Surprised to hear Time bureau chief say . . .

[RealityCheck]

I found myself leaving town some days just to get away from the blight.

. . . Some people criticized me for shopping in Grosse Pointe, but I couldn't find fresh fruits and vegetables downtown except on Saturdays at Eastern Market."

-- Steven Gray, former bureau chief, 'Assignment Detroit'

With Harbortown Market just a mile from Time's house on Parker Street in the West Village, I sure wasn't surprised to hear grumbles and disappointment from a handful of local journalists in the back of the Masonic Temple ballroom where he and two senior Time editors spoke today at a Detroit Economic Club luncheon.

Most remarks by the magazine folks were more encouraging.

"We definitely increased scrutiny of Detroit around the world, whether that’s a good or a bad thing," said John Huey, editor-in-chief of all Time, Inc. publications. "We're now much more interested in Detroit and much more knowledgeable about the city. . . . If you really want to know what I think the most positive thing you can say about Detroit right now, it’s that it doesn’t feel nearly as desperate or as fearful as it felt a year and a half ago."

[detroitbob]

Wasn't Harbortown Market closed for most of the Assignment Detroit time?

[iheartthed]

Surely you got more out of this essay than that?

If you ask me, he just about hit the nail on the fucking head. The only thing I take issue with is that his call for "shrinking the city" are at odds with what he identifies as being needed to save Detroit [[re-densifying neighborhoods, transit).

Paradoxically, saving Detroit means redeveloping the area[[s) that have bled the most residents for the last 50 years; the city's core. I don't know how you can shut down these neighborhoods AND save the city.

[RealityCheck]

DetroitBob: Didn't know that . . . and agree it has a bearing, to say the least.

iheartthed: Thread was solely on lunch remarks, which I also actually got more out of than I posted in interest of brevity . . . and sensationalism, yes, ;-}

Hesitated to comment yet on 8-page print article in advance issue distributed at event, not yet online. Will post 2 excerpts on new thread to give forumers a sense.

[sumas]

Plenty of fresh produce places open in the market during the week too. East Jefferson has two other supermarkets. Indian Village market and the market at Riverbend. The Aldi's on Mack and Alter sells produce too. Then there's loads of markets on Gratiot, Harper, Warren and Mack. Then my favorite, Randazzo's on East Outer Drive. All these stores are quite assessable to West Village. Just can't buy into the myth there is no place in the city to get fresh produce.

[izzyindetroit]

What other markets are in GP besides Kroger and Trader Joe's? The Kroger has been closed for at least the past 6 months. Unless he is going to the one all the way up on Mack.

[bailey]

What other markets are in GP besides Kroger and Trader Joe's? The Kroger has been closed for at least the past 6 months. Unless he is going to the one all the way up on Mack.

Mulier's on kercheval near alter. Farms market on Fisher across from GP South. Village Market on Mack at Moran.

[lilpup]

The guy had preconceived notions and never tried to get to know the place or the people. The residents around him were squawking from the get-go that he was spending all his time in suburbia. Even Paul Smith on WJR had him pegged early on and called him out asking if his story was already written.

[Fnemecek]

Oh, dear - I thought we'd actually be able to go a couple of months without hearing someone or another complain about the lack of grocery stores in Detroit. I guess I was just naive.

Anyway, I posted a video rebuttal of all the place in my neighborhood on Detroit's far west side where they could have gone.

Maybe Time will do a follow up?

Or maybe I'll just keep dreaming of competent journalists.

http://warrendale.blogspot.com/2010/...n-detroit.html