Detroit/MI Tries to Lure Back Young People From Chicago/IL to Detroit/MI

**poobert** · December-07-12, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by illwill

I
One other thing... the size of a city doesn't matter because it's all about the people. I know for a fact that people in S.E. Michigan are nicer, we have morals, values, we have pride, we work harder, we're more innovative and creative, we're better educated than those in Chicago. This makes our region a more appealing place to me.

You're certainly entitled to feel that way, and I'm glad you like it here, honestly. However some of those are personal, qualitative statements, and a couple are just plain not true. We're not a well-educated region, as a whole, no matter how you slice it.

I will say this becomes the dangerous cheerleading that perpetuates our ability to ignore our problems. For the past 12 years I've been reading in the paper about how nice people are here, what salt-of-the-earth good homegrown folk people are here, so everyone should be happy and stay here [[they didn't)

I've had the opposite experience. Since the economy continually declined in the early 2000's people seem to be on edge and ready to snap. I find people here to be rude and churlish. Driving is a nightmare not because of the traffic [[there is none, because of the exodus) but the omnipresent aggressive driving and road rage. Race relations could not be worse. Economic insecurity has really fucked people up here. You look at somebody sideways and you don't know what's going to happen. How is that "nicer"?

**wolverine** · December-07-12, 03:02 PM

illwill there is no metric for your emotional response regarding a region having better morals and pride than the other. But no region with so much pride should let a great American city fall by the wayside like Detroit has. Just saying....

**runnerXT** · December-08-12, 11:33 PM

I'm chicago now for the weekend. i dont see what is so special about this city. its transit is not good and is dangerous. downtown is dead and in its trendy neighborhoods once you go three blocks from the lakefront is more dangerous than detroit by far. so chicago has three blocks from the lake that are trendy for a short distance. so... they have nothing on Midtown and its organic growth. Corktown is way more cool and rated higher than anything in Chicago. The shopping in downtown Chicago is empty and you can get better at Somerset and way safer. So whats the appeal? I just dont get it. This place is appealing for people from Gary Indiana and nothing more. Detroit has so much more to offer from shopping, architecture, coolness, trendy, safety, friendliness.

**313WX** · December-09-12, 01:04 AM

Originally Posted by wolverine

illwill there is no metric for your emotional response regarding a region having better morals and pride than the other. But no region with so much pride should let a great American city fall by the wayside like Detroit has. Just saying....

The bolded is really the bottom line, no matter how one feels about Chicago or Detroit.

**RaumVogel** · December-09-12, 06:38 AM

Here's a video of one of you're gutsy [[thank god) legislators telling the REBpublicans what they can do with their new "Right to Work" legislation. I moved away because I could never find a "pays a living wage" job.Unfortunately, where I am now isn't paying enough,either and the cost of living is on the rise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=AsI2xc_FYX0

**michimoby** · December-09-12, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by wolverine

illwill there is no metric for your emotional response regarding a region having better morals and pride than the other. But no region with so much pride should let a great American city fall by the wayside like Detroit has. Just saying....

"This is white supremacy, and we will fight you. And before we will let you take over our city, we will burn it down first." -- Malik Shabazz

All this talk around Detroit and the region having better morals and pride makes me chuckle. When a prominent activist in the city states that my fellow whites are supremacists trying to "keep the black man down", how am I supposed to believe that Detroiters are friendly and down-to-earth? And don't give me the line that Shabazz is a "bad apple"; I heard nearly the exact same narrative being pushed by the FD-NC representatives at the last City Council meeting I attended.

A lot of this discussion around Chicago's ills sounds like sour grapes, frankly. Chicago, in nearly all respects, is a superior option for anyone in my demographic with the means and mobility to live there. That's the bottom line.

I've made it clear why I stay in Detroit, even though I've had the option to leave presented before me literally dozens of times. Even my current, short-term stint in Rome hasn't been enough for me to slow my return to the D in a few weeks because, well, I've got a bunch of popcorn popping to see how the next twelve months plays out. But the hypothesis that one of Detroit's assets is its friendliness is horsepucky.

**Hermod** · December-09-12, 08:38 AM

I spent much of last week in Michigan staying in beautiful downtown Gingellville [[first G is hard, second G is soft). Every person I interacted with in the stores and in the bars was pleasant, courteous, and outgoing. The region is still good despite the flintiness of the central city.

**maverick1** · December-09-12, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

I agree with this.

There's a certain percentage of the population that want to join something. There's a much smaller percentage of the population that wants to build something.

We're all Joiners and Builders in different aspects. Though most people are 99% Joiners and 1% Builders, if that.

When I picked a career, I wanted something entrepreneurial, but I didn't want to start something from scratch. 50% Builder/50% Joiner. When I picked a kickball team to play on, I didn't want to build it, I just wanted to "show up". 1% Builder/99% Joiner. When I was in a jazz band, I wanted creative control, so I started my own. 100% Builder.

Neither is good nor bad. Detroit is not going to attract most of the "Joiner" crowd for quite a long time. But for those who are interested in "Building", we need to make sure we get our fair share of those instead of leaving them on the table.

And, in the long run, 10-20 years down the line, ask anyone who's been a builder...in the long run, the Builders are the most rewarded.

I think Snyder and others that want to attract people here should almost ignore those that left. Everyone I know that left here has no intention on coming back. The focus should be on attracting and keeping the Builders. Entrepreneurs and immigrants should be the main people we want here. Attracting people that are Joiners [[especially ones that use to be here) is an exercise in futility.

**Hermod** · December-09-12, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by maverick1

I think Snyder and others that want to attract people here should almost ignore those that left. Everyone I know that left here has no intention on coming back. The focus should be on attracting and keeping the Builders. Entrepreneurs and immigrants should be the main people we want here. Attracting people that are Joiners [[especially ones that use to be here) is an exercise in futility.

Unfortunately, Detroit ended up with an overpopulation of Eaters.