Detroit to be featured on "Life after People"

**sturge** · June-10-09, 10:19 AM

The next episode of this series will be focusing on Detroit.

http://www.history.com/content/life_after_people

The show basically just shows how things detioriate when left to nature. I find the bits where they show current abandoned places interesting.

**raptor56** · June-10-09, 10:42 AM

there are areas of Detroit where they could go to see in real life what happens to buildings and neighborhoods after people are all gone. No computer graphic simulation needed.

**MoparDan** · June-10-09, 10:46 AM

I believe some Detroit buildings were briefly shown in an earlier episode that featured a church & theater in Gary, Indiana.

**Ray1936** · June-10-09, 10:46 AM

I've watched that series, and my thoughts have gone to Detroit every time it's on.

**jtf1972** · June-10-09, 11:40 AM

Saw this last night. Can't wait until next week!

**jcole** · June-10-09, 11:49 AM

What a wonderful thing for Detroit to be included in. I'm sure it will boost tourism tremendously.

**Hypestyles** · June-10-09, 12:11 PM

um.. wow..

**ghein** · June-11-09, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by raptor56

there are areas of Detroit where they could go to see in real life what happens to buildings and neighborhoods after people are all gone. No computer graphic simulation needed.

Ah, beat me to it. My witty remark was going to be "And it will be the only segment of the show filmed live."

**MoparDan** · June-17-09, 10:46 AM

I know y'all have to live with what was shown, but I found it both fascinating & disturbing. My wife thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do a road trip up there.

If it's any consolation, at least San Antonio & The Alamo would eventually disappear.

There used to be a section of SA called "Vista Verde"[[translates to "Green View" basically) which was nothing but rundown & abandoned buildings coupled with gang activity plus drug trafficking; the city finally did something about in the 80s, but it took two or three attempts to finally get something productive from it. And there are a lot of abandoned/dilapidated buildings in the downtown area that will never see a useful life again. It's not on the scale of Detroit, but every city has its own "ruins" to a certain extent.

**sturge** · June-17-09, 10:52 AM

What was the house they were showing?

**MCP-001** · June-17-09, 12:08 PM

It looked like it was shot in the area east of WSU and south of I-94.

They also had the Packard Plant, minus the "bridge" that the scrappers tried to steal.

heywood mccrakin · June-17-09, 12:21 PM

great show. I was discussing it with a number of people today over lunch at dairy queen, and we all had some interesting things to say about it.

it was interesting how they showed the water manes breaking within days.

**Tsomyak** · June-17-09, 12:23 PM

Did anyone notice any inaccuracies in the show? At one point they referred to the water works plant being some number of miles EAST of downtown. Um, isn't that called Canada? They also said 80000 miles of plumbing would stretch around the world five times. When I went to school that would be between 3 and 4. Maybe I'm nit picking, but I expect better of a "science" show.

**GREENTROIT** · June-17-09, 12:26 PM

Canada is South of downtown. Grosse Pointe is east. You would have to alll the way across Lake St. Clair to hit Canada if you go straight from downtown.

**Tsomyak** · June-17-09, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by GREENTROIT

Canada is South of downtown. Grosse Pointe is east. You would have to alll the way across Lake St. Clair to hit Canada if you go straight from downtown.

Hmm, looking at a map I see your point. The river at that point bends and heads more east - west than I remembered, although if you stood at the very foot of Woodward and headed due east it looks like you would catch a tip of the Windsor shoreline before heading into Lake St. Clair. Never too old to learn, I guess.

**jtf1972** · June-17-09, 02:41 PM

I liked the show, but wanted to see more on Detroit than the Water Works & RenCen. The Texas part was cool, but in my biased opinion took up too much of the show.

I did notice the irony that the as the episode promoted the falling of the RenCen, they went to break & announced it was "Brought to you by Lexus!"

**Bcscott** · June-18-09, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by sturge

What was the house they were showing?

It's in Brush Park. Here's a shot of it I took in January

**gibran** · June-18-09, 04:48 AM

Originally Posted by jtf1972

I liked the show, but wanted to see more on Detroit than the Water Works & RenCen. The Texas part was cool, but in my biased opinion took up too much of the show.

I did notice the irony that the as the episode promoted the falling of the RenCen, they went to break & announced it was "Brought to you by Lexus!"

yes sadly ironic

**MoparDan** · June-18-09, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by Bcscott

It's in Brush Park. Here's a shot of it I took in January

I can only imagine how it looked in its former life. Just simply astounding[[place your own adjective here if you like).

**Detroitej72** · June-18-09, 07:58 PM

One interesting tidbit I picked up in a pasted episode was that, if people were to disappear, all the rats would die off. It seems they have become too dependent on humans for survival.

I guess all those old sci-fi shows that portrayed Earth after a nuclear war, populated with giant rats were inaccurate!

**LeannaM** · June-19-09, 09:42 PM

Pretty interesting show. They showed a school that has been empty 2 years. The paint was peeling and the plaster was falling off the roof. Which school was that?

**ASR89** · June-19-09, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by LeannaM

Pretty interesting show. They showed a school... ...The paint was peeling and the plaster was falling off the roof. Which school was that?

A better question would be: Which Detroit school ISN'T that?

**jtf1972** · June-19-09, 10:57 PM

Looks to me like Cooper Elementary.

If it is, look at it on google maps for a street view of what it looked like just a few years ago.

6836 Georgia St

That this has been done to this building... angers me very much.

**LeannaM** · June-19-09, 11:13 PM

Wow. There's almost nothing around it as well. The blocks are all empty. Only a couple lonely houses left. Looks like a lot of the streets are now purposefully blocked off and being left to turn into rubble.

Live Maps shows a house on Helen and a house on Concord across the street from the school. Street View shows both of those houses gone now.

I can only imagine what these streets once looked like. Back in the 1950s[[?) Houses standing side-by-side, kids playing on the street, maybe some corner drug stores, grocery stores, restaurants. I know nothing of these streets, just generalizing what many city neighborhoods probably looked like a half-century ago.

**kathy2trips** · June-19-09, 11:33 PM

Originally Posted by jtf1972

Looks to me like Cooper Elementary.

If it is, look at it on google maps for a street view of what it looked like just a few years ago.

6836 Georgia St

That this has been done to this building... angers me very much.

This is my mom's old neighborhood. Unfortunately, she can't remember where she went to elementary, but it could be this one [[don't know when it was built). She used to take me around that area to see her old neighbors and school friends' parents when I was a kid. There were a lot of Germans, Italians, Belgians and Lebanese people around here. She's 83 now and I don't even tell her what I read here, it upsets her too much.

I love this school. It's so majestic and imposing. It says School with a capital "S". Not many modern schools have windows anymore, do you realize? Just beautiful. It should be protected and cherished.