Priceless...

**detroittrader** · September-01-11, 08:20 PM

I could think of all kinds of snarky things to say about those pasty looking people but in the end they all seemed to dig the trip.

**ColonelMack** · September-01-11, 08:24 PM

Not sure I get you guys.. you plead for folks to say positive things about Detroit, you abhor the fact that suburbanites never come downtown. So someone does something positive, at least tries something, and all you can do is mock it.

Sad really

**runnerXT** · September-01-11, 08:28 PM

^sorry if mine came across wrong. The city or suburbs or rural americans are way overweight. Its unattractive. i wasnt making a generalization about suburbs but about everywhere america. i was overseas this summer and the first thing that hit me when coming back was that just about every adult here has an overweight issue. it is stuck in my mind for now.

**401don** · September-01-11, 08:52 PM

They should take them across the river - foreign lands with totally naked strippers, kids drinking real beer, legalized escorts and commy cigars! They'll wish they were in Detroit.

Steve bennet · September-01-11, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by Anchor Bar

How is that poorly written, exactly?

It's poorly written because the idea is dumb. The sad part is someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to pack a bus full of suburbanites and take them around the city and make a story out of it. It almost sounds like the grounds for a sketch on the old "Chappelle's Show."

I also found it hard to believe that nobody on that bus thought in the back of their mind "this city really is a dump." I highly doubt any of those people are going to now be in a hurry to move into the city.

**corktownyuppie** · September-01-11, 11:52 PM

The goal wasn't to get them to move into the city. The goal was to make them more comfortable being tourists in the city. You get people comfortable being tourists, you start to make Detroit a destination. Once it's a destination, then people start wanting to move there.

Perception and culture change is a long process, but this tour took a bunch of skeptics and had them admit, "maybe it's not as bad as I thought it was." You multiply that time 3,000,000 people over 10-15 years and you start to see real change.

Everyone knows that large, unignorable chunks of Detroit is a dump. What most people don't know is that just among the parts that are nice, you can go for years and still not see everything. Inside Detroit publishes a list of over 130 restaurants that are within one square mile in the city center. 130. I show that list to my friends in the suburbs and it totally blows their minds. Next thing you know, they're wanting a monthly trip downtown to try a different restaurant every month.

It's slow, but it's better than "omg you in detroit? hope u have your kevlar jacket on lol" and such.

**brainwizzard** · September-01-11, 11:57 PM

Originally Posted by English

Dun-dun-DUN!

Can't... stop... laughing! How come Channel 7 doesn't do this in reverse -- take a bunch of Detroiters who have never been to northern Michigan or the UP so that we can see what it's like?

Going there again huh? *kidding*

for real though, really? love what passes as newsworhty sometimes.

Steve bennet · September-02-11, 12:36 AM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

The goal wasn't to get them to move into the city. The goal was to make them more comfortable being tourists in the city. You get people comfortable being tourists, you start to make Detroit a destination. Once it's a destination, then people start wanting to move there.

Perception and culture change is a long process, but this tour took a bunch of skeptics and had them admit, "maybe it's not as bad as I thought it was." You multiply that time 3,000,000 people over 10-15 years and you start to see real change.

Everyone knows that large, unignorable chunks of Detroit is a dump. What most people don't know is that just among the parts that are nice, you can go for years and still not see everything. Inside Detroit publishes a list of over 130 restaurants that are within one square mile in the city center. 130. I show that list to my friends in the suburbs and it totally blows their minds. Next thing you know, they're wanting a monthly trip downtown to try a different restaurant every month.

It's slow, but it's better than "omg you in detroit? hope u have your kevlar jacket on lol" and such.

I will be the first one to say this is a good idea the day I meet someone who tells me they were scared of the city until they took a bus tour, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

**dtowncitylover** · September-02-11, 06:35 AM

The Channel 7 promo voiceover guy sounded like he was doing a promo for a prank show.

"What happens when we take a bunch of suburbanites into the 'scary' city of Detroit? Loads of surprises and laughs!"

Oh boy...

**corktownyuppie** · September-02-11, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by Steve bennet

I will be the first one to say this is a good idea the day I meet someone who tells me they were scared of the city until they took a bus tour, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Maybe you watched the wrong video...

This one has the video interviews of the skeptics before and after their day tours, along with a list of the places they visited.

Dunno Steve, maybe we live in different worlds...but their reaction is consistent with that of every single suburbanite I've brought back into the city since I returned to Detroit 3 years ago. I have clients all over the burbs who admit to me that the last time they were in the city limits was over 20 years ago. Moving back into the city raised more than a few eyebrows when I made the decision. Actually getting them to spend half a day in my life here on a weekend blows their mind.

Yesterday, one of them e-mailed me...

...could I come down to your place sometime this weekend? I'd like to take some photos. Also, my family wants to come this time and see your place.

Last time his wife was in Detroit was for jury duty in 1985.

Maybe I'm naive to think that I can help change the region's attitude about the city by doing it one person at a time. But it's all I can do, and I think it's better than doing nothing. Doesn't hurt that they tend to be influential people.

ferntruth · September-02-11, 06:50 AM

Originally Posted by tetsua

LOL, they're fat because they live in the burbs. You don't see too many burbs around there with too many sidewalks now do you. They probably just sit in their houses scared most of the time.

LOL Yes, because everyone in the city is so svelte.
There is an epidemic of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes in the black community because everyone is out walking on their city only sidewalks.
Besides, Detroit doesnt need sidewalks as everyone apparently walks in the street.

My suburb [[Ferndale) was awarded second most walkable city in the state because we have NO SIDEWALKS..