  Rotation_slim Member Username: Rotation_slim Post Number: 95 Registered: 10-2005 |
Tonight on Ch. 7 at 5pm there will be a good story of 600 suburban kids who went downtown with Blight Busters and cleaned up a neighborhood, including tearing down some abandoned houses. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 251 Registered: 08-2007 |
Why can't the Blight Busters organize people in areas of blight to clean up their own neighborhood. Why is it necessary to bring suburban kids in to clean up a mess that will just return the next week or so. Doesn't this show a patronizing attitude of the suburbs to the city residents? Why aren't the kids with no summer jobs in the City organized to clean up their own neighborhoods? I would be offended if strangers came into my neighborhood to clean it up. All it takes is the will to get the job done. Where is that will, where is that pride. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 373 Registered: 08-2007 |
trying to get your kids to clean their own rooms is one thing, at least the kids are doing something. i too might be offended if a bunch or outsiders came on my block to clean it up.But also if nobody cleans up, why should the citizens of that hood care anyway who cleans up their mess, just a clean slate. | ||
Cub Member Username: Cub Post Number: 498 Registered: 02-2007 |
Maybe they are hoping that their "pride" will kick in and they will keep it clean. Some times we need a lil kick in the but to get going. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 375 Registered: 08-2007 |
Cub, that is why your garden is so important. If you came to my block to clean up i would not argue with you. | ||
Plymouthres Member Username: Plymouthres Post Number: 600 Registered: 02-2007 |
Dannyv- You raise some good questions as to why the people of the city are not doing this themselves. If the people in the neighborhoods had already taken care of business, then Blight Busters could go elsewhere and clean up as you suggested. But with the apathy that exists in this city by a majority of it's citizens over being cool with the status quo, until there isn't a NEED for groups like BB and MCM because the 'hoods are taking care of themselves, then BB and MCM are necessary. You see it as patronizing-I see it as people desperate to do something to give of themselves. They are so sick of the ineptitude of the CoD government and it's officials that they are willing to devote their VOLUNTEER time there, whereas the residents don't even care that they are living in abject filth. The thing I see as patronizing is to let the kids of the city who have no jobs get away with doing nothing. While kids in other cities are volunteering for BB and MCM, what are the kids that will benefit most from this doing? Another great example of someone who can lead taking charge and doing something about what has been an ongoing problem that this city has had to seize another opportunity to train our youth up directly, rather than absently. There is no pride-that is apparent. It's like they just threw in the towel. Being poor is no excuse for being a slob, suburban or city dweller......... Reddog- You have seen the same "vision" that Cub has shared with all of us. His garden is the epitome of an example of how to take matters into your own hands and make your dreams a reality. His hard work has paid off in droves and his neighborhood is much better for it! I have personally witnessed something that I never thought I would see in the city ever again with all of its divisions, and that is the gathering of common souls together for one cause. Everyone who drives by and sees what can happen when one man decides to take back his neighborhood knows how awesome of a project this is. A lot of people who would never have been in that neighborhood have now experienced something that they likely would have never experienced had they not stepped up and out of their normal comfort zone and said "What can I do to help?". I am glad that we could be a part of it and we are anxious to get back and see the growth spurt that Cub was bragging about last night at the FSC! By the way, Reddog, why don't YOU follow Cub's example and start the type of revitalization that Cub has in your own 'hood? He started with an idea, then posted here........and the rest is now history! Cub- Very, very cool to get to see you last night! Keep up the good work and we will get out to see you soon, promise! Say "hi" to your family for us, would ya? | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 376 Registered: 08-2007 |
Plymouth, thanks for agreeing. my block is ok, But one of the schools i work at looked like a prison when i got there, my co-worker who is a gardener got to planting, last year the city gave the school an award for looking good. she got me planting stuff, just like i hope Cubs neighbors do. With the number of houses in my burb that are now vacant i hope that it don,t come to the point where there needs to be a mass clean up every spring. Funny thing too, your not the first to call where i live the HOOD. | ||
Pkbroch Member Username: Pkbroch Post Number: 30 Registered: 02-2008 |
I remember in the 80's when under Hiz Honer, Coleman Young was mayor. We had a huge snowfall, 15 inches or more the plows in the City did not come and we were told by the city that we were our own. Some folks came from the suburbs to help out. Some of my friends shoveled on Greenlawn to help people get out of their homes. While they were pushing snow able bodied teenagers were looking out the windows at the folks trying to help their block and laughing. 20 years later and attitudes do not change and only get worse. I am still in Detroit after 40 years, I guess I am Still an optimist. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 252 Registered: 08-2007 |
Pkbroch, I vividly recall that winter of heavy snow. I thought it was in '78 tho'. Anyway, I wrote Mayor Young a letter suggesting a program that would tap the neighborhoods youth and organize them into snow removal crews, clearing paths to schools, from the homes of seniors, away from public buildings y'know a project based on community pride and concern for those within it. I'm still waiting for a reply. | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 849 Registered: 03-2008 |
Well, with all the people who seem to think it was the suburbanites fault in the first place, maybe they will be left without an excuse once all their kids come down and fix things. They are offering us an olive branch here, I see no reason to respond by spitting in their face. Here's how I look at it; It's not suburbanites fixing up Detroiter's mess. It's just Metro Detroiter's fixing up their community. It would go a long way for those in the suburbs to look at it all as Detroit. It's all the same. It's trying to get past that line in the sand. We are all responsible for Detroit's well being, whether you live in Livonia, Birmingham, The Pointes, Highland Park, or Detroit. It's all one in the same. Our future is all one future. | ||
Wazootyman Member Username: Wazootyman Post Number: 364 Registered: 02-2006 |
Offended? If I were a resident of that neighborhood, I'd be embarrased - that my neighborhood had gotten so bad it took a group of volunteers from outside to clean up my mess. As I watch another the sun come up on another beautiful Saturday, I know that in my neighborhood, I will soon hear the start of lawnmowers and leaf blowers. I'm not necessarily looking forward to doing the same, but I will because it's a matter of pride about where I live. | ||
Plymouthres Member Username: Plymouthres Post Number: 601 Registered: 02-2007 |
I remember when we all stood together on 9/11 as Detroiter's and American's, too. Unfortunately it takes an event of that magnitude to remind us that we are all in this together. The citizens of the City of Detroit need to get that type of "feeling" of togetherness back, and the city will not be right until they do. That, coupled with a total failure of leadership across the governmental board, has caused this situation to fester into the boil that it has become on the ass of the state. If one were to use an analogy, I would say that it is akin to a ship wandering the sea with no direction, just aimlessly going around in circles. Now that ship has run out of fuel and it is totally adrift, allowing the sea to have it's way with it. Nothing illustrates this point more than Pk and Dannyv have stated in their posts. Only when pushed to the brink of natural or civil disaster will the citizens cooperate together and get something done. There exists a total lack of desire or ability on the part of the residency to do anything to improve their own situation, rather they expect that someone will do it for them. Didn't Kwame even say in his last State of the City speech that no one was coming to help out? Waz- You must understand the concept of pride in order to practise it. As dismal as the GENERAL state of the city is, there still shines hope in places like Cub's Garden and many other success stories that exist in Detroit, and there are many. It is too bad that the media doesn't focus on those stories, though, as they would offer a bit more of a juxtaposition with the true realities that are occurring in the city as opposed to the constant negative that always frames the view of Detroit in the outstate and national news. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 380 Registered: 08-2007 |
The last 5 post say it all, Even though i don,t live in DETROIT i live close enuff to deal with it. Last year even before the texting deal came out I said while downtown " I need to write Kwame, tell him this city needs garbage cans" He might not care what this hillbilly thinks but hey just a thought to him. | ||
Erikd Member Username: Erikd Post Number: 1030 Registered: 10-2003 |
This thread is filled with hateful attacks on Detroiters, mostly based on ignorance and incorrect assumptions: quote: Dannyv and Plymouthres seem to think that the Motor City Blight Busters is some type of outside organization that flew into Detroit to save the city from the uncaring and lazy residents, but their assertions are baseless and factually incorrect. Twenty years ago, a native northwest Detroiter named John J. George decided to do something about a crack house in his neighborhood. With some plywood, paint and the help of some of his neighbors, the crack house was shut down, and the foundation of the Motor City Blight Busters was laid. quote: This hate-filled assertion accusing Detroit residents of a lack of concern for the state of the city is contradicted by the community support of grass-roots neighborhood initiatives: In its remarkable 18 year history, Motor City Blight Busters in conjunction with its coalition of community partners can proudly claim 120,000 volunteers, who have contributed more than 658,000 volunteer hours to paint 684 homes, board up and secure 379 abandoned buildings, renovate 176 houses and build 114 new ones to make suitable housing for 1,160 people. Over the years, 3,900 neighborhood residents have participated in Angel's Night patrols from the Motor City Blightbusters headquarters. City officials have expanded the program and last year it attracted more than 65,000 volunteers city-wide. http://www.blightbusters.org/a bout.html quote: As if his previous posts weren't offensive enough, Plymouthres is now issuing a blanket guilty verdict for all Detroiters, because he claims that we have no pride. If platitudes and glib comments were the answer to complex social problems, Plymouthres could solve all of our problems with a few keystrokes... | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 390 Registered: 08-2007 |
While i might be legally drunk by now, i,d have to say "hey i love Detroit" yet seeing the mess in the city, don,t know who to blame, burbies dumping trash or the flipside. City and SUBURBS PUT YOUR TRASH WERE IT GOES . IN THE TRASH. NOT ALL Detroiters are slob.s I see trash i pick it up.I goes to the fact that i think common sense has gone. | ||
Dave70 Member Username: Dave70 Post Number: 49 Registered: 08-2007 |
Kids and teens throwing chip bags and candy wrappers on the ground, and drivers tossing sh*t out the window on the road are the two things that I see all the time. I know every resident isn't a culprit but so many do this... it must be a way of life for 'em, unfortunately. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 253 Registered: 08-2007 |
There was nothing hate-filled in my post, just your interpretation of it erikd. I wasn't calling into question the purpose of Blight Busters, just the need to organize suburbanites to clean up someone else's mess in another city. Perhaps if the community where the mess is would clean up their own neighborhood, they'd be less tolerant of those who litter and dump in it. It's called citizenship. | ||
Plymouthres Member Username: Plymouthres Post Number: 602 Registered: 02-2007 |
Erikd- Your ignorance of the perspective of my comments brings you to this conclusion, so I will be kind to you in my reply. Perhaps what you are most pissed at is not what I said, but the reality and truth in what I said. Platitudes and glib comments? How about ACTUAL experiences and FIRST hand accounts? I suppose my experiences and what I have seen in the city for the last 48 years of my life should be dismissed as though I didn't see or experience them? Get over yourself, dude. I volunteer my time in the city in a lot of places, and I spend my dollars there also to support those neighborhoods and businesses that are trying so desperately to stay alive. I donated over 400 hours last year to just one organization, and I worked with the MCM and Blight Busters teams plenty of times in the last 20 years in the Delray and SW Detroit areas. I also have spent time at places like Cub's garden, helping out to make his neighborhood better and hopefully stimulating others that would not normally think about doing something like that to take a chance on one man's vision and help him to achieve it. Perhaps you are offended at me calling out the reality of the situation? My question to you then, is EXACTLY what are you doing to help out? If pride involves complex social issues, how did all those people, dirt poor during the Depression(both black and white), get off their asses and do something about it? They didn't just sit there apathetically accusing everyone of looking at their situation with the stink eye, they got up and swept their sidewalks and streets. They would not have stood for the filth that the city is now in and the dismal state of the government that they continually settle for rather than demanding adequate representation. As for your personal diatribe against me, point out where I attacked or diminished the wonderful job that BB or MCM does, as I never, ever said anything about there marvelous accomplishments. I was simply implying that from my perspective, I find it appalling that someone who lives in a neighborhood would do the following: ".....While they were pushing snow able bodied teenagers were looking out the windows at the folks trying to help their block and laughing." Perhaps you would like to explain that to me? WTF? As for my "hate filled assertions", you apparently missed my last paragraph. Here it is again for your reading comprehension: "As dismal as the GENERAL state of the city is, there still shines hope in places like Cub's Garden and many other success stories that exist in Detroit, and there are many. It is too bad that the media doesn't focus on those stories, though, as they would offer a bit more of a juxtaposition with the true realities that are occurring in the city as opposed to the constant negative that always frames the view of Detroit in the outstate and national news." Just so I am clear in my response to you, I was actually referring to the fact that the media always portray's the bad, and never the good, although plenty of good exists. Lastly, it is easy to spread the blanket of guilt on the citizenry of Detroit-just look at the deplorable situation that they exist in. Most of it is self imposed, as they keep voting in governmental representatives that are incapable of understanding their needs and supplying them. The state of the police, fire and school systems are a prime example of what I am talking about, not to mention the total lack of city services. Too bad if you think I'm being harsh, as I am only pointing out the facts. I am not bashing anyone, and I would appreciate it if you could point out one thing that I had to say that wasn't FACT before you try to shoot me down. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 5017 Registered: 02-2005 |
The kids were working under Blight Busters, which is a Detroit organization, specifically designed to clean property which doesn't belong to them. I am quite certain that MCBB also organizes Detroit citizens and mixes of detroiters and suburbanites for several events throughout the year. Many of the properties were likely abandoned, and when that scenario occurs, there is a lack of incentive for any of the neighbors to step up and take responsibility. In these cases it is good for MCBB to step in as a third party with people willing to do the work. I understand that the perception problems are hard to get over, and I know it would be comparatively weird for the suburban kids to show up on a messy lot in the suburbs and start cleaning it, but hey, at least people are willing to put forth the effort. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 395 Registered: 08-2007 |
Reading this reminds me to go to bed , gotta get up to go to work to pick up the trash. Trash you know is everywhere. 25yrs ago my Dad moved from Novi to Westland, after living there for a month said to me 'Whats the deal with all the broken bottles?' I did not know.Later on I heard him say Westland is ok, less trash then Detroit.I unlike other posters have yet to spend time in the city to help clean up.Best get my own house in order first, got more things done when the computer was down. | ||
Cub Member Username: Cub Post Number: 502 Registered: 02-2007 |
Plymouthres and Reddog289,please dont pay any attention to Ericd. No offense Ericd but you took there statements way out of context. These two gentle among others on this forum have given of themselves to me and this city in ways 99% of Detroiters dont see. On their own time and dimes. Reddog with a storm at his heels with his wife, and gave me some plants for the garden.Plymouth and his wife tilling and plucking weeds and rocks, they with some other DYers put me in the succesful position I am in now with the garden. Without them I would have never gotten there. So your assertion that they are filling this thread with hatefull attacks on Detroiters is absurd. I have other stories of suburbanites that have stepped up with dollars and time. If I can be a little blunt here. I had a couple people from my hood that have put some time and money to help but not as nearly as my suburban (white)friends, not trying to offend anyone. I will take my help and love for this city from wherever I can get it. (Message edited by cub on June 23, 2008) | ||
Themax Member Username: Themax Post Number: 891 Registered: 09-2005 |
I walk my dog in my neighborhood in Southfield and easily fill up a couple grocery bags of trash, mostly fast food papers. Trashy people are all over. | ||
Spacemonkey Member Username: Spacemonkey Post Number: 746 Registered: 03-2006 |
I see Detroiters cleaning up my suburban neighborhood all the time... cutting the lawns, collecting the garbage on Thursdays, running the street sweepers ... | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 254 Registered: 08-2007 |
spacemonkey, How do you know they're Detroiters? Do you check their ID or something? | ||
Spacemonkey Member Username: Spacemonkey Post Number: 748 Registered: 03-2006 |
I was making a joke. | ||
Gogo Member Username: Gogo Post Number: 1437 Registered: 11-2003 |
Many of the empty lots in my neighborhood are owned by people who live in the suburbs. | ||
Cub Member Username: Cub Post Number: 503 Registered: 02-2007 |
Thats true of my neighborhood also Gogo. |
