Is there any goodwill left in this city?

[401don]

meanwhile the rock continues to roll along the bottom....

http://www.freep.com/article/2011122...text|FRONTPAGE

[skyl4rk]

Don't watch TV, don't read the papers. Surround yourself with good people and spend time with them. Don't let yourself be dragged down by focusing on what is bad. There are many great people out there. I know friends who are mentoring kids, volunteering to spend time reading to kids in school. There are many people who care, just be one of them and don't let yourself be sucked in to the depression and self loathing that is coming from the news media.

[lilpup]

you missed at least these two while wallowing in your negativity

http://www.freep.com/article/2011122...e-feel-blessed

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...00-cash-to-him

[terridarlin]

Campbell Ewald's Christmas Card: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0EdW7QMMvE

[bartock]

To some, this topic may seem somewhat nebulous.... it is. To me, there seems to be a wave of overwhelming negativity cresting over Metropolitan Detroit. There are few optimistic and hopeful leaders, few bright stars offering solutions, few people interested in "rising to the challenge" [[for whatever that means to you).

I see a lot of stifling pessimism, self-loathing, disgruntlement, closed-off attitudes, unjustified NIMBY behavior, unreasonableness, finger-pointing, bitter apathy, melancholy, griping, stubbornness, and the undermining of others. Often times, it is not even understandable. I find that in Metro Detroit, too many people are reserved to a life of misery and get off on spreading it. People with a bad demeanor are way too common.

I don't like using current events as examples, but the demise of light rail without any public discourse, the reaction of the Troy city council to federal transit funding, among so many other examples, highlight this pervasive negativity. There is a "stick it to the other guy" mentality that is both sickening and maddening about Metro Detroit. It's Schadenfreude to the extreme.

Instead of trying to work through problems for the betterment of the collective, people seem to enjoy watching others drown and our society collapse so long as they still have a little air left in their floaties. Why? What happened to people caring about things bigger than themselves? What happened to pride? What happened to civility and civic-mindedness? What happened to our bountiful work ethic and infinite desire for innovation?

The condition of the city/metro is one thing, but the attitudes of so many people is even harder to handle. It just makes being here tiresome and depressing. I wonder if there is any goodwill left in this city...

This is a nice summary of the plot of Ghostbusters 2.

[Zacha341]

That was nice, well done!

Campbell Ewald's Christmas Card: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0EdW7QMMvE

[BW7085]

you missed at least these two while wallowing in your negativity

http://www.freep.com/article/2011122...e-feel-blessed

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...00-cash-to-him

This is goodwill and it's from Detroit.

DETROIT [[WXYZ) - Just days before Christmas, Ervin Bolen met the woman he calls his angel.
Bolen met Tamara Jones Wednesday afternoon at Fishbone’s restaurant in Greektown where she is a cook. On Tuesday she found Ervin’s checkbook in a flower pot inside the International Center.
Ervin had placed $5,600 in cash inside a checkbook he lost on Monday. He says he was devastated and in tears all day thinking the worst. He suspected he would never see the money again.
The elevator repairman’s house was on the verge of foreclosure and he was on his way to the Wayne County Treasure’s office which is inside the International Center.
The office was closed. Ervin says he was distracted and misplaced the cash.
The next day, Ervin tells 7 Action News a miracle happened. Tamara had turned the check book over to security at the International Center. When Ervin called security the next day, he was told all of the money was there - down to the last cent.
“I’m overwhelmed,” says Ervin, “I still can’t conceive the idea somebody gives $5,600 cash back to someone they don’t know.”
It was just as exciting for Tamara to meet the man she helped out, “Oh I’m very happy and pleased that I made somebody’s day I really made somebody’s day,” says Tamara.
As the two had an emotional meeting, a stranger, who had heard about Tamara’s good deed walked up to her and gave her twenty bucks.
John Demetro was inspired to do a kind act of his own. “The fact that she’s a good Samaritan, right, and the fact that she found $5,600 and you can tell the person is not a wealthy person. He must have carried all his money on him. She returned it… so it’s a cool thing.”
It was heart-warming for Tamara to see how one simple action triggered another. “That was a nice inspiration to see what I did inspired someone else to do something for me.”
Ervin believes it was a nice twist of fate that he met Tamara and that the two will be lifelong friends.


Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...#ixzz1hHEqF2DE

[canuck]

I just noticed that LA, which has the world's third largest economy, isn't even on that list. Silicon Valley, probably the most envied economic center on earth, isn't on the list.

But Stockhom, an economic pipsqueak compared even to Detroit, is on the list.

The list appears to be garbage, with no rhyme or reason. It isn't raw economic size, it isn't wealth, it isn't corporate HQ. I don't know what it is.

Yep. I dont like that list either. My city is on the list but as you say, LA is neglected and as I like to remind some on this forum; Detroit's metro is one of the richest in the world. If you disregard facts like these, it is easy to overlook the fact that the amalgamation of Detroit municipalities would pack a serious punch. Therein lies the rebound for Detroit. If enough citizens of the greater Detroit believe this and work their tushes off for amalgamation, you would definitely see some changes happen.

[j to the jeremy]

Don't watch TV, don't read the papers. Surround yourself with good people and spend time with them. Don't let yourself be dragged down by focusing on what is bad. There are many great people out there. I know friends who are mentoring kids, volunteering to spend time reading to kids in school. There are many people who care, just be one of them and don't let yourself be sucked in to the depression and self loathing that is coming from the news media.

I've tried but it's eating me alive.

One of the richest metros in the country has ALL of its wealth in the white areas, and they are hell-bent on NEVER working to bring unity to the region, out of FEAR that they will lose it all to the brown areas. This is reflected in transit policy, local government, isolationist economic policies, and an overwhelming narrative of despair and "fuck detroit" in the local popular media, who are owned by the suburban folk. This drives national perceptions, which mirror the affluent suburbs' opinions. Thus, we are a self-fulfilling prophecy of massive proportions.

I never thought I'd be saying these things but this week has got me so fucking mad at the region I think it's past it's tipping point. Every negative story out of the city is "proof" that the policies are valid, even though they are CAUSING the structural violence endemic in metro Det.

[stromberg2]

^^^
Damn, Jerm, I've been wanting to say that for awhile!! It is sickening.

Stromberg2

[lilpup]

Gotta disagree and I no longer buy into the persecuted blacks meme for this area. The City of Detroit still has some 700,000 people and had a lot more not all that long ago. The vast majority of that population is black. There's no reason on the face of this Earth that a city that large can't be self-supporting to a greater extent than Detroit has. Frankly in many instances suburbanites have shown more support for the city than residents have.