In praise of Detroit

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Max Webster
Can anybody name the rock groups that came out of Detroit.

I can name some. I think i have these right.

Kiss
White Stripes
MC5
Ted Nugent

No city should ever feel anything but shame that it's Ted Nugent's hometown.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Jac de Molay
I love it when people take two steps out of their hotel and pass a summary judgement on a place...

What good is all of that when you feel like you can be mugged and/or killed at any random moment?

Detroit may have a lot of stuff, but that's kind of pointless given how polluted and crime-ridden and poverty-strickin it is.

[Jac de Molay]

Downtown New York is crime-ridden, the streets smell like piss, and amputee panhandlers menace you for money. Does that mean checking it out is "pointless"? Go ahead and live in your suburban plastic bubble if you're too scared.

Again, you don't KNOW because you've never spent time here, but rely on stereotypical, lame-ass perceptions from other people who don't KNOW because they can't be bothered to check it out for themselves.

[Kontiki]

Hmmm....

http://www.morganquitno.com/safecity7.htm

[Wezil]

I see Flint listed near the bottom with Detroit.

[Jac de Molay]

And Atlanta is second....ooh too scary to visit atlanta I reckon.

[Wezil]

Nah, just many, many, nicer places to go.

Sorry about your luck.

[Jac de Molay]

Yeah, like Compton, CA

[Donegeal]

The fact that Detroit has lured sports' biggest showcase twice, while New York and Chicago have yet to host a Super Bowl, says all you need to know about Motown as a sports town.

Actually this only goes to show what a wussy town Detroit is. There are only two rules and one exception to make you eligiable to host a Superbowl:

1) The city must have a team in the NFL.
2) The city must be in a fair weather environment (Tampa, San Deigo, LA, Dallas, etc) during the Superbowl.
2a) A city may be exempt of this rule if it is in a dome where playing conditions may be controlled.

So bit it! The only reason why Chicago or NY haven't held a Superbowl isn't because they aren't great sports towns, its because neither of these cold weather cities have wussed out to the level of Detroit and gotten a dome!

[Asher]

Originally posted by Jac de Molay
Downtown New York is crime-ridden, the streets smell like piss, and amputee panhandlers menace you for money. Does that mean checking it out is "pointless"? Go ahead and live in your suburban plastic bubble if you're too scared.

New York has redeeming qualities. Detroit has some qualities, but not redeeming enough to get around the lame culture spewing from the city.

Do a search of "Detroit" on Google Image Search. This is the first result:

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Jac de Molay

Again, you don't KNOW because you've never spent time here, but rely on stereotypical, lame-ass perceptions from other people who don't KNOW because they can't be bothered to check it out for themselves.

I lived in windosr a long time ago, while my mom worked in Detroit. There are some good points, but the bad points far outway them.


The things I remember most strongly about detroit are: Seeing search helicopters circle the city every other night. Driving down streets and seeing nothing but barred windows and burnt-out and smashed cars rusting away in empty lots (and that was inner-city). My grandparents got lost, once, while driving me somewhere and we got a nice tour of all the boarded up crack houses, too.

[DanS]

To be fair, the article that Kontiki links is dated 2000. A whole lot of redevelopment can happen in 5 years, as Washington has discovered.

[Jac de Molay]

Originally posted by Asher

New York has redeeming qualities. Detroit has some qualities, but not redeeming enough to get around the lame culture spewing from the city.

My point remains this: EVERY big city features the best and worst of humanity. And people wrote off places like Cleveland and Pittsburgh which came back. For Detroit, it's not a matter of if but when.

As for the "lame" culture, I suppose that's in the eye of beholder; I won't argue with someone that chooses to remain willfully ignorant about the true history and cultural offerings of this town, and relies instead on spoon-fed misconceptions.

I look around and see a world-class symphony, orchestra hall, and opera theatre, the largest electronic music festival in the world, a premier summer jazz fest, great live music clubs large and small, ....If that's "lame" culture...

[General Ludd]

I agree that culture is one of the good points of detroit (even if it's not easy to see through all the boarded up windows).

[The Emperor Fabulous]

What a crappy article. I would appreciate those 7 minutes back.