Another cliche feel-good article about Detroit.

Occurrence · October-16-11, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by Lowell

"Another cliche feel-good article about Detroit"

What a great problem to have, kind of like having problems finding parking downtown. A sign of better times. Bring'em on. I'll give them just ten years to stop that.

I am not sure how long the OP has been on the scene but for those of us who have endured decades of negativity, scorn and derision this is very sweet music of which we will never hear enough. In fact people bitching about too many good reviews is just as sweet. So I consider even a negative thread like this to be win win for the D*.

*The D = metro Detroit has become how most people use the term, another bright sign as more in our community are thinking of our metro as one entity. It is not the arrogant 'the big D'; just the D, sort of like the old English D we have always worn in a city that was around 130 years before Dallas was settled.

I guess our opinions differ, but many of these are poorly written, uncreative, and unoriginal articles.

It's almost as if there is a set pallet of talking points these writers choose from in order to construct the article. Choose at least 3 of the following and write:
A. Sports teams are lifting spirits.
B. Kid Rock makes an appearance. Gives positive quote.
C. Use phrase "The D".
D. Quote from someone who has lived in city entire life.
E. Quote from sports fan who lives in the suburbs who only comes down for
games or casino. Says how much the city is turning around.

Done.

lilpup · October-16-11, 08:11 PM

The song "Hello, Detroit" recorded by Sammy Davis, Jr. [[commissioned by CYA, written by Berry Gordy, Jr. & Willie Hutch in 1984) calls it "the Big D".

**313WX** · October-16-11, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by lilpup

The song "Hello, Detroit" recorded by Sammy Davis, Jr. [[commissioned by CYA, written by Berry Gordy, Jr. & Willie Hutch in 1984) calls it "the Big D".

Of course, Detroit was THE Big D then [[it was still larger than Dallas until 2000).

**Dexlin** · October-16-11, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by Occurrence

Wow, such amazing writing. I feel like I have read this same article a half-dozen times in the past couple weeks.

Which is why we don't need a thread for every single one of them.

**De'troiter** · October-17-11, 12:11 AM

Not to be racial but "The D" was common vocabulary among blacks in Detroit, long before it became mainstream...and chances are if you didn't hear it is because the majority of blacks don't speak as "freely or expressive" around other races. Like English said there are other nicknames and vocabulary that is common in the Black community that is unknown to the rest of the region, vice-versa.

**kryptonite** · October-17-11, 07:57 AM

From my perspective things are noticeably improving in Detroit, although the improvements are primarily limited to Downtown/Midtown/Eastern Market/Riverfront.

In recent years I have been Downtown many times when there were large numbers of pedestrians walking around and enjoying the evening. Between the sports stadiums, concerts, casinos, theaters, Hart Plaza events, nightclubs, etc., there are many reasons to go Downtown and spend the evening.

The Art Institute improvements were impressive, over the last 20+ years the WSU campus has been remarkably enhanced with many improvements.

So if some writer wants to give credit to Detroit for exceeding it's negative image I say great. But it is more impressive when the positive reviews come from out-of-towners, not the local media.

**Lowell** · October-17-11, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by kryptonite

From my perspective things are noticeably improving in Detroit, although the improvements are primarily limited to Downtown/Midtown/Eastern Market/Riverfront.

In recent years I have been Downtown many times when there were large numbers of pedestrians walking around and enjoying the evening. Between the sports stadiums, concerts, casinos, theaters, Hart Plaza events, nightclubs, etc., there are many reasons to go Downtown and spend the evening.

The Art Institute improvements were impressive, over the last 20+ years the WSU campus has been remarkably enhanced with many improvements.

So if some writer wants to give credit to Detroit for exceeding it's negative image I say great. But it is more impressive when the positive reviews come from out-of-towners, not the local media.

Good points all but I am actually more impressed by the positive reviews from local media. The most brutal media assaults on our image have originated from them in the form of the headline-grabbing focus on negative 'if it bleed it leads' news events. Their continual airing of dirty laundry with little attempt to search for solutions or meaning, let alone balancing it with positive stories, got picked up by the outside. "Hey if they continually say it is totally screwed up, it must be".

Pride in 'the D', however you interpret that, has been on the upswing for quite a while now and it is finally getting picked up both by local and outside media. A prime example of this is WXYZ's Detroit2020 "Unify, Inspire, Act".

**kryptonite** · October-18-11, 06:58 AM

There is a new DYes post about a positive Detroit report on NPR with a link to the report. They are becoming a more frequent occurence. Hopefully it means we are finally turning the corner on media reports after about 40 years of only negative stories about Detroit.

The positive stories are very welcome. And it just does not happen, a place has to impress someone to merit a report. So some people somewhere are taking notice of Detroit and the many improvements that have happened in recent years.

**iheartthed** · October-18-11, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by kryptonite

There is a new DYes post about a positive Detroit report on NPR with a link to the report. They are becoming a more frequent occurence. Hopefully it means we are finally turning the corner on media reports after about 40 years of only negative stories about Detroit.

The positive stories are very welcome. And it just does not happen, a place has to impress someone to merit a report. So some people somewhere are taking notice of Detroit and the many improvements that have happened in recent years.

NPR does a Detroit report about once a month.

**kryptonite** · October-18-11, 07:45 AM

It was a fascinating report. it's 30 minutes long, I made it through most of it. It makes you wonder how things would be in Detroit if it weren't for the recession. I'm impressed that we have seen many of these improvements develop or progress during a long economic downtown. Of course the recession has meant some new projects have failed. But it still impresses me to hear these reports, the negative Detroit reports have been all you hear since probably 1967.