On Detroit Yes!

**terryh** · July-05-10, 01:04 PM

I thought it may be interesting to find out why we post on this site, and how we discovered Detroit Yes. Obviously many of us share a common fascination/appreciation and or disdain of Detroit and its history-architecture, myself being intrigued by the enormity of the now rebounding city,and its ethnic history. I was doing a search of historical buildings in Detroit and this site sort of jumped out at me.

I think I would be correct in writing the majority of Dyes posters are either former-current residents of Detroit, or have an 'ancestral' connection-in my case my granparents having migrated to Detroit during the roaring-booming twentaies. Its interesting to read eyewitness accounts of riots, strikes and other incidents of social unrest. Ive found that perceptions and opinions of Detroit either are extremely critical and negative or hyper-sensitive-politically correct , my own critique fluctates between positve and pessimistic, depending on my mood or life experiences...anyways...

Say yes to DetroitYES and thanks again Lowell for the Synagogue and apartment ruins tours which were my introduction to this wonderful site!

**Crumbled_pavement** · July-05-10, 01:33 PM

A co-worker was bragging to me about the Riverwalk. I wanted to check it out so I went online to search for information and this is one of the sites that came up. I was intrigued that there was discussion about Detroit online, although that should not have been a surprise. The people on this site are extremely knowledgeable about facets of Detroit I had never even thought of. I'm definitely more educated about the city and its inner workings because of this site.

However, I was shocked to see the enormous amount of disparaging remarks made about Detroit on a site called DetroitYes. It seems you'd get beat down quick if you uttered a bad word about Chicago or Texas or NYC or any other place on the map, but it's open season on Detroit.

Just an observation, there is another site similar to this one called city-data.com. It has forums for all of the major U.S. cities. Out of all the forums I've visited on that site the one on Detroit is by far the most bitter, depressing, angry, and divisive one. With all the problems in NYC, D.C., Chicago, Newark, Cleveland, and many other cities in this nation, no group is more bitter and furious than the group that represents Detroit. It kind of puts in perspective why it is so hard for us to dig our way out of the hole we're in.

**terryh** · July-05-10, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

A co-worker was bragging to me about the Riverwalk. I wanted to check it out so I went online to search for information and this is one of the sites that came up. I was intrigued that there was discussion about Detroit online, although that should not have been a surprise. The people on this site are extremely knowledgeable about facets of Detroit I had never even thought of. I'm definitely more educated about the city and its inner workings because of this site.

However, I was shocked to see the enormous amount of disparaging remarks made about Detroit on a site called DetroitYes. It seems you'd get beat down quick if you uttered a bad word about Chicago or Texas or NYC or any other place on the map, but it's open season on Detroit.

Just an observation, there is another site similar to this one called city-data.com. It has forums for all of the major U.S. cities. Out of all the forums I've visited on that site the one on Detroit is by far the most bitter, depressing, angry, and divisive one. With all the problems in NYC, D.C., Chicago, Newark, Cleveland, and many other cities in this nation, no group is more bitter and furious than the group that represents Detroit. It kind of puts in perspective why it is so hard for us to dig our way out of the hole we're in.

The riverwalk is positively a step in the right direction-I used to suggest the Windsor riverwalk, but a bike trip along the river a couple years back exposed me to the vibrancy of the family friendly Detroit riverwalk..children were splashing in the fountain water spurting up from the ground-there is a very clean rest area with a carousel-some really colorful symetric landscaping in the rivertown district....

**Blueidone** · July-05-10, 02:57 PM

I discovered DetroitYes when I was searching for information on the ribbon farms of Detroit to show my grandchildren. One of the first items in the Google search was the thread on the old forum about them, which included loads of information and maps.

That was a couple of years ago...then came the urban gardening stuff posted by Cub and my involvement with Georgia Street.

I love the information posted here. I dislike the negativity of some and the occasional personal attacks. But if you think about a conversation taking place in person...in a room with say 50 people, the same thing is going to happen. So I just ignore the bad stuff and enjoy the good stuff.

Thanks from me as well, Lowell!

**Crumbled_pavement** · July-05-10, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Blueidone

Thanks from me as well, Lowell!

Yea, what Blueidone said x2.

**kathy2trips** · July-05-10, 03:30 PM

My interest is basically architecture, which I had come to appreciate through my dad, a Hamtramck-born bricklayer & stone mason. We'd drive through town and would point our good and bad construction techniques, composition, and some history. Those are some of my fondest memories of my dad.

I post here because the town I live in has torn down 95% of their 19th century buildings and about 40% of their pre-1970 buildings. There's nothing to get excited about unless you're a post-1970s design fan. [[Which I am not!) I also miss Detroit and it's a fun way to keep in touch with the old stomping grounds.

**Detroit Stylin** · July-05-10, 05:49 PM

[QUOTE=kathy2trips;160913]My interest is basically architecture, which I had come to appreciate through my dad, a Hamtramck-born bricklayer & stone mason. We'd drive through town and would point our good and bad construction techniques, composition, and some history. Those are some of my fondest memories of my dad.

I post here because the town I live in has torn down 95% of their 19th century buildings and about 40% of their pre-1970 buildings. There's noting to get excited about unless you're a post-1970s design fan. [[Which I am not!) I also miss Detroit and it's a fun way to keep in touch with the old stomping grounds.[/QU Wow that sound like a pretty bland landscape architecturally speaking. Where is that if i ma inquire?

**kathy2trips** · July-05-10, 08:58 PM

[quote=Detroit Stylin;160941]

Originally Posted by kathy2trips

I post here because the town I live in has torn down 95% of their 19th century buildings and about 40% of their pre-1970 buildings. There's noting to get excited about unless you're a post-1970s design fan. [[Which I am not!) I also miss Detroit and it's a fun way to keep in touch with the old stomping grounds.[/QU Wow that sound like a pretty bland landscape architecturally speaking. Where is that if i ma inquire?

Sure. Check this out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/telwink/3927863064/
Here is a modern panorama shot of my adopted-city's skyline shot from a similar place as the 1924 skyline. Run your cursor over both photos and it will show you the buildings that are in both photos. How many buildings are left in this photo today from 1924?

Five. And this is just one vantage point. There was one photo from the early 1900s that was taken from such a perspective that only ONE of the buildings in the old photograph remains today. Chilling. I wish I could remember where I'd seen it.

Now you see what I'm saying. For example, 0.0 of the old movie palaces remain. The Metropolitan, The Majestic, etc....all gone. Of course, if you like later architecture, it has a lot of nice modern and vintage-influenced things, and there are a lot more older residences than commercial buildings. Guess a city would have more buildings of a certain period, depending on when their growth spurt was.

**fryar** · July-05-10, 05:16 PM

I've been posting for a few weeks, only, though I did some lurking beforehand [[like most, I imagine). I spend time on here trying to figure out if I want to come back or not. I spent almost exactly three years living and working in downtown Detroit, from 2005-2008. Afterwards, I spent a year or so in DC before losing my job to the bad economy, or so I tell myself ;-). Before I found my current job, which allows me to work from home over the internet with a bit of travel thrown in, I moved in with my folks in suburban NYC. I also grew up around here. For the moment, I'm biting the bullet and paying off some debt, but the day will come when I will have to make a decision between renting some digs in New York and renting some digs in Detroit, and yet again "strike out on my own." I don't know what I'm going to do yet, since it would be really cool to get a place together with my brother and sister, for example. But if it's just going to be me, I don't know that I wouldn't just volunteer to proceed straight to getting gentrified out of there without the intermittent struggle to balance my checkbook enough to consume some kind of delectable excellence, like a slice of the world's finest cheesecake or something similarly [[self-)indulgent. Detroit's a little "plain" by comparison, but there's a lot more room here to actually "do" something, to produce something, with all those historic empty spaces that are just waiting to be turned into something cool, and with the undeniable shortage of walkable urban living spaces in SE Michigan. This could really work out, and some major anchors have already been established [[read, some pizza barons and such have thrown *a lot* of money at this), so there's every reason to believe that it will happen.
So I guess I'm on this board to see what people's take is on Detroit and what's happening here, people who are intelligent, observant, and in one way or another personally invested in the place. It's a way of catching up on the 2 years I have been gone.

**douglasm** · July-05-10, 06:45 PM

Long time ago [[2002, around Christmas?) I followed a link here. First thread I ever posted on was one about Christmas at Hudson's in the 50's. Why do I post? I love artecture, love the history, and, although I left Metro Detroit in '73, do still love and miss the city. Seattle's nice but......

**exmotowner** · July-06-10, 07:42 AM

I post because I stay homesick all the time. I miss Detroit but know I cannot come back there to live. Too much bad happened to me while I lived there to come back until I know the city is safe which I doubt it will be in my life time.

LodgeDodger · July-06-10, 08:02 AM

IIRC, I was looking for interior TPLEX photos. There was an online tour of the building's inside on this site. I lurked for quite some time before joining.

**kathy2trips** · July-07-10, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by exmotowner

I post because I stay homesick all the time. I miss Detroit.....

Oh, I know what you mean. Those "Pure Michigan" ads just rip me up. [[sniff!)
http://www.michigan.org/Topics/Pure-...s/Default.aspx

**rb336** · July-06-10, 08:11 AM

I enjoy the rumor mill of projects. every rumored renovation or repurposing of a building is a dream, and as long as people are willing to dream, there is hope for the city

**gnome** · July-06-10, 09:05 AM

I came here to meet the chicks.

**cman710** · July-06-10, 10:32 AM

I am one of the few people on the Forum who is not from Michigan, who never lived in Michigan, and who has no relatives who are from or who have ever lived in Michigan.

I first came to Detroit Yes! way back in the late 1990s or very early 2000s when [[at least to my perception), the tour of ruins was the most prominent aspect of the site. I became fascinated by the decay, and wanted to learn more about what had caused the decline of such a great city, and what could be done to improve it in the future. My interest remained casual for a long time, and eventually I discovered the Forum and occasionally took a look at it, but did not post at all. Then, in the summer of 2006, I had to come out to Ann Arbor for the wedding of one of my wife's friends, and convinced her to let us spend a day in Detroit. From that moment, I was hooked, and Detroit is now one of my favorite places. [[I've visited a total of 4 times now, with one other quick visit in which I did not get to do much.) In fact, this whole interest has led me to rethink my future in terms of career, and I am hoping to someday something more related to urban issues.

**fryar** · July-06-10, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by cman710

In fact, this whole interest has led me to rethink my future in terms of career, and I am hoping to someday something more related to urban issues.

I hear you on that one, CMan.

**kathy2trips** · July-06-10, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by cman710

I am one of the few people on the Forum who is not from Michigan, who never lived in Michigan, and who has no relatives who are from or who have ever lived in Michigan......this whole interest has led me to rethink my future in terms of career, and I am hoping to someday something more related to urban issues.

Very nice story, thank you for sharing that!

**Roq** · July-06-10, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by cman710

In fact, this whole interest has led me to rethink my future in terms of career, and I am hoping to someday something more related to urban issues.

Interesting. I'm in a similar situation.

I'm presently working on my second Masters in Technical & Professional Communications and this summer, I asked to take the Current Issues in Urban Design graduate course as an elective and was granted permission to do so.

I'm really enjoying it so far and I am sorely tempted to switch my degree program. I've been in contact with Prof. Boyle at WSU and it is an option I'm considering.

Oh and surfing the 'net looking for Detroit related sites brought me here.

**kathy2trips** · July-06-10, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

I came here to meet the chicks.

You do give good pix.

LodgeDodger · July-06-10, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

I came here to meet the chicks.

How's that working out for you?

**English** · July-06-10, 10:32 AM

Been here since mid-2003 and can't remember how I found this site B.G. [[before Google).

**sumas** · July-06-10, 10:46 AM

Gnome, you do mean the chickens and rooster at GSCG's right?

**papillonaquatique** · July-06-10, 10:55 AM

I just arrived here today by searching online for Detroit forums in order to find local residents who might be able to answer some of my questions.

**GOAT** · July-06-10, 11:52 AM

First noticed it in www.walkervilletimes.com in early 2000.

The reason? I love architecture, history and Detroit and Windsor. A healthy Detroit is healthy for Windsor...both cities complement each other.

I would love to see Detroit rise but honestly it is failing. I will call out each time some pollyanna states otherwise with some phony comparison to other fuctioning cities. At the same time the city and it's people deserve credit when they do things right.