Best things about Detroit?

[Lowell]

First off, ^^^^ all of the above^^^!

For me personally the great, semi-subterranean art scene has been the best thing. This is a place that forces one to think and to react. As a result, it is a great source of inspiration, expression and creativity.

The cards have been tossed in the air and we are remaking a city and a metropolis, unlike places like Chicago, Toronto or New York that are 'made' and routinized.

This can alternately be frightening, exciting and depressing but it is never dull. Detroit's not the place for everybody but for an artist it is a great place to be.

[Rolfsy]

Level terrain, relatively continuous street grid, light auto traffic and mostly asphalt pavements instead of concrete = cyclist's paradise!

[gameguy56]

Level terrain, relatively continuous street grid, light auto traffic and mostly asphalt pavements instead of concrete = cyclist's paradise!

Do you cycle at night as well? Commute?

[Detroitdave]

People lament the loss of the old neighborhood.

Indeed, many old neighborhoods are literally gone. However I live in one that is still very much going.

I know many people say Detroit is suburban in layout, but Detroit is very much more like the old neighborhood than the post-war suburb. Where I live neighbors actually talk to each other and look out for each other because frankly we have to - so we are friends and we get together and have drinks with each other too. There are no attached garages to avoid the outside world and everyone has a big front porch. There are no McMansions, only '20's tudors and pre-war bungalows. The focal point of the living room is the fireplace, not the plasma tv. There is no Ruby Tuesdays, only the corner bar. Which people walk to. And when you're a city Catholic like me, you go to your neighborhood church that doesn't look like a handball court. You know, one that actually looks like a church.

Detroit is also where all the eccentrics go to escape ridicule. Anything goes here. It's strange not to be strange. In Detroit you will meet the strangest, most colorful, interesting people. Where elsewhere neighbors would gossip and sneer, no one bats an eye here.

While so much of Detroit is lost, little pockets of Detroit like mine are an anachronism like that in many ways and I love it. In part because it is so old to begin with and full of such eccentric folk, and in part because corporations have left the neighborhoods untouched. It's like living in the 1940's - except my street is full of both black and white folk.

Sounds like my Neighborhood in northwest Detroit Bagley area !

[Wheels]

Sounds like my Neighborhood in northwest Detroit Bagley area !

Nortwest? Are there two Bagley's?

[Rolfsy]

Do you cycle at night as well? Commute?

I commute burb to burb, north of city proper. Generally ride recreationally during daylight, but sometimes head into the city before sunup.

[GUSHI]

Belle isle, Let's help preserve it, I just don't get people bitch about a 10 fee for a yearly pass to the park even 15 isn't bad,

[WickedILL]

Belle isle, Let's help preserve it, I just don't get people bitch about a 10 fee for a yearly pass to the park even 15 isn't bad,

Agreed, and let's put a couple cops on it to weed out the druggies [[no pun intended, lol). Actually if they're just smoking weed I don't care but the other weirdos need to be kicked off the island!

[tarkus]

Being able to buy weed @ any gas station. LOL

The never ending supply of spent brass on the streets.

[TexasT]

I'll answer as a true outsider - someone not from Detroit [[or even Michigan) who has never lived there. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas and have been living in Wicker Park in Chicago the past few years. My husband, a native Detroiter dying to get back, has convinced me to move to Detroit [[which we will, next month!)

Here's some of the things that have made me fall in love with the city since he first took me there three years ago:

-Eastern Market. I adore this place. And I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.
-Detroit has all four major sports AND the fans actually support them. I've never seen opening day like Detroit does it.
-Some of the best museums in the country. I could spend all day at the DIA and Henry Ford. What true national gems that, until I met my husband, I didn't even know were there.
-stunning architecture downtown. I also like that you have parks downtown [[Campus Martius and Grand Circus). That's one thing I have found lacking in Chicago's and Houston's downtowns.
-some great stock of really beautiful old homes. We looked around Indian Village, Boston Edison, West Canfield...those homes are stunning
-a vibrant music scene. My brother is a musician is as excited as I am that we're moving to Detroit.
-Buddy's Pizza! Detroit square>>>Chicago deep dish
-I like the entrepreneurial and collaboratiev spirit I see down in Midtown and Corktown. I see the community getting together and cleaning up the streets, mowing overgrown fields, just taking care of their own community instead of waiting for someone else to come along and do it. Not every Detroiter cares about Detroit, but what I've seen the community band together to do has really impressed me.
-I love the freedom that Detroit's current situation allows for. Spontaneous softball games and dog parks at old Tiger Stadium. Planting a garden on that uninhabited lot. Coming from hyper-regulated Chicago, I especially look forward to that.
-I like that I can afford to buy a house in the city. My husband and I are both young professionals [[29 and 30 years old) and we'd never be able to buy in Chicago. Now we're looking at a possible single-family house.

My favorite city in the US is New Orleans. I've spent more time there than any city [[other than Houston and Chicago) and I was married there. My brother is at LSU right now and he's in NOLA as much as he's in Baton Rouge. We were talking on the phone yesterday [[he's planning to come stay with us a couple weeks this summer in Detroit) and he remarked how similar the vibe in Detroit is to the vibe in NOLA -both have their problems but both also have unique culture and a gritty determinism. I will miss Chicago but I'm really looking forward to heading out y'alls way!

[stromberg2]

Well, we all would love to have you! Welcome to Detroit and welcome to the Forum!

Stromberg2

[Dexlin]

At this particular moment in the city's history, I love that it's kind of turned back into a frontier town, which at least allows the possibility to fix mistakes that were made during the early 20th century, which are many. What I really want to see, though, is people of means and goodwill [[whether from within or without) to find a neighborhood school, park, and/or business district, and just all-out build a village around the node instead of all this disconnected, if still even noble, infill.

[sumas]

Welcome TexasT, Detroit might not be everyone's dream but I love it. In a strange way each area is like a small town. I love when we have out of town guests that seem shocked that when we go out the door, neighbors yell out saying Hi, or run out to hug us. We are all family here.

While not an artist, I do see the raw beauty of our city.

[louis]

best music scene ever. the best jazz festival and the home of techno, Motown and punk [[punk is debatable)

[Django]

I like the suggestions Detroit makes.

They suggest you have a drivers license if you drive.
They suggest you dont buy pot at gas stations, or sell it.
They suggest you drive the speed limit and stop at lights/stop signs.
Oh so many suggestions, I could go on and on.

I prefer suggestions. Lets face it, a lot of folks live here because of the lawlessness. I know many who dont cross Eight Mile unless they have to.

Jus stirrin the pot.

[Motor City Sam]

I have too many favorite things about Detroit to decide on what I like "best" but I'll say this: When I am sitting on the Riverwalk on a sunny day, drinking a Faygo Orange, munching on a Roast Beef sandwich from Lou's Deli, enjoying the views of the beautiful Detroit River while relaxing in the shadow of the HQ of one of the greatest companies in history, all while being surrounded by people of all races AND watching a bunch of good looking women stroll by, that's just about a perfect moment right there.

[Wheels]

best music scene ever. the best jazz festival and the home of techno, Motown and punk [[punk is debatable)

There should be no debate about punk. Long live Iggy!