Why did you STAY in Detroit?

**GOAT** · January-05-10, 04:53 PM

Since we have a "why did you leave Detroit" thread. Retroit thought up another one for why did you stay?

Any takers?

**EastsideAl** · January-05-10, 04:56 PM

Detroit is my home.

Retroit · January-05-10, 05:42 PM

Thanks GOAT. I was actually trying to be sarcastic, but now that I think of it, I guess I am interested in why people stay and put up with the crime that those who have left say caused them to leave.

**R8RBOB** · January-05-10, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by Retroit

Thanks GOAT. I was actually trying to be sarcastic, but now that I think of it, I guess I am interested in why people stay and put up with the crime that those who have left say caused them to leave.

Based on this statement, you would think that everyone in Detroit wake up everyday seeing rapes, burglaries, homicide, dope dealing, sodomy, money laundering, identify theft, carjacking, bank robberies, riots, etc... Sorry to disappoint you but not everyone witnesses crime and some of us don't life in a warzone.

**DetroitPlanner** · January-05-10, 05:06 PM

I would not know where I would move to if I would leave.

**DocCherry** · January-05-10, 05:47 PM

I'd rather deal with crime than yuppies.

**jbd441** · January-05-10, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by DocCherry

I'd rather deal with crime than yuppies.

Hey! I resemble that!

**jt1** · January-05-10, 06:03 PM

I thought those that left have made it clear that those of us that live here are just too darn poor to move out.

Retroit · January-05-10, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by jt1

I thought those that left have made it clear that those of us that live here are just too darn poor to move out.

So, if you could afford to move out, you would?

[[might be a good idea for yet another thread)

**jt1** · January-05-10, 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by Retroit

So, if you could afford to move out, you would?

I live in Detroit - it is abundantly clear from that statement alone that I am uneducated, impoversihed, living on welfare and more than likely a criminal.

If only I could get more welfare money I could 'move on up.'
I guess I'll just go find a line for a hand out somewhere since I am a Detroit resident so I am unwilling to work.

Retroit · January-05-10, 06:44 PM

Sorry, I didn't sense the sarcasm in your first post.

**jt1** · January-05-10, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by Retroit

Sorry, I didn't sense the sarcasm in your first post.

Then in that case accept my apologies for the follow up sarcasm.
I remain in Detroit for a few reasons:

1. I want to see the city improve and the only way to help is with my vote, dollars and volunteering.
2. 90% of my friends live in the city - being close to friends is important to me and makes my life enjoyable
3. There is nowhere in Michigan that I would enjoy enough to lure me out of the ctiy. If Michigan offered better options I would consider leaving but I just don't see any place in this mess of a state jumping out at me.

**agirlintheD** · January-05-10, 07:45 PM

I've been told I'm like the abused wife. They stay because leaving sometimes hurts more. Odd analogy, but.....

**agirlintheD** · January-05-10, 07:57 PM

Truth be told...I love the city...her rich history. The incredible architecture [[what hasn't been demolished). The memories I've made with so many. The memories still to come. Most of all, I think many of us stay because we aren't quitters. We've been rocked by hard times before. We'll be rocked by hard times again. We are, for all intents and purposes, "still standing". We are gritty, but clean up well. We appreciate what we still have. And if starting at square one is what it takes, I'm certain there will be others standing next to me to rebuild from the basics.

Ravine · January-05-10, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by agirlintheD

Truth be told...I love the city...her rich history. The incredible architecture [[what hasn't been demolished). The memories I've made with so many. The memories still to come. Most of all, I think many of us stay because we aren't quitters. We've been rocked by hard times before. We'll be rocked by hard times again. We are, for all intents and purposes, "still standing". We are gritty, but clean up well. We appreciate what we still have. And if starting at square one is what it takes, I'm certain there will be others standing next to me to rebuild from the basics.

Maybe I should be more blunt.
This post, above, is a bunch of double-talk. The question, by my interpretation, was not a matter of philosophy or related to college-level humanities courses.
The question was "why do you stay," not "can you think of a bunch of impersonal, cheerleading bullshit that sounds good."

We're not trying to win a spot on Diddy's team, here. A little honesty about why your ass is still in this city is all that we need. It's that simple.

**agirlintheD** · January-05-10, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by Ravine

Maybe I should be more blunt.
This post, above, is a bunch of double-talk. The question, by my interpretation, was not a matter of philosophy or related to college-level humanities courses.
The question was "why do you stay," not "can you think of a bunch of impersonal, cheerleading bullshit that sounds good."

We're not trying to win a spot on Diddy's team, here. A little honesty about why your ass is still in this city is all that we need. It's that simple.

Hmm....why is my ass still in THIS city? Because it's home. Plain and simple. No impersonal, cheerleading bullshit that sounds good.

**EastsideAl** · January-05-10, 09:56 PM

I can easily afford to leave. In fact, I did leave, and came back. Why? Because, like I said above, Detroit is my home. I'm also an urban person by nature, and as someone above said, this is the only major city in Michigan, so where else would I go? I really have no interest whatsoever in suburban living. And Detroit is the center for Michigan of a lot of the things I'm interested in: art, music, sports, history, and architecture. Detroit does have its problems, big problems, to be sure, and, yes, I've been a victim of crime here [[as I have been in NYC, SF, LA, and London), and, yes, it can be heartbreaking and does drive me a bit crazy at times. But it is my history, my family's history, my hometown, which is in trouble and I'd rather be here to help and to preserve what's here for the future than outside with my back turned or casting stones.

**Gsgeorge** · January-05-10, 08:01 PM

Cheapest rent, best friends, more culture than Brooklyn's little pinkie, and a fascinating place in general to spend your time.

Ravine · January-05-10, 08:18 PM

Please, folks. No one stays in Detroit because of the architecture or rich cultural history.

I cannot afford to move.
My job-- and I'm the only one working-- is here.
My mother-in-law, to whom my wife is 100% devoted, is here.
I was born in this area. Moved into the actual city 35 years ago. Have been in this house for 30 years.
Detroit is where I'm from, basically, and I live here.

But, if I could afford to move, and the wife/mom-in-law thing wasn't involved, I probably would do it, yeah.
And a lot of it is about the weather. Now that I'm, well, not young, the cold & damp is effecting me in ways that, earlier, it did not. I think I'm taking on me dear sainted mum's arthritis of the hands, and the cold & damp really helps with that, just wonderful, yeah, aching fingers is a terrific feeling.

**R8RBOB** · January-05-10, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by Ravine

Please, folks. No one stays in Detroit because of the architecture or rich cultural history.

I cannot afford to move.
My job-- and I'm the only one working-- is here.
My mother-in-law, to whom my wife is 100% devoted, is here.
I was born in this area. Moved into the actual city 35 years ago. Have been in this house for 30 years.
Detroit is where I'm from, basically, and I live here.

But, if I could afford to move, and the wife/mom-in-law thing wasn't involved, I probably would do it, yeah.
And a lot of it is about the weather. Now that I'm, well, not young, the cold & damp is effecting me in ways that, earlier, it did not. I think I'm taking on me dear sainted mum's arthritis of the hands, and the cold & damp really helps with that, just wonderful, yeah, aching fingers is a terrific feeling.

I agree with you. I love Detroit because I was born here but if I could leave, I would, to go back to the west coast.

It is not the "crime" that would make me leave again, it's the weather.

MichMatters · January-06-10, 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by Ravine

Please, folks. No one stays in Detroit because of the architecture or rich cultural history.[

Who the hell are you to tell someone why they choose to stay in Detroit? In fact, you've already done it twice. You're awfully bold. This isn't some objective test with a right or wrong answer, and I think even as dense as you're playing to be I'm sure you realize that.

LodgeDodger · January-06-10, 04:16 AM

Originally Posted by MichMatters

Who the hell are you to tell someone why they choose to stay in Detroit? In fact, you've already done it twice. You're awfully bold. This isn't some objective test with a right or wrong answer, and I think even as dense as you're playing to be I'm sure you realize that.

You say that as if it's a bad thing.

Ravine · January-06-10, 07:31 AM

Yeah, really. Are "basic bold people" no longer welcome around here?

My statements convey my opinion, a fact which should be obvious enough to be implicit. I'm not going to preface, or conclude, everything I write with stupid crap like "IMHO," especially since there is nothing H about my O, although I do believe that, on some occasions, my non-H O does HOld some H20.

I wasn't launching an assault on the poster to whom I referred. She's probably a good & decent person, and I notice that she responded to my remarks without getting all whiny & over-reactive, which is more than I can say about... ah, never mind. I just didn't buy into her initial comments.

And just for the record, what with all of the carefully-phrased, but truly nasty, posts that are tossed around this forum on a daily basis, it will be a Cold Day In Hell before I run off to get a goddam permission slip signed by the boss before I say what I think.

That is "who the hell" I am, and-- unlike so many others, around here-- you don't have to read between my lines, now do you?

**Det_ard** · January-05-10, 08:31 PM

I'm in Detroit because my car broke down and my pregnant wife and my kids are back in the car waiting for me but I need another $1.10 to get the bus to Pontiac so I can get my tools and a fan belt and come back to fix the car, so can I have $1.10 now, sir, can I please? God bless.