After reading the first few comments on that article, I am kind of glad people like that don't live down here. I know it takes all kinds, but they have a lot too learn, and I think some of them are too old to learn. After reading that, I don't feel that bad that they will be stuck in their treasured destructive suburbs thanks to the mortgage crisis, when those suburbs look like the areas they hate, in a decade or so.

I love living Downtown; DetroitMom, not as much. She is almost nine months pregnant, so she is not into walking anywhere. We are both very excited about having a baby in Downtown Detroit though. We are excited on to take her on the People Mover and eventual trolley. There are a good number of other kids/exptents in our building to play with. We plan on doing light picnics in Campus Martius and bar-b-ques on Belle Isle. I can't wait until she's old enough to go on the carousel on the Riverwalk, play in the GM fountain, go on the rides at Belle Isle, and go to a Tiger Game, concert, festivals, and maybe a couple Disney on Ice shows, or maybe the Rockets. We'll be able to walk to one of the Nations Thanksgiving Day Parade, a family tradition we started last year, and take the shuttle from MGM up to the State Fair. We'll be going to one of the nations largest firework shows in the Summer.

I'm sure Royal Oak has nice things too....

I can literally run downstairs to the convenient store or diners for most groceries. I can't tell you how many times I have started making something only to realize I forgot I was out of an ingredient, or how many times DetroitMom had a strange craving in the evening, and I didn't have to even leave my building [[if it's late night, sometimes I have to walk a few blocks further).

Places are actually open late or 24 hours, something not found in our previous cities and suburbs. Deliveries are also allowed here. Many suburbs don't do deliveries after six or eight. In Downtown Detroit, there are pizza places that deliver until 2am.

I guess some people like bedroom communities like Novi or the Pointes....

Reduced commute times mean I can spend time with my family, and I know I am helping save the environment for our kids. I am also just a few blocks away from home, should some emergency happen. Day cares are also just down the block, and there are plenty of college kids looking for babysitting work. DetroitMom and I can spend a night out at nice restaurants, theater, opera, or casino, and have the peace of mind that we are only a five minute walk from home, again, if there was an emergency.

I must admit, I wasn't happy with the school age children comment at the end of that Free Press article. The real problem in Detroit is high school, if your kids can't get into Cass Tech. Elementary school can be done in charter schools, and the Boll Family YMCA now offers preschool and kindergarten classes.

I guess some people like either caring for their lawns for entertainment in Livonia, or driving a half hour away from their kids for a date night from Canton.

Pharmacies, grocery stores, work, government offices, entertainment, the hospital, physicians, retail, dentists... all right around the corner from me.