Downtown Birmingham, a juvenile hang out spot

[BrushStart]

This is what happens when you have suburbs with nothing for teens to do. When they hit a certain age, they want to escape the isolation of their house and go around where all the people are. In the 'burbs, that includes shopping malls and small downtown areas, like Birmingham. Parents have no problem dumping their kids off in Birmingham because it is safe and nothing will happen, except the kids will run around, smoke cigarettes, and pretend to be "urban." To the snoods in Birmingham- deal with it. You reap what you sow.

Edit: Growing up in the suburbs, I craved a taste of the "city." I didn't know what was outside my own backyard. I thought the whole world was just one huge suburban nightmare. Even then I couldn't figure out why people wanted to live like that- I knew there must be something more. Kids hang out in downtown Plymouth, Northville, etc for that reason. Eventually, when I was about 16, I remember going to Ann Arbor, and it was like a playground. I spent every weekend there. I was never even exposed to Detroit other than going to a few Tigers games at the old stadium and going to the DMC a few times. My parents are still afraid of Detroit when they come downtown to visit me. They couldn't believe when I moved into the city. Kids that are exposed to the city at a younger age are not as fascinated with the city as suburban kids like me were. I still remember the first time my dad took me downtown for some show at COBO. I had no idea that there were skyscrapers in SE Michigan. I was wide-eyed for city life from that point on.