urbainites being questioned?

**louis** · January-31-12, 04:41 PM

so i saw this and i got to admit that i am a little disappointed in the people

http://modeldmedia.com/features/impo...troit1121.aspx

**iheartthed** · January-31-12, 04:46 PM

This was her mistake:

I just think we could all watch a little bit more of the rest of the country from time to time.

Insular Detroit does not care about the rest of the country [[unless it's asking why the rest of the country doesn't want to drive Detroit's cars).

**detroitsgwenivere** · January-31-12, 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Insular Detroit does not care about the rest of the country [[unless it's asking why the rest of the country doesn't want to drive Detroit's cars).

Right on.

Why disappointed?

Do you expect everyone who lives in Detroit to roll out red carpets for new-comers? I always assumed everyone was entitled to their own perceptions of the people around them.

It sounds to me like maybe some of the "natives" are just making it known to the "naives" [[i.e. pioneers, hipsters, gentrifiers, whatever) that they are aware of the newcomers and that there's a pecking order in place that long time residents are attempting to maintain/enforce. Fear does that to people.

Imagine being told most of your life that if you grew up here you are probably: a. poor b. uneducated c. a criminal, and then all the sudden, it's "cool" to live here. Give Detroiters a break, we're not all saints you know!

**Baselinepunk** · January-31-12, 07:34 PM

I think the author of that piece needs to relax a little and not get so fixated on it. I think that she is looking for things that justify the way she feels and not looking at all of the other 98% of things around her.

Then again, it's a blog and one of the main points of it is to get people to go to it and talk about it, so .... there you go.

**DetroitPlanner** · January-31-12, 09:47 PM

What newbies seem to fail to realize is that Detroit wears its heart on its sleeve. We actually care about our sports teams or suupporting local companies. Thats why you hear so much talk about where cars are made or what the teams are doing. The teams represent us, as does the music, the art, the culture.

You won't find these things if you do not participate and stay behind a wall you built insulating you from the place that surrounds you. You may be able to see the culture, bit in order to be accepted, you need to accept the culture that surrounds you, not try to change it to meet what you consider normal.

Detroit is far from normal.

**fryar** · February-02-12, 07:39 AM

I can relate to what she is saying in that piece. I have had those conversations about why I would move to Detroit from NYC when the other party was actively scanning for tickets out of Detroit to greener pastures precisely like NYC. It was a pretty long blog post that I did not fully read, thinking I had gotten the message, but what I saw resonated.

**louis** · February-02-12, 08:24 AM

i agree that she could have taken it down a level, but if we want to become a great city than it wouldn't kill us to be alittle friendlier to new people. i guess i was disappointed because i know we can do better than this

**Detroitnerd** · February-02-12, 11:43 AM

I moved all the way to this HELLHOLE and you guys won't even THANK me!

**swingline** · February-02-12, 01:12 PM

I thought Ms. Cox' blog post was interesting and thought provoking. "Natives" can always use fresh perspective. Her Curbed website is pretty cool too.