Detroit

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: meltdown75
I forgot to mention Mexican Town. flaming cheese = teh goodness.

and the BIG HOUSE in Ann Arbor, as well as the golf course they let us tailgate on year after year. living next to Michigan kicks major ass!

Stay off of our goddamned roads your canuck! Your tinted glass and front license plates make me sick!

hey, how'd you know i have tinted windows on my car?! you can keep your wild roads. although, i must admit... i am getting used to driving over there. it's really not that bad unless you hit one of those HUGE potholes. so much construction right now though. ack

lol keep out till the construction's done, one more car on our roads im gonna drive off into the ditch at fullspeed. hate hate hate hate that morning drive downthere, it's seriously a parking lot

 

[hypn0tik]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
Traffic and Roads are terrible, its expensive and crime ridden... mayor is a complete tool...

Then again I live in the 'burbs, so its not too bad

QFT.

It is the most dangerous city in North America and they are laying off around 750 Police and Firefighters.

 

[thestranger]

Detriot gave us KID ROCK!!!!

 

[GoingUp]

I love how Detroits in a budget crisis, but Kwame bought city workers $250,000 in bottled water. When he got grilled on it by reporters, he said "this isnt slavery, i can get water whenever I want"

Way to go brotha-man... play the race card at every opportunity and never own up to your actions... i suppose its also ok to pay over a grand a month on a lease for a pimped out lincoln navigator and have strippers at the mayoral mansion because its not slavery either :roll:

 

[meltdown75]

Kwame - that dude seems like a gangsta to me. Is the guy he's running against any better?

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Kwame - that dude seems like a gangsta to me. Is the guy he's running against any better?

Before you ask that question, ask yourself this one. Taking a quote from above:

85% of Detroit is Black

do you think he'll be voted out?

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: MainFramed

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Kwame - that dude seems like a gangsta to me. Is the guy he's running against any better?

Before you ask that question, ask yourself this one. Taking a quote from above:

85% of Detroit is Black

do you think he'll be voted out?

i thought the other guy was black too. 85% eh? isn't there like a million Arabs there?

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: MainFramed

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Kwame - that dude seems like a gangsta to me. Is the guy he's running against any better?

Before you ask that question, ask yourself this one. Taking a quote from above:

85% of Detroit is Black

do you think he'll be voted out?

i thought the other guy was black too. 85% eh? isn't there like a million Arabs there?

that's dearborne, there in detroit, but not like dearborne where its the largest arab population in the states.


Balck too, ok, well unless he's as gangsta as Kami and takes care of "his people" as well as kami does i dont see him entering office. that was where i was going. just my personal assumptions...

 

[Legendary]

I'm just waiting for OCP to declare that Detroit must be destroyed for Delta City and invent a robot renegade cop to do it.

 

[Albis]

after living in troy (nice suburb) all my life, i interned down in detroit this past summer. i wasn't at the office much but when i was, i felt safe during the day. it has a small but safe financial area where there is lots of big business.

at night the city really changes and that is when i try to get out of downtown and fly back up on i-75

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: MainFramed

People said go fvck yourself detroit when walking from work to their car they were getting raped, or they walk out a door and watch their car get hiested right there in front of them. I've worked down here (detroit) now for 3 years, been in and out of the city since i was born. three weeks ago i watched a guy get thrown out an apartment window accross the street, he came running into my building asking for us to call the cops, thing is they wont show for 3 days. i can call em, have many times, they dont show.
walking around town with a backpack on you, you fit in with the rest, most downtown inhabiters have backpacks, thats there most likely only property, their pride and joy, carrying their most sacred possecions. you felt safe? stupid. backpack or not.

btw, illitch has done great things for detroit, detroit is going south from folks like kilpatrick, and its past colmon young, those are people worth shooting.

Originally posted by: jndietz
i don't care what any one says. detroit is unsafe.

/thread

sigh...Read my previous responses to ignorant comments like this. these attitudes are as much the problem as anything else, if not far more so.

I blended in? I guess it was all the bums that walk around with aluminum tripods and metal breifcases that say "Neumann" on the side. I know I've seen lots of those in detoit.

Here's the secret on the crime statistics: they're misleading. By alot. Here's why:

the statistics are usually taken (and logically so) for new york and not the new york metro area, but the area officially labled ast new york city. same thing goes for detroit: not the metro area but the area officially under the control of the city government. makes sense right?

so how are those two areas different? a little history:

in 1897 new york city was disolved. it was then combined with brooklyn (the nations 7th largest city at the time) and 3 other semi-rural communities in an annexation orgy to create the 5 boroughs now known as the big apple. the end result, in addition to a larger and growing tax base, was that both wealthy and poor (read: more crime) communities were under the same name. many other cities went through similar transformations around the same time- cities annexing outer communities as they grew was very common, and the effects of this are obvious: there are virtually crime-free parts of chicago, and parts with a bad reputation, same as most large cities. But when the statistics are taken, the crime numbers tend to even each other out.

detroit was never allowed such growing capabilities by the michigan state legislature. it is the only city of that size and growth rate at the time that was not. hence the divide at 8 mile, and hence somewhat autononomus communities like hamtrammack being wholly enclosed by the city of detroit. if you allow what you call the city of detroit to jump county lines like its growth progression would have dicated, detroit would have included parts of oakland and maccomb counties (which, coincidentally, are consistantly rated as some of the lowest crime rates in the country), the result is that the numbers, like other cities, pretty much even out.

it's not an issue of crime. it's an issue of in what area you measure it.

Also, and I won't get into everything here, but there are many other issues that arose out of this limitation. you can probably infer most of it.

uh, Ilitch did great things? hmmm, there's that ignorance again. let's tally a few results:

good:
-Fox theater restoration. very well done and properly funded. <applause>
-there's also comerica park, but that's debatable. I'll count it as good for sake of ease

Bad:
-he wrestled control of the UA theater and let it rot, leaving it open to vandals
-he bought the Madison lenox, let it rot even further, leaving it open to vandals and then somehow bypassed the historic comission restricitons and got the city to foot the demolition bill.
-he bought the fine arts building and let it rot.

that's just a small taste. for sake of space I'll end it there, but there are many, many more. then there's the underhanded casino deals (through his wife, since he can't legally have anything to do with gambling as a sports owner), and it becomes pretty obvious he's as tied in with the city corruption as anybody, and by far the single person most responsible for the urban decay and loss of architectural treasures in the city of detroit.

http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=8110

Yes, the city government has problems. kwame is an idiot, I agree.

However, Detroit's city government will improve when people start demanding that it does. That won't happen when so many who have a vested interest in the city write the whole thing off with a mix of hate and apathy. hate and apathy just breed more hate and apathy. it's the story of detroits last 35-50 years, congratulations everyone on making it worse. Bravo!

My original point, however, was that detroit has lots of things to be excited about, they're just not in plain sight. Residents have done things to influence their community without the help of state funding or the city government, and they should be proud of that at a time when everyone else just lobs sh!t at them.

it's also the only city today that has the potential to re-think urban life: what are the consequences of a city that doesn't demand density? There's a whole new typology just waiting to develop there...

I love detroit and am fascinated by it, and I'm saying you all need to look a little deeper than the shiny new stadia and run down buildings.

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: Dubb

Originally posted by: MainFramed

People said go fvck yourself detroit when walking from work to their car they were getting raped, or they walk out a door and watch their car get hiested right there in front of them. I've worked down here (detroit) now for 3 years, been in and out of the city since i was born. three weeks ago i watched a guy get thrown out an apartment window accross the street, he came running into my building asking for us to call the cops, thing is they wont show for 3 days. i can call em, have many times, they dont show.
walking around town with a backpack on you, you fit in with the rest, most downtown inhabiters have backpacks, thats there most likely only property, their pride and joy, carrying their most sacred possecions. you felt safe? stupid. backpack or not.

btw, illitch has done great things for detroit, detroit is going south from folks like kilpatrick, and its past colmon young, those are people worth shooting.

Originally posted by: jndietz
i don't care what any one says. detroit is unsafe.

/thread

sigh...Read my previous responses to ignorant comments like this. these attitudes are as much the problem as anything else, if not far more so.

I blended in? I guess it was all the bums that walk around with aluminum tripods and metal breifcases that say "Neumann" on the side. I know I've seen lots of those in detoit.

Here's the secret on the crime statistics: they're misleading. By alot. Here's why:

the statistics are usually taken (and logically so) for new york are not the new york metro area, but the area officially labled ast new york city. same thing goes for detroit: not the metro area but the area officially under the control of the city government. makes sense right?

so how are those two areas different? a little history:

in 1897 new york city was disolved. it was then combined with brooklyn (the nations 7th largest city at the time) and 3 other semi-rural communities in an annexation orgy to create the 5 boroughs now known as the big apple. the end result, in addition to a larger and growing tax base, was that both wealthy and poor (read: more crime) communities were under the same name. many other cities went through similar transformations around the same time- cities annexing outer communities as they grew was very common, and the effects of this are obvious: there are virtually crime-free parts of chicago, and parts with a bad reputation, same as most large cities. But when the statistics are taken, the crime numbers tend to even each other out.

detroit was never allowed such growing capabilities by the michigan state legislature. it is the only city of that size and growth rate at the time that was not. hence the divide at 8 mile, and hence somewhat autononomus communities like hamtrammack being wholly enclosed by the city of detroit. if you allow what you call the city of detroit to jump county lines like its growth progression would have dicated, detroit would have included parts of oakland and maccomb counties (which, coincidentally, are consistantly rated as some of the lowest crime rates in the country), the result is that the numbers, like other cities, pretty much even out.

it's not an issue of crime. it's an issue of in what area you measure it.

Also, and I won't get into everything here, but there are many other issues that arose out of this limitation. you can probably infer most of it.

uh, Ilitch did great things? hmmm, there's that ignorance again. let's tally a few results:

good:
-Fox theater restoration. very well done and properly funded. <applause>
-there's also comerica park, but that's debatable. I'll count it as good for sake of ease

Bad:
-he wrestled control of the UA theater and let it rot, leaving it open to vandals
-he bought the Madison lenox, let it rot even further, leaving it open to vandals and then somehow bypassed the historic comission restricitons and got the city to foot the demolition bill.
-he bought the fine arts building and let it rot.

that's just a small taste. for sake of space I'll end it there, but there are many, many more. then there's the underhanded casino deals (through his wife, since he can't legally have anything to do with gambling as a sports owner), and it becomes pretty obvious he's as tied in with the city corruption as anybody, and by far the single person most responsible for the urban decay and loss of architectural treasures in the city of detroit.

http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=8110

Yes, the city government has problems. kwame is an idiot, I agree.

However, Detroit's city government will improve when people start demanding that it does. That won't happen when so many who have a vested interest in the city write the whole thing off with a mix of hate and apathy. hate and apathy just breed more hate and apathy. it's the story of detroits last 35-50 years, congratulations everyone on making it worse. Bravo!

My original point, however, was that detroit has lots of things to be excited about, they're just not in plain sight. Residents have done things to influence their community without the help of state funding or the city government, and they should be proud of that at a time when everyone else just lobs sh!t at them.

it's also the only city today that has the potential to re-think urban life: what are the consequences of a city that doesn't demand density? There's a whole new typology just waiting to develop there...

I love detroit and am fascinated by it, and I'm saying you all need to look a little deeper than the shiny new stadia and run down buildings.

for what debree and pot? run for mayor

 

[Ketteringo]

I like three things about Detroit:
1) Greektown
2) it's big enough to attract any big name bands that Grand Rapids or Soaring Eagle can't
3) it's not Flint

I'm currently at Kettering University in Flint, and I would never walk anywhere at night here unless I was in a big group of people (5+). Earlier this term a group of pre-teen (10-12 years old...) kids beat up a guy (probably drunk, not a student) and left him in the middle of the road. This was at ~11pm and right next to the school.

This city is farked up!

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Ketteringo
I like three things about Detroit:
1) Greektown
2) it's big enough to attract any big name bands that Grand Rapids or Soaring Eagle can't
3) it's not Flint

I'm currently at Kettering University in Flint, and I would never walk anywhere at night here unless I was in a big group of people (5+). Earlier this term a group of pre-teen (10-12 years old...) kids beat up a guy (probably drunk, not a student) and left him in the middle of the road. This was at ~11pm and right next to the school.

This city is farked up!

Not too long ago a student at KU got beaten up by a group of pre-teens. I think this was the winter of 03 or so, maybe earlier.

 

[toekramp]

i love detroit, the shows (punk rock) were amazing

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: MainFramed

for what debree and pot? run for mayor

"debris"

normall I'm not a spelling natzi, but in this case I had no idea what you were talking about for a few minutes.

read my posts, I've outlined what I'm talking about. and why you're the problem.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Dubb

Originally posted by: MainFramed

for what debree and pot? run for mayor

"debris"

normall I'm not a spelling natzi, but in this case I had no idea what you were talking about for a few minutes.

read my posts, I've outlined what I'm talking about. and why you're the problem.

Yes yes yes, we all heard, it's the suburbs fault. All of the other big cities with distinct suburban areas must have done something right, eh?

 

[EatSpam]

Originally posted by: thestranger
Detriot gave us KID ROCK!!!!

All the more reason to nuke it.

 

[EvilYoda]

I can't say that I like too much about Detroit...not enough to do there, no "life" to the city...and I grew up 25 minutes away. I like going there and all, but w/o a reason to be in the city, I don't know what I'd do...just wander around? Sure, some nice things are happening now, but it's going to take a while to really affect things.

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: Dubb

Originally posted by: MainFramed

for what debree and pot? run for mayor

"debris"

normall I'm not a spelling natzi, but in this case I had no idea what you were talking about for a few minutes.

read my posts, I've outlined what I'm talking about. and why you're the problem.

Yes yes yes, we all heard, it's the suburbs fault. All of the other big cities with distinct suburban areas must have done something right, eh?

did you even read my post?

but what the heck, I'll spell it out for you again: it's more complicated than simply a "distinct suburban area" issue, detroit's geography, state laws 100 years ago, and a series of unfortunate circumstances and other factors all make detroit's situation very different than all other cities in that regard. You simply can't compare them on that level.

simply: for a start: find me another US city of comparable size not on a national land boarder that has it's city district as "chopped off" as detroit at 8 mile.

so you go ahead and tell yourself whatever you need to to sleep at night. stay bitter. give up. you could help, maybe, even if it's just a change in attitude, but I wouldn't want to ask too much of you...

 

[JulesMaximus]

I like that I live about 2500 miles away from it. That's about it for the list of likes.

Dislikes? Too numerous to list.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I grew up in Lansing, went to school at U of M, so I've never lived in Detroit but I've certainly spent a lot of time there.

It's amusing that most of the haters probably have never even done more than had a layover in DTW. But then again, it's easy to believe everything you read & hear, isn't it?

Reasons I love Detroit:

Its history is extremely complex & interesting. Therefore there is a lot of culture to be found in the city - from Mexicantown to Greektown to Araburb (Dearborn) - not to mention it's 85% African American. Of course, that means there are lots of great places to eat great food (TasteFest is unbelievable)! The Detroit Institute of Art is on par with the best art museums of other big cities, & the C-Pop Art Gallery is likewise very cool. The Detroit Public Library is enormous, not to mention pretty well-run. The Detroit Science Center is not bad at all, the Zoo is great, the Holocaust Museum is sobering, & Greenfield Village is a really interesting place to visit. There are now also plenty of casinos.

Musically, Detroit was the epicenter of soul & funk (Motown - the Motown Museum is incredibly fun to visit, George Clinton, etc.), and is still the epicenter of American electronic music. Motor (legendary electronic music nightclub in Hamtramck) closed down a few years ago, but places like Foran's & Oslo, and the Paxahau crew, have been doing a great job of keeping electronic music alive in the D. The Shiny Shirt crowd even has their own nightclubs like Bleu. And let's not forget Detroit's role in rock n roll, from acid to punk. Those of you who say there's nothing to do in Detroit must not be looking very hard when it comes to nightlife. In terms of major festivals, there are the Electronic Music Fest, the International Jazz Fest, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (there are only 16 full-time, professional orchestras in the country) - there's also an Opera House. And pretty much every medium/big name musician/entertainer stops in Detroit when they tour.

Detroit has professional baseball, hockey, football, basketball (men's & women's) - the Tigers no longer suck, the Wings always do well, and the Pistons have been doing just fine the past few years.

People in Detroit know how to drive & the city is easy to get around in. None of the roads in Michigan are great - the weather doesn't help us with that - and Detroit is heavily traveled, especially by heavy trucks that tear up the roads.

Detroit is not unsafe. I spent plenty of time walking around in some slightly sketchy places at late hours of the night and never once felt unsafe. I've never even had my car broken into - maybe because I keep valuables hidden (a good idea in any big city).

BTW: Dubb's analysis of the city's financial plight is about as spot on as you can get without reading a multiple hundred page book, or taking the history of Detroit course @ UMich, EMU or WSU.

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
I can't say that I like too much about Detroit...not enough to do there, no "life" to the city...and I grew up 25 minutes away. I like going there and all, but w/o a reason to be in the city, I don't know what I'd do...just wander around? Sure, some nice things are happening now, but it's going to take a while to really affect things.

That's pretty much what I'm getting at: detroit is a city of such low density, it's jarring and confusing for people because they're used to cities having hundreds of things in the space of a few blocks. detroit has stuff, it's just really spread out, and often a little hidden.

ex: there's a cool little coffee shop/bakery is in detroit, a little north of downtown. it's almost entirely surrounded by abandoned buildings in a pretty run down part of town, but the place does a booming business. the residents know about it and not many others. it's clean, great atmosphere, and cheap: I got a medium cafe americano and a huge ass, fresh cinnimon roll for a little over $3. everything's organic too, if that's your cup of tea (I generally don't care so much, I like that it's cheap and tasty)

but you'd never know it if you never went inside/ didn't know it was there.

 

[AmdEmAll]

Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus
I grew up in Lansing, went to school at U of M, so I've never lived in Detroit but I've certainly spent a lot of time there.

It's amusing that most of the haters probably have never even done more than had a layover in DTW. But then again, it's easy to believe everything you read & hear, isn't it?

Reasons I love Detroit:

Its history is extremely complex & interesting. Therefore there is a lot of culture to be found in the city - from Mexicantown to Greektown to Araburb (Dearborn) - not to mention it's 85% African American. Of course, that means there are lots of great places to eat great food (TasteFest is unbelievable)! The Detroit Institute of Art is on par with the best art museums of other big cities, & the C-Pop Art Gallery is likewise very cool. The Detroit Public Library is enormous, not to mention pretty well-run. The Detroit Science Center is not bad at all, the Zoo is great, the Holocaust Museum is sobering, & Greenfield Village is a really interesting place to visit. There are now also plenty of casinos.

Musically, Detroit was the epicenter of soul & funk (Motown - the Motown Museum is incredibly fun to visit, George Clinton, etc.), and is still the epicenter of American electronic music. Motor (legendary electronic music nightclub in Hamtramck) closed down a few years ago, but places like Foran's & Oslo, and the Paxahau crew, have been doing a great job of keeping electronic music alive in the D. The Shiny Shirt crowd even has their own nightclubs like Bleu. And let's not forget Detroit's role in rock n roll, from acid to punk. Those of you who say there's nothing to do in Detroit must not be looking very hard when it comes to nightlife. In terms of major festivals, there are the Electronic Music Fest, the International Jazz Fest, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (there are only 16 full-time, professional orchestras in the country) - there's also an Opera House. And pretty much every medium/big name musician/entertainer stops in Detroit when they tour.

Detroit has professional baseball, hockey, football, basketball (men's & women's) - the Tigers no longer suck, the Wings always do well, and the Pistons have been doing just fine the past few years.

People in Detroit know how to drive & the city is easy to get around in. None of the roads in Michigan are great - the weather doesn't help us with that - and Detroit is heavily traveled, especially by heavy trucks that tear up the roads.

Detroit is not unsafe. I spent plenty of time walking around in some slightly sketchy places at late hours of the night and never once felt unsafe. I've never even had my car broken into - maybe because I keep valuables hidden (a good idea in any big city).

BTW: Dubb's analysis of the city's financial plight is about as spot on as you can get without reading a multiple hundred page book, or taking the history of Detroit course @ UMich, EMU or WSU.

My brother plays electronic music at club Bleu a couple times a month.

One thing I like about detroit is the North American Auto Show. Thats always fun to go to.

 

[Ketteringo]

Originally posted by: Dubb

Originally posted by: MainFramed

for what debree and pot? run for mayor

"debris"

normall I'm not a spelling natzi, but in this case I had no idea what you were talking about for a few minutes.

read my posts, I've outlined what I'm talking about. and why you're the problem.

You're normall not a spelling natzi eh?