Lifting Detroit Up Today... and Everyday!

[Buy American]

I will take a page from several other posters and send hugs.

Shit does happen here but I don't like to feed the trolls. Same shit happens in the burbs. It just isn't televised. Does anyone know that when Lakeside Mall opened a security guard was murdered? That never hit the news.

Oops, I am trying to be positive. I remember a book that was published years ago, entitled, When bad things happen to good people. Great title, stupid book!

Believe me, I was once very positive about Detroit. I worked for the City of Detroit, was proud of what I did. As I have said in many of my posts before, I love Detroit, it's my hometown....I just don't like what its' become...AND I don't see any bright lights at the end of any tunnel either. Until something can be done about the drugs and dealers, gangs and corruption in City Hall, not much is going to change. Felons are appointed, appointees are stealing, politicians are raping and pillaging...are there any roll models for a young person in Detroit to follow? I don't think so. Someone, and I don't know who that someone could be, needs to go in and clean Detroit from the top where all the fat is, down to the bottom. Honesty and integrity is non-existent. It seems to me that when money is made readily available for any elected official, whether it be for the City of Detroit or DPS, they just take it. Then, the hide behind all the preachers and clergy with storefront churches when they are caught. The sad part about that is that the residents continually give these thieves first, second and third chances. Why?

I have never said there is no crime in the suburbs, but there is absolutely no comparison in any stretch of the imagination that it equals Detroit. To say it's not publicized or televised is irresponsible. To mention a murder at Lakeside in 1976 is irresponsible. Show me statistics that come close to Detroit's crime rate and maybe I'll agree with you, but until then, don't tell me the same shit happens in the burbs.

[DetroitDad]

Believe me, I was once very positive about Detroit. I worked for the City of Detroit, was proud of what I did. As I have said in many of my posts before, I love Detroit, it's my hometown....I just don't like what its' become...AND I don't see any bright lights at the end of any tunnel either. Until something can be done about the drugs and dealers, gangs and corruption in City Hall, not much is going to change. Felons are appointed, appointees are stealing, politicians are raping and pillaging...are there any roll models for a young person in Detroit to follow? I don't think so. Someone, and I don't know who that someone could be, needs to go in and clean Detroit from the top where all the fat is, down to the bottom. Honesty and integrity is non-existent. It seems to me that when money is made readily available for any elected official, whether it be for the City of Detroit or DPS, they just take it. Then, the hide behind all the preachers and clergy with storefront churches when they are caught. The sad part about that is that the residents continually give these thieves first, second and third chances. Why?

I have never said there is no crime in the suburbs, but there is absolutely no comparison in any stretch of the imagination that it equals Detroit. To say it's not publicized or televised is irresponsible. To mention a murder at Lakeside in 1976 is irresponsible. Show me statistics that come close to Detroit's crime rate and maybe I'll agree with you, but until then, don't tell me the same shit happens in the burbs.

As to the suburbs, generally I think plenty of suburbanites have a hand in Detroit's corruption and crime. Why poo poo in your own yard when you can do it in you neighbor's with no consequence or retribution? Sadly, a state takeover of Detroit may be the only thing that will truly end much of the madness. What does amaze me is that even with all the FBI digging and publicity from the rest of the nation, no one can seem t o figure out what the problem is.

Something tells me BuyAmerican and some others have a better idea than most, which might be why they are so melancholy.

BuyAmerican, it has been said that some of the changes in view between the young and old [[around here) seems to be in that the young have never seen Detroit better than it's worst, so to them the recent improvements make Detroit look pretty good. It is very hard for young people to imagine Detroit with twice it's population, where everything was perfect.

The comments on some posts here, about how great Detroit used to be, always strike me as odd. If Detroit was so great.... why did everyone leave?

It seems that we often resent the present. I'm not sure if it was actually better back then, or if our elder's memories are really of a past full of nostalgia for a past that was actually resented at the time. Either Detroit was never that perfect, or it was a case of not knowing what one had until they gave it all away. It's funny how NO ONE ever seems to admit that they gave the Detroit of the past up, they blame everyone around them, and they "ended up just fighting the times", or so they say. But, whatever Detroit of yesteryear was or was not, they/we did give it all away, didn't they/we?

[Buy American]

As to the suburbs, generally I think plenty of suburbanites have a hand in Detroit's corruption and crime. Why poo poo in your own yard when you can do it in you neighbor's with no consequence or retribution? Sadly, a state takeover of Detroit may be the only thing that will truly end much of the madness. What does amaze me is that even with all the FBI digging and publicity from the rest of the nation, no one can seem t o figure out what the problem is.

Something tells me BuyAmerican and some others have a better idea than most, which might be why they are so melancholy.

BuyAmerican, it has been said that some of the changes in view between the young and old [[around here) seems to be in that the young have never seen Detroit better than it's worst, so to them the recent improvements make Detroit look pretty good. It is very hard for young people to imagine Detroit with twice it's population, where everything was perfect.

The comments on some posts here, about how great Detroit used to be, always strike me as odd. If Detroit was so great.... why did everyone leave?

It seems that we often resent the present. I'm not sure if it was actually better back then, or if our elder's memories are really of a past full of nostalgia for a past that was actually resented at the time. Either Detroit was never that perfect, or it was a case of not knowing what one had until they gave it all away. It's funny how NO ONE ever seems to admit that they gave the Detroit of the past up, they blame everyone around them, and they "ended up just fighting the times", or so they say. But, whatever Detroit of yesteryear was or was not, they/we did give it all away, didn't they/we?

You are right about me and others being meloncholy about what Detroit has become. When I speak of the love I had for Detroit, this goes back to the 40's, 50's and part of the 60's; after those years, the decline began. Detroit was better back then. Detroit was far from perfect, but it was a great city with a crowded downtown, a crowded Belle Isle and safe schools where kids actually learned a thing or two, where kids respected their teachers, where kids never EVER thought of disrespecting a teacher, let alone attacking one.

Lives were pretty simple then. Neighbors knew each other, people were friendly and were always there with a helping hand should you need it. There were no vacant homes on any street where I lived or in my neighborhood. Kids could play outside until the street lights came on and no one worried about a drive by shooting or a firebomb coming through a window or a stray bullet hitting a sleeping baby in a crib. There were no drug dealers that I ever saw...I'm sure they existed, but we never saw them on street corners in my neighborhood. You could take a bus or a street car anywhere in the City. Adults and children respected the police. Services from the City were pretty good. These are not dreams of mine, these are actual happenings.

Buying a small little bungalow in NE Detroit, working for Detroit, raising children, was good. Then, something happened. One family would move from the block, perhaps after retiring and someone else would move in. Those that moved in didn't have the same mindset that we all had and chose to do their damdest to alienate themselves from everyone. They chose to throw trash on their front lawns, park on the grass, park on other neighbors grass and dare you to object; they would break windows, smoke dope, play loud music at all hours of the day and night...they didn't care about our quiet neighborhood because they were there to take it over. Eventually, they and others like them did just that...they ran everyone out. It took me 15 years to realize that I needed to get my family out of this dangerous place. When you're afraid to have your children come home at night because of an element of people who are just looking for a pretty young girl to beat up or rape, that's when nothing else mattered except to get them to safety.

When I left my home, the City had me fix things that I had lived with for over 30 years. Little things like a slanted driveway slab, an outlet in the basement that didn't work, a gutter that had a pinhole in it. My house was in better condition than it ever was. A year after I left, I went back and was amazed at the condition of that home. Bars on the front door, bars on the windows, broken windows, curtains hanging out of the windows, a car on the front lawn, no grass left, trash everywhere...and why is that?

I didn't give Detroit up....Detroit gave up on itself. Detroit allowed this decline to happen because they allowed corruption, drug dealers, gangs and kids with no fathers to run rampant. Detroiters of today want to have things their way or no way. They don't want help from me or any of the "suburbanites". How can anyone blame others who don't live in Detroit any longer for how it has turned out? Isn't it time that Detroiters take responsibility for their own actions and turn the City around themselves?

This may be a rambling post, but yes, I am meloncholy and heartsick that Detroit has turned into the joke of the nation. When I and my friends and other family members lived there, it was a vibrant City...our leaving it didn't turn it into what it is today. Those that inherited it did that dirty deed.

[Maxine1958]

Buy American, if I knew who you were, I'd give you a big hug.

I told basically the same story as you on another thread a few months back and got royally beaten up for it.

I was born and raised in the city. Lived there all my life. As did my parents and grandparents. But the city changed. And for much the same reasons you spoke of, my family and I left the city for the safety of the suburbs. Where I didn't have to worry about my mom living alone next to a family with 5 teenaged boys who seemed to be without adult supervision 90% of the time. Where we didn't have to chain the car hood down to the frame to keep a battery for more than two days. Where we didn't have to chain the garage door and have a flood light in the yard to keep our lawn mower and other tools through the seasons. Where we thought twice about attending events that might bring us back home too late in the evenings.

We managed to keep our house neat, clean and repaired without much money. Why then couldn't our new neighbors do the same? Why where their windows broken out? Why were their gutters hanging or torn off? Why didn't they cut their lawns or pick up the trash around their houses?

All the arguments that the reason for Detroit's demise is 'white flight' don't make a lot of sense to me. I'd love to have that house back. Or any of the houses my family and friends lived in. They were lovely houses. Until the 'next' family moved in.

I'd like to hear the reasons for that.

[Buy American]

Buy American, if I knew who you were, I'd give you a big hug.

I told basically the same story as you on another thread a few months back and got royally beaten up for it.

I was born and raised in the city. Lived there all my life. As did my parents and grandparents. But the city changed. And for much the same reasons you spoke of, my family and I left the city for the safety of the suburbs. Where I didn't have to worry about my mom living alone next to a family with 5 teenaged boys who seemed to be without adult supervision 90% of the time. Where we didn't have to chain the car hood down to the frame to keep a battery for more than two days. Where we didn't have to chain the garage door and have a flood light in the yard to keep our lawn mower and other tools through the seasons. Where we thought twice about attending events that might bring us back home too late in the evenings.

We managed to keep our house neat, clean and repaired without much money. Why then couldn't our new neighbors do the same? Why where their windows broken out? Why were their gutters hanging or torn off? Why didn't they cut their lawns or pick up the trash around their houses?

All the arguments that the reason for Detroit's demise is 'white flight' don't make a lot of sense to me. I'd love to have that house back. Or any of the houses my family and friends lived in. They were lovely houses. Until the 'next' family moved in.

I'd like to hear the reasons for that.

Thanks Maxine, I consider myself hugged by you. I expected to get more flack from my post and it's been strangely quiet. You know exactly what I was talking about and I believe there are many many more out there that feel the same way.

I would still be in Detroit if the neighborhood hadn't gone to hell so quickly. That little 800 sq. ft. bungalow that we lived in with one bathroom was perfect for us and our plans were to stay, pay it off and live there for the rest of our lives. In my mind, it was just common sense to keep the neighborhood clean. Our elderly neighbors would get out there every morning in their housecoats and literally sweep the street in front of their house. If a newspaper got loose and blew around, we all picked it up and did our best to live in a nice place. However, to some, the neighborhood didn't matter or they just didn't know how to live with the human race. They didn't care about the house they lived in but they all had nice cars with thousands of dollars worth of speaker equipment in the trunk to blow our windows out with every chance they got. My family was very sad to leave but anxious to get out of danger.

Thanks again.

[2blocksaway]

I didn't give Detroit up....Detroit gave up on itself. Detroit allowed this decline to happen because they allowed corruption, drug dealers, gangs and kids with no fathers to run rampant. Detroiters of today want to have things their way or no way. They don't want help from me or any of the "suburbanites". How can anyone blame others who don't live in Detroit any longer for how it has turned out? Isn't it time that Detroiters take responsibility for their own actions and turn the City around themselves?

Best. D.Y. Paragraph. Ever. EVER!

[DetroitDad]

I didn't give Detroit up....Detroit gave up on itself. Detroit allowed this decline to happen because they allowed corruption, drug dealers, gangs and kids with no fathers to run rampant. Detroiters of today want to have things their way or no way. They don't want help from me or any of the "suburbanites". How can anyone blame others who don't live in Detroit any longer for how it has turned out? Isn't it time that Detroiters take responsibility for their own actions and turn the City around themselves?

Who is Detroit?

[Retroit]

I affirm to remain positive about the positive and negative about the negative!

For alsodave's information, many blacks are just as upset about what has happened in Detroit as whites are. Many of them are also leaving. Is it racist when good black people don't want to live near bad black people? Your assumption that a reference to a bad neighbor is an indication of their skin color reveals a racist tendency on your part. Good people don't want to live near bad people regardless of color.

[alsodave]

Thanks for the information, Retroit, but it's something that I'm already aware of.

Of course good people want to live around other good people, regardless of color. I live, work and shop in areas that are populated by all kinds of good people, regardless of color. There's even a few not so good people around those places, again regardless of color.

Make all of the assumptions you want about me, but I stand by my post.