I only spent a few hours in Detroit, on a crazy road trip just before I moved to Seattle. It's one of the places in the 49 states I've seen that I never forgot.

I grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee, WI. No one talked much about Detroit, so all I knew about it was "Respect," and mentions in old movie musicals. It shocked me and hurt my heart while I was there, because it was so beautiful even with broken windows, and the people we met were so nice. Coneys are more than mere hotdogs, and I had the biggest, most authentic Greek salad I've ever seen stateside. It's haunted me ever since, which morphed recently into fascination and active research.

I love the tour on this site - it's exactly what I was looking for. Someone mentioned something in the thread about King Solomon Church, about abandoned churches interesting them more than other buildings. I think that's because structures where a lot of energy is raised, like churches, theaters, stadiums, or hospitals, for example, absorb a lot of that energy. I think that's why some buildings seem alive, even when they're abandoned. Detroit is full of them, and I think that's why I see such love for it.

Detroit seems, in a way, like the broken heart of the Midwest. The whole region was running like a well-oiled machine for the industrial revolution. Your city revolutionized industry. But the works went out, and pollution piled up, and no one wanted to live in the cities anymore. I'm so glad that I grew up where I did, and experienced the rough streets of Milwaukee instead. But I got an impression of a camaraderie among even strangers in Detroit, which I hope was true for the most part because it inspired me.

It's terribly romantic in my mind by now, because the deeper I delve, the more dramatic it gets. I just want to send love to the city and people who love it. I don't really understand why Detroit specifically, but I want to see something great happen there again.