Reasons you still believe in Detroit after all the sh**

[night-timer]

The title says it all. Tell me why. I am not a skeptic - I believe too, but what's your perspective... ?

[O3H]

Detroit needs to grow out of a generation regarding "old - thinking".
Unfortunately that takes a tremendous amount of time.
Until the city stops revolving around the automotive sector, its sunk.

[cla1945]

Detroit needs to grow out of a generation regarding "old - thinking".
Unfortunately that takes a tremendous amount of time.
Until the city stops revolving around the automotive sector, its sunk.

GM and Fiat Chrysler are two of the biggest contributors to Detroits tax base. Detroit is and will always be recognized as the "Motor City".
You may think it's "old-thinking", but the minute we do stop recognizing that fact, Detroit WILL be doomed...IMHO.

[Scottathew]

I still believe because in the 8 years I've worked downtown things have changed greatly. I know it's not the neighborhoods, but things are hustle and bustle now.

If Detroit can fix the schools, things will change even faster.

[Atticus]

I have hope, because I believe two of the biggest issues [[schools and transit) are on a path to eventually work themselves out.

In Detroit, people often say “we need transit” and “we need to fix the schools”. I think what most fail to realize is that good schools are good transit are the RESULT of a healthy community, and not the CAUSE of a healthy community.

The cold truth is that for the last generation or so, the majority of Detroit Public Schools students have come from broken, impoverished families whose parents have not taken an active interest in their kid’s eduction. This is obviously not true for every family, but when you look at DPS over the last 20 years, this has been the case for the majority of students.

This is what happens when you have a student base comprised almost entirely from low income neighborhoods. And I am sorry, but no reasonable amount of public investment, teacher training, or academic program is going to be able to overcome that. Compared to wealthier neighborhoods, schools in poor neighborhoods are not going to better prepare students for life. They are at a fundamental disadvantage.

However, as the city begins to turnaround, and more upper and middle class families return to the city, eventually the tide will turn. The families will change the schools at the grassroots level, which is really the only way the problem can be fixed. This will not happen overnight, and probably not in the next 10 years either. It will be a very slow process. But it will happen eventually.


As for transit, there are two reasons people use transit. They either use transit because 1) they can’t afford or aren’t able to drive, or 2) they use transit because it is preferable to other modes, like driving. From a social justice standpoint, we should increase transit for reason #1. But cynical as it is, the only way a region will actually get good transit is for reason #2.

And the truth is, there hasn’t been a reason for many years that people would actually want to take transit. Part of that is because most of the region is built suburban style, so transit doesn’t work. And part of it is because traffic congestion has not been bad enough that enough people would choose it over driving. Both of these are starting to change.

Traffic is getting worse, as the economy is getting healthier. And just as important, greater downtown is coming back with enough residential/employers/commercial etc. in a walkable setting that transit makes sense again. We still probably aren’t fully there yet, but we are getting close to the point where a car driver may find that transit actually could be more convenient for a given trip. Once that happens, voters will want more transit. It is important that our leaders then build transit that people want to use.

In both cases, it is a slow ride. But we are getting closer.

[casscorridor]

global warming making the rest of the country flooded, too hot and or drought-ridden

[MrMichigan]

I live in the city, work in the city, and go to school in the city [[all since 2015). Haven't really had any problems *knock on wood*.

[waz]

I started working downtown last summer for the first time in my [[long) life. It is so amazingly improved over what was there just five years ago, not to mention several decades prior. I sense a real energy on the streets now.
In addition, I made a career change last year and started supporting the local real estate market, among other industries. Real estate developments are happening in the city [[not just Brush Park and Midtown) at a pace that probably hasn't occurred since the Roaring 20's.
That's enough to make me believe.

[SammyS]

Drove through Downtown last night. Detroit really feels like a city. So much in so little time and momentum is only building.

[byromania]

I will always believe in Detroit and in all of the possibilities for renewed greatness. I am a native Angeleno, but moved to Detroit when I was six years old, in 1970. My childhood in Detroit was absolutely amazing! It was the best place ever to be a kid. I miss my time in Detroit. My family and I returned to Los Angeles in 1978, but my heart has remained in Detroit since then. I have to believe in "The Big D." It's a part of my DNA. The city is like an extended family member to me. I want Detroit to prosper, and it definitely looks like things are on the upswing!!

[professorscott]

The title says it all. Tell me why. I am not a skeptic - I believe too, but what's your perspective... ?

Maybe I shouldn't chime in here, because I am, at the moment, not in Michigan at all, but I'm an academic, so I can't help myself, so here goes.

1. Mike Duggan. It is really refreshing to see the city being managed professionally for someone who obviously cares a great deal about the people of Detroit, and is running the shop without a whiff of scandal.

2. Penske, Gilbert, Ilitch family, and a bunch of other people you don't know about. The streetcar wasn't paid for by Detroit taxpayers at all, none of it. The vast bulk of the money came from philanthropic NGOs [[Kresge foundation number one) and private philanthropists/investors. [[And I don't care whether they were doing it out of philanthropy or as an investment.) Peter Rogoff, the FTA administrator, told me he has NEVER seen a transit project with this amount of private investment, and Peter has been at this for a while.

3. DDOT. Yep, I said it: DDOT. After decades of mismanagement, possibly fraud, reductions in service, crime on the buses, and on and on, DDOT has assembled a team that has restored 24 hour service on many routes, implemented a new route that effectively extends the reach of the Woodward bus and the streetcar, restored service to Belle Isle, and moved basic metrics [[such as how many buses are on the road compared to how many are supposed to be) back to within normal levels.

4. SMART. Yep, SMART. After several years of severely slashing access between Detroit and the suburbs, the new FAST routes provide better service than anything I can remember... and I have been around for a while.

5. The awesomely nonpretentious, blue-collar nature of Detroit and its environs generally. Remember in the '90s when the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup for the first time in two generations, and they had that victory parade, and Al Sobotka was in the parade, riding in a float atop one of the Zamboni machines? And people along the route were chanting "Al! Al!" You may not realize this, but there aren't two cities in North America where the public generally knows the name of the guy who's the rink manager at the hockey arena.

I could go on and on but all this is making me hungry for a coney, and I can't get one here... I'll have to go on National's web site and place an order

-- your kindly old, and temporarily misplaced, professor

[DetroitSoldier]

I lived in Detroit from 2005 to 2011 as a single young man. Then I spent 7 years away on military duty in across the USA and Europe. I just moved back to the area at the completion of my military obligation.

I am about to move my family [[with a young child) into the city, buying a home not downtown or midtown but in a residential neighborhood. I cannot yet as a responsible parent with financial means send my child to DPS. But I believe there is great value in raising her in an environment that has potential to expose her to more than a cookie cutter suburb has to offer. It is a hell of a risk. I have received a lot of strange looks for this decision. But I stand by it.

You ask "why still believe in Detroit after all the shit"...because this "shit" is our home. There is a certain attitude here that is indescribable. I could have raised my daughter anywhere I wanted, and I picked Detroit. I have been privileged to travel to 49 states and 33 countries, meeting people all over the world, and I truly believe that Detroiters are some of the most genuinely good people in the world.

Speramus Meliora...

[canuck]

A lot of great posts on here. There definitely is a turnaround from the time I first kicked about on this forum in, oh, what was it; 1978? Chuckles.

It is heartwarming to see that
there is a lot less anger and disapproval of the city as years go on. I am happy to see that Duggan has a positive record for many, that the city's movers and shakers have put stock in the future of the heart of Detroit. You guys are resilient and your faith is backed up by a lot of actions and it is paying off!

[Zacha341]

It's still going to be tough to endorse Detroit as a destination to live when we have brutal home invasions/ ambushes like this occurring east and west sides of the city. This one Rosedale Park, two brothers killed. Crimes like this are particularly predatory and heiness.

Detroit brothers gunned down in ambush attack at home. Family member that shot back says he's 'done with Detroit...'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjCqpCJwVNg

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...ets-in-detroit

[Honky Tonk]

I lived in Detroit from 2005 to 2011 as a single young man. Then I spent 7 years away on military duty in across the USA and Europe. I just moved back to the area at the completion of my military obligation.

I am about to move my family [[with a young child) into the city, buying a home not downtown or midtown but in a residential neighborhood. I cannot yet as a responsible parent with financial means send my child to DPS. But I believe there is great value in raising her in an environment that has potential to expose her to more than a cookie cutter suburb has to offer. It is a hell of a risk. I have received a lot of strange looks for this decision. But I stand by it.

You ask "why still believe in Detroit after all the shit"...because this "shit" is our home. There is a certain attitude here that is indescribable. I could have raised my daughter anywhere I wanted, and I picked Detroit. I have been privileged to travel to 49 states and 33 countries, meeting people all over the world, and I truly believe that Detroiters are some of the most genuinely good people in the world.

Speramus Meliora...

Thanx for serving and Welcome Aboard, DS. Excellent post.

[DeLemur]

A little of the shit I'm having trouble with are the potholes and roads lately!

I have to echo Duggan, who is really a great operator of the city and has jumped extremely high over the low bar that was set. They way he gets it done could be argued about, but he gets it done and that's great.

The Foundations have been instrumental aka "The Grand Bargain". Thank you to Judge Rhodes as well! Gilbert has pumped a lot of money in as well. While

Detroit is feeling like a city and is making a worthy comeback. Crime, schools and education could hold it back but we will see. The Neighborhoods need strategic investment. Detroiters should connect with and speak to one another. We've had an extremely racist past here in Detroit so we have to be conscious of extreme differences. People making 400K a year are now back in town next to people at 25K a year. Are we going to get a long and make this work? You can't ignore the neighborhoods and full city.

I put up with the shit because Detroit can be unique, original and thus exceptional. It can hopscotch the ills of other cities if its willing to be bold. Be bold, true and unified Detroit.

[mikehamm45]

I am pro central city, Detroit is our central city, so I advocate for Detroit. Cheer for it, support it the best I can. Doesn't mean I believe in it... at least I have little to no confidence that the region will ever offer the support a central city needs to survive.

We are ever destined to be a sprawling suburban waste land

[Ray1936]

As my user ID indicates, I was born in Detroit in 1936. Lived there until 1984, except for four years in Dearborn during WW II. Dad's family moved to Detroit from Chicago about 1920 [[I can take the line back to 1530 in Devon, England, but I astray...........) I attended Parker and Monnier elementary schools, and Mackenzie High school, graduating in 1954. While in High School, worked at Fromm's Hardware at 8670 Grand River, and learned more there that did me good in later life than anything I learned at Wayne State -- but I admit I was a dropout. Hated it. Every fucking day. I astray again. Sigh.

Anyway, in 1955 I ended up working as a cadet in the Detroit Police Department, running switchboards and taking reports. Sworn in as a police officer in 1959; six years on motorcycles [[best six of my life!); a couple of promotions; and retirement from the Chief's Staff in 1984. Now, I have to note. I hate Michigan winters with a passion. Ain't so much for Spring, either, colder than a Titanic sinker. So I moved to southern Nevada, and life is good. All the above aside.

Except for weather, I loved Detroit, and the entire southeastern area. The fishing in the lakes of Oakland county are to die for. Visiting Windsor and a foreign country are just a ho-hum excursion for a Detroiter. And, as a history buff, Detroit is absolutely fascinating! 1701!! What a year!!!

Anyway, from my warm perch far away, I still love to keep up with what is going on in the old town, and from the posts above, it does seem all positive! There's a couple of guys on Youtube who post daily trips around town and the 'burbs that keep me up to date on structures, roadways, and all that. Tip of the hat to "TagumMotorCity", if any of you guys or gals know him.

Well, I rambled again. Us old farts tend to do that, y'know. But just wanted to share the thought that you can take the Detroiter out of Detroit, but you can't take the Detroit out of the Detroiter.

Cliche', but it works.

[detroitsgwenivere]

As long as Detroit doesn't become a police state, I'm not going anywhere.

Was here when it became mad max, will be here if it returns [[hope not).

[msamslex]

A few years ago, a relative who lives in Southfield thought I should move out there since all of our immediate relatives live within a few minute’s drive from each other. I’d be closer to family in case there was an emergency. I told her I wasn’t moving anywhere. Detroit has been my home for all of my life & I’ve known my next door neighbors for 40 years. We look out for each other. I had major surgery a few years ago, so I understand the reason why my relative suggested moving to Southfield, but even though Detroit has had more than its fair share of challenges, it’s home.

[Dan Wesson]

It's still going to be tough to endorse Detroit as a destination to live when we have brutal home invasions/ ambushes like this occurring east and west sides of the city. This one Rosedale Park, two brothers killed. Crimes like this are particularly predatory and heiness.

Detroit brothers gunned down in ambush attack at home. Family member that shot back says he's 'done with Detroit...'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjCqpCJwVNg

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...ets-in-detroit

Growing up and raising kids on the eastside became problematic. I too feel the same way Zacha...

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...oits-east-side

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...oits-west-side

[melvindaler]

I'm sorry, but this "comeback" people are talking about is BS, people are just in denial of how f****d Detroit is. In reality, there's absolutely no hope for Detroit.

[Richard]

I'm sorry, but this "comeback" people are talking about is BS, people are just in denial of how f****d Detroit is. In reality, there's absolutely no hope for Detroit.

I hate to break it to you but the posts above you prove how wrong you are and the reason Detroit will keep moving forward.

Unfourtantly the violence is in every city no matter where you go.

I really enjoyed reading this thread and hope people keep posting.

[melvindaler]

I hate to break it to you but the posts above you prove how wrong you are and the reason Detroit will keep moving forward.

Unfourtantly the violence is in every city no matter where you go.

I really enjoyed reading this thread and hope people keep posting.

Sure, some parts are improving. But it's not enough to be considered a comeback for the whole city. I seriously don't think that Delray, Boynton, and a majority of Detroit neighborhoods will ever improve.

To clarify, there are comebacks in some individual neighborhoods, but there's not enough for people to be able to say that Detroit as a whole is improving.

BTW I'm writing this at 2am so what Im saying might not even make any sense. #DontDoTheDewBeforeBed

[Tig3rzhark]

Detroit has risen from the ashes many times. From the fire of 1805, to the chaos of 1967.

This city has dealt with a lot of hardship and has risen time and time again.

The revival may take a while, but like our city motto: We hope for better things, it shall rise from the ashes.

That, is Detroit.