Cool post at Time's Assignment Detroit

[RealityCheck]

Guest blogger Steve Savich, a Detroit area native now in Chicago, chronicles 36 Hours in Detroit -- a recent weekend visit shared with WSU student George Ambrozy + WSU '07 grad Robert Belloni. Karen Dybis sets the stage in a brief intro:

He and his friends hit all of their favorite haunts: bars. Oh, and a few stores and architectural gems.

. . . Here's one man's take on why Detroit is a great city -- and the beauty he sees.

Twenty-one images by Savich are at the end.

[Johnlodge]

Another photo essay where we are shown pictures that are all within one square mile of a 139 square mile city and told "Look! Detroit is actually really nice!" I think we've all been around long enough to have seen that schtick before, but maybe some of Time's other readers will go for it, and I suppose that isn't a bad thing.

Of course these things are never complete without an uncomfortably tight cropped shot of Slow's that is careful what it lets in the frame.

[DetroitPlanner]

Only thing that would make this better is if those fools rode their bikes off the roof of the train station. The pics combine two of the things that annoy me the most. Bicyclists doing tricks on public sculpture and breaking into buildings under the guise of preservationists.

[English]

^ ...because of course, no one in the country has seen images of blight and abandonment in Detroit! Someone ought to correct this immediately!

Good journalism is supposed to inform us about not only the bad, but also signs of hope.

[buzzman0077]

Also it's like anytime someone does any story on most any city in the world. They don't show you all the blocks of gettos and say look at our city. They always show you their favorite part which for the most places in most cities can be fit within a couple square miles largely ignoring the remainder of the city. Quit hating on what's cool about Detroit.

[Stosh]

I kind of like the idea of showing both sides of a story. It's all in the perspective, I guess. I can stand at Campus Martius and enjoy the rebuilt square and the Compuware building, or gripe that Hudson's and Kern's and Crowley is gone. Same with any neighborhood or city anywhere else.

There are good and bad aspects in anything. Learning to appreciate what is there and working to possibly replace what is gone is what's needed. I think a single positive article doesn't wipe away the volumes of ruin porn or negative postings, but take it for what it is.

[ronaldj]

TIME is always behind the times. When I worked at a major bookseller, I had the opportunity to read and buy specialized magazines. It was always surprising to see information in TIME or NEWSWEEK six or seven months after I was aware of it.

Sort of like Detroit Yes. What usually appears here shows up in the Free Press and News a few days to a week later.

[RickBeall]

It's good to hear positive stories. Breaks up the monotony of hearing the bricks fall one by one. Loosen up guys.


You complain about the bad stories, you complain about the good stories. Is there a pattern here? And where might that pattern lay? Lay down on my couch here in the ruined David Whitney building. Look at that stain on the wall and tell me what it looks like?

It looks like a happy face? Excellent!

That will be $100. Next!

[DetroitScooter]

Those guys should get a special package in the mail - tickets for B+E at the train station. Only the stupid do that and post pics on the 'net. Nice move, guys.

[RealityCheck]

. . . it's like anytime someone does any story on most any city in the world. They don't show you all the blocks of gettos and say look at our city. They always show you their favorite part.

Obviously . . . 'specailly when it's not actually a reported 'story,' but rather -- as clearly stated -- "one man's take on why Detroit is a great city -- and the beauty he sees."

Writer/photog Steve Savich responded to the Time blogger's invitation "to document a weekend in Detroit" with two buddies." No more, no agenda, no need to avoid familiar sites.

As for RickBeall: Well-said. Loosen up guys, indeed.

[mpow]

Yes, I agree, lighten up folks. The reality of a city is how you experience it and the writer evidently had a blast in Detroit.

[GRALR]

We had a blast in Detroit too! It was all so mind-blowing! Lots of good, lots of bad, but that is Detroit.

[Mackinaw]

That post may tell a fairly tired story from where all of us are sitting, but at least it advertises something positive and perhaps not so well-known to observers on the outside.

[downtownguy]

Sorry, but the blog didn't do much for me. Which is the way I feel about most of the Assignment Detroit coverage so far.

Savich's writing is dull and his photos have no soul. Why not use someone who still lives in Detroit to do this blog? Certainly we have enough creative writers and photographers living here.

[BVos]

Bitch, bitch, bitch. Is this all anyone does these days on DetYes? Lowell should change the URL to DetroitBitches.com if this is all y'all are going to do. One of the largest news agencies in the world sets up shop for a year and runs feature stories in multiple publications as well as an exclusive blog for a whole year and all you can do is complain & nit-pick about it? Get real!

[RealityCheck]

Amen, BVos. It certainly does get tiresome and tedious.

[Lonyo exit]

I suppose we hicks should be totally uncritical and just lap up whatever is written about us, without analysis, or discussion, or examination, right?

[Fury13]

It's good to hear positive stories. Breaks up the monotony of hearing the bricks fall one by one. Loosen up guys.


You complain about the bad stories, you complain about the good stories. Is there a pattern here? And where might that pattern lay? Lay down on my couch here in the ruined David Whitney building. Look at that stain on the wall and tell me what it looks like?

It looks like a happy face? Excellent!

That will be $100. Next!

That's pretty damn funny, Rick.

[bailey]

I suppose we hicks should be totally uncritical and just lap up whatever is written about us, without analysis, or discussion, or examination, right?

No, but how about saving the righteous indignation for the usual drive by/hit articles that masqureade as serious journalism ? Let's keep in mind this was an account of a 36 hour visit to Detroit by a 20-something kid, not an in-depth piece on the many issues facing Detroit. It was a puff piece. and yes, it was of the tired "Hey Detroit wasn't as bad as I thought" genre. But a) it was meant for a wider readership than just a Detroit/SeM audience; and b) I'll take one of those in the national press over the standard "Detroit; why it's a shithole and why it will never be anything more than a shithole" article.

[Lonyo exit]

I wasn't referring to that piece, which was essentially harmless. I was talking about the project in its entirety.

[ziggyselbin]

I wasn't referring to that piece, which was essentially harmless. I was talking about the project in its entirety.

I suppose it is just human nature but most of us want the story to be told the way we think it should be told. So we are hyper critical because of course "they"[[time in this case) are doing it all wrong.

People outside of this area I am sure if interested are content with what they are reading. Besides it is probably best that this whole thing be done by somewhat objective means.

[RealityCheck]

. . . probably best that this whole thing be done by somewhat objective means.

Well-said, Ziggy.

I like that "somewhat objective" phrase, referring to what should be the goal of Assignment Detroit and all reported journalism.