s/o My Ode to Detroit

[Deleted]

My post about Kevyn Orr generated more discussion than I anticipated, so here's a little spin-off. When I was living in NC one of my English teacher colleagues asked me to write a memoir about growing up in Detroit and I thought I'd share it (it's a little corny, but the target audience was high school students who had never been to The D).

“Detroit Rock City”

I don’t remember when my love affair with the city of Detroit began. I think it’s in my blood to love “The D.” My grandma moved to Detroit as a teenager, when her father moved the family here from Chicago seeking work after the Great Depression. The generations that came before me were all employed by “The Big Three” (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) in various capacities, whether working on the line assembling cars or designing cars as engineers. My grandma tells stories of walking past the State Fairgrounds in Detroit during WWII and waving at the German POWs who were housed there behind the iron fences, and how she went down to the waterfront in Detroit to kiss the servicemen as they returned home when the war ended. My mom’s generation avoided Detroit during the race riots of the 60s when armored tanks patrolled the streets, and they only went downtown for tightly secured events such as concerts and sports games. Detroit had changed by then, and under Mayor Coleman Young’s twenty year regime Detroit slipped further and further from its previous glory as the world’s number one manufacturing city.

My mom’s love of Detroit’s culture passed to me, and I grew up traveling downtown regularly for quick trips across the border via tunnel or bridge to Canada (no passports required before 9/11), world-class museums including the Detroit Institute of Arts, dinners in Greektown, Mexicantown, and Corktown (Irishtown), Boblo Island Amusement Park (before it closed), the Hudson Building (home of the world’s largest department store before it was torn down) and the annual fireworks display on the Detroit River. Detroit has a wealth of culture to offer, hidden just below the surface of the stereotype that there’s “nothing there.” As a teen I came to realize that few of my peers were equally as familiar or comfortable with Detroit; our parents’ generation came of age during the riots and had scared most of us off from ever venturing below Detroit’s northern city limit, 8 Mile Road. Detroit, which was fifteen minutes away from us on the highway, was seen as a different, dangerous world from our upper-class suburbs, and was lumped in with Michigan’s other economically depressed wastelands such as Pontiac (“Ponti-crack”), Saginaw (“Saga-nasty”) and Flint (murder capital of the US).

Among my family and friends, I have taken on the cause of being Detroit’s Champion. I encourage them to travel downtown, to visit the church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech before his famous march on Washington, to see Monet’s, Picasso’s and Rodin’s works at the DIA, to see Broadway productions at the Fox Theatre, to sit in concept cars at the North American International Auto Show, to see where Motown legends such as Michael Jackson and Diana Ross began their careers at Hitsville, USA, to get a stamp in their passports by spending only $4.50 to cross into Canada, to see the former church turned nightclub popularized by Eminem in “8 Mile”…I could go on and on. Most people are still haunted by the ugly stereotype of Detroit, and honestly, by the truth of what Detroit still is. In 2013 there were 386 murders on record, which was more than one per day on some days of the year. Today, battling bankruptcy, unable to pay its utility bills and pay public servants such as police and teachers, and with one recent former mayor behind bars for the next 28 years on felony charges, Detroit has a long way to go. I’ll still be there, singing the praises and spreading “The Spirit of Detroit.”

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And no post is complete without some PIPs

1. The General Motors headquarters (the Renaissance Center)
2. Joe Louis's fist
3. Ren Cen

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[hamster]

I'm totally going to read this later. My dad grew up in Dearborn, I still have family there, and my grandma is so old she knew Henry Ford. Between that and my obsession with economics and developing areas and city planning, Detroit is fascinating to me.

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Summertime

1. Awesome graffiti
2. Windsor Ontario on the left, Detroit on the right
3. Detroit as seen from Belle Isle, an island between the US and Canada

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1. The Belle Isle conservatory, a free place to see incredible plants from around the world
2. The Detroit Institute of Arts (can you see The Thinker outside?)
3. The inside of The Guardian Building, with Michigan represented with a cornucopia to depict the bounty that the land offers (this was made before the auto industry came into power and the big business here was lumber)

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1. The Michigan Theatre, a former movie palace that was saved from destruction when someone proposed turning it into a parking garage. Eminem partied here in "8 Mile."
2. Greektown
3. Arabic street sign, and a building behind with awesome graffiti that was very recently saved from destruction when someone bought it to convert it to lofts

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[Deleted]

I love this! Thank you for sharing.

While I know he was only one cog in a very corrupt machine, Coleman Young.....grrrrr.

[hermione]

I too am a lover of the city of Detroit. Some thoughts I had while reading the OP:

White flight didn't start because of the riots or Coleman Young. It started earlier, after WWII, when the GIs were offered money to build new homes but not buy existing homes. The riots and Coleman Young certainly exacerbated the problem though.

I don't think referring to neighboring cities as economically depressed wastelands does much to champion the spirit of Detroit. Flint's art museum is certainly worth a visit and they often have offbeat exhibits that are fascinating. The children's museum is really quite fun. Similarly, Saginaw has quite a few cultural events and activities for families throughout the year. Pontiac is so geographically close to Detroit that its recovery will like follow the same trajectory as Detroit itself.

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2015 21:57:41 GMT -5 hermione said:

I don't think referring to neighboring cities as economically depressed wastelands does much to champion the spirit of Detroit. Flint's art museum is certainly worth a visit and they often have offbeat exhibits that are fascinating. The children's museum is really quite fun. Similarly, Saginaw has quite a few cultural events and activities for families throughout the year. Pontiac is so geographically close to Detroit that its recovery will like follow the same trajectory as Detroit itself.

Back when I wrote this, I wrote and rewrote that sentence probably ten times. My husband also said to take that part out. I don't use those names for those cities myself, but that is how I have heard those cities referred to time and time again.

Those cities certainly do have many things to offer. I have family in Flint, and I grew up closer to Pontiac than Detroit so I know them well. However, those cities are wrongfully lumped in with the "Detroit is a scary bad place" mentality and that is what I was trying to convey here.

[hermione]

Apr 23, 2015 22:10:09 GMT -5 @bellakitty said:

Apr 23, 2015 21:57:41 GMT -5 hermione said:

I don't think referring to neighboring cities as economically depressed wastelands does much to champion the spirit of Detroit. Flint's art museum is certainly worth a visit and they often have offbeat exhibits that are fascinating. The children's museum is really quite fun. Similarly, Saginaw has quite a few cultural events and activities for families throughout the year. Pontiac is so geographically close to Detroit that its recovery will like follow the same trajectory as Detroit itself.

Back when I wrote this, I wrote and rewrote that sentence probably ten times. My husband also said to take that part out. I don't use those names for those cities myself, but that is how I have heard those cities referred to time and time again.

Those cities certainly do have many things to offer. I have family in Flint, and I grew up closer to Pontiac than Detroit so I know them well. However, those cities are wrongfully lumped in with the "Detroit is a scary bad place" mentality and that is what I was trying to convey here.

I understand. I do read it the other way around though - like your saying, oh everyone has the wrong idea about Detroit - it's not like these other wastelands. 

Regardless, always nice to find other Detroit supporters!

[Deleted]

I have a soft spot for Detroit! I ❤️ Historic architecture, so DUH. It's on my list of places to visit!

[Deleted]

Belle Isle looks amazing now compared to just 3 Years ago. I appreciate that it was a hard asset for the city to give over to the state but that was absolutely the right decision.

[rspeak]

I too love Detroit ! I try to get downtown every few months. Not for entertainment purposes but to grocery shop ! ha.
Thanks for sharing

[Deleted]

Apr 24, 2015 6:34:53 GMT -5 milsaroo said:

I'm running a 5K in Belle Isle tomorrow.

Did you know underneath the aquarium there's some flooding going on? Many people don't know, but I had a tour underneath for work related stuff and it was sad how it's falling apart.

No, I didn't know that. I'm not surprised, due to their budget issues, but that's sad since that is another historic and beautiful building.

And the 5k explains your need for carbs on Saturday night!