Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2006 » Opinion: "Detroit pushing me away " « Previous Next »
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 1150
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 69.14.122.57
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 9:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I came across this opinion piece in The South End about young people leaving Detroit and Michigan to pursue opportunities elsewhere:

"...Detroit is my home; I was born and raised here. But lately, I’ve just been feeling as if something in this city is pushing me away. ..."

http://www.southend.wayne.edu/ modules/news/article.php?story id=2140
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E_hemingway
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Username: E_hemingway

Post Number: 469
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.42.176.123
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 10:28 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I understand that feeling. I get it every so often. It's accentuated every time friends and family living out of town in places like Chicago, New York and San Fransico tell me to come out there. Even though I didn't grow up in Detroit proper, I have a lot of family ties who have lived, worked and gone to school here for decades. Even though I have lived in the city for a short time, I feel that this is my city as much as it is anyone else's. There is an energy here. More so than anywhere else in the state. The biggest difference I have with the column writer is that I feel I have to show the city something, instead of waiting for it magically appear.
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Miss_cleo
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Username: Miss_cleo

Post Number: 84
Registered: 05-2005
Posted From: 69.47.85.139
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 10:35 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

with the job market the way it is, people cant afford to stay here........last one out of Michigan, turn the lights out.
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Atl_runner
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Username: Atl_runner

Post Number: 1801
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 68.209.118.72
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 11:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It's not just the job market. It's the whole social atmosphere. Hard to pin it down exactly. Sure, it's changing in the city, but everywhere else is status quo average bland crap. I know the area doesn't need me.. yadda yadda.. but the only way I am coming back is when I get the feeling that things have changed for the better, not simply when the job market improves.
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Southwestmap
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Username: Southwestmap

Post Number: 361
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 64.79.90.206
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 11:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No young person should ever be afraid to travel, to see new things, meet new people, see new museums, great buildings, nature and art. This young woman should be afraid to stay in Detroit, not because it lacks energy or edge or art, but because she has been here all her life. Of course, something is pushing her away - her youth - and rightly so.

When the time is right and her eyes and ears have taken in more of what other parts of the world have to offer she may very well return here. Many people do come back to their hometowns. And we'll all be the better for it.
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Jt1
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Username: Jt1

Post Number: 6604
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 198.208.159.20
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 11:34 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I agree 100% SW. While I have done a fair amount of traveling I wish I would have spent my younger years backing throughout Europe on the cheap or touring across the US for a summer with friends.
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Skulker
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Username: Skulker

Post Number: 3479
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.103.104.93
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 11:44 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Everyone needs to do what is right for them....

However if you are waiting for some one to do it for you...

quote:

I’m waiting for Detroit to show me something so I have a reason to stay, thrive and help the city rebuild itself.


...you'll never reach your full potential, whether its in your home town or in foriegn big city. Perhaps instead of sitting around waitng for Detroit to show her something she should go DO something about it.
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Treez4brkfst
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Username: Treez4brkfst

Post Number: 100
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 68.21.61.1
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 11:45 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

^^^^^Has not seen Hostel! LOL! Seriously though, as long as I can travel extensively I dont have a problem with making Detroit my base. All things considered, Metro Detroit is a very diverse area with a multitude of things/events/institutions to enjoy. The prerequisite though is to travel and see the country/world. If I can do that, then Ill be fine.
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Dialh4hipster
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Username: Dialh4hipster

Post Number: 1369
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.250.205.35
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 12:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

I’m scared to miss out on the opportunity the rest of the world has to offer.




I have to say, this line in particular resonated with me.

I do think that young people from Detroit should spend time living in another city after college. First of all, there IS more opportunity out there. Secondly, you learn what to expect from a city, and how totally different it is from what Detroit offers.

You also discover what it is Detroit DOES offer, and if you ever find yourself living back here - as so many people do - your raised expectations may help push the city in the right direction.

I will add, however, that it is hard to realize your full potential when you haven't even seen what the possiblilities are. Detroit is a less-than-inspiring place sometimes.
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Darwinism
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Username: Darwinism

Post Number: 376
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 69.215.30.34
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 12:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Traveling to other parts of the United States and also to other parts of the world for that matter can enrich one's character. There should be no fear in leaving Detroit to experience a new place, to meet new people, to try new food, to indulge in new cultures and simply to expose yourself to new influences.
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 2240
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.167.58.137
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

LOL, what't the oft heard saying on this board?

"Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out."
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Skulker
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Username: Skulker

Post Number: 3481
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.103.104.93
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

All good points that DH4H, Treez and Darwinism make. However the common thread is pushing yourself to go and see and do and experience...not "waiting". Going to a new city to wait is just as bad as waiting in Detroit. I sense a tenor in the writer of the piece that if she just goes someplace else, it will all be better.

If part of being proactive is moving to another place for personal growth, I say best of luck and wish people well on their journey.

However, just moving somewhere and expecting it to be "better" when you aren't pushing yourself will not help. It will make things worse.
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Amy_p
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Username: Amy_p

Post Number: 619
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 198.208.251.21
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It was skulked:

quote:

However, just moving somewhere and expecting it to be "better" when you aren't pushing yourself will not help. It will make things worse.


I agree. Almost made this mistake several years ago with a move to Chicago, then pushed myself, had a riotous several years in the D, met you fine people, and relapsed back into the hermitdom that is the real issue to begin with. (Not that I'm suggesting a causal relationship in that sequence... ;)
:-)
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Jt1
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Username: Jt1

Post Number: 6605
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 198.208.159.20
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

Going to a new city to wait is just as bad as waiting in Detroit.




Great line Skulker. I know many people that moved away from the area after college to find that they were just as miserable wherever they go. I have one friend that has moved to 4 different cities because each one isn't what she is looking for. I fear that she is just unhappy and a new scene won't make her happy but she will continue to look.
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Dialh4hipster
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Username: Dialh4hipster

Post Number: 1372
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.250.205.35
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Don't forget, you're talking about 22 year olds here and expecting them to know how to push themselves? Waiting in another city gets you one thing waiting in Detroit doesn't: a ringside seat watching everyone else push themselves. Watch and learn.

Lowell, I know you are saying that in jest, but that's the type of attitude that tells people "you are not valued here." People need to stop taking the fact that people want more than Detroit offers personally, and instead try to understand that we have different benefits and different disadvantages than other places.
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Sharmaal
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Username: Sharmaal

Post Number: 647
Registered: 09-2004
Posted From: 136.2.1.103
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Skulker is hitting it on the head. The same folks that whine about moving to X big city because there is nothing to do here, are the same folks that will still stay in on Friday and Saturday night. You can sit there, and wait for something to happen, or you can do it yourself. That's what drew me to Detroit Synergy. The idea that Such and Such doesn't exist in the city, lets create it.

(Message edited by sharmaal on January 31, 2006)
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Jt1
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Username: Jt1

Post Number: 6607
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 198.208.159.20
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sharmaal - I agree with you 100% but you also can't fault a young person going out to explore the world and decide where their life will take them.

If she leaves Detroit I hope she returns but in the meantime I hope she sees as muh of the world possible while she is young and has the opportunity (money aside)
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Dialh4hipster
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Username: Dialh4hipster

Post Number: 1373
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.250.205.35
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I go out all the time and I whine about moving to X big city because there is nothing to do here.
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Sharmaal
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Username: Sharmaal

Post Number: 649
Registered: 09-2004
Posted From: 136.2.1.103
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sorry DH4H,

There are some folks like yourself that are genuinley bored and have exhausted the city. That can happen, but you're in the minority.
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Jt1
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Username: Jt1

Post Number: 6608
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 198.208.159.20
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think that Sharmaal's point may have been more collectively, not individually.

If all of the people that wanted more nightlife in Detroit or wanted to see Detroit improved applied their efforts there would be a big difference.

I see it similar to the tens of thousands of people that 'wish Detroit was better' but do nothing.

Obviously there are many people that do everything they can but if everyone that was interested in making Detroit better/more lively volunteered, went out, supported local business, etc that we would see something more like what they want.

The argument is reeally that if you want to see the city be something better than everyone that believes that must participate instead of waiting for others to make it better then jump in.

Just my interpretation of Sharmaal's intent. Think of all of the people that lived downtown for a few years then left because there wasn't enough improvement. If all those people stayed think how much more there would be to do.

You can't however fault a person for wanting to do what they think is best as they only have one life and one youth.

(Message edited by jt1 on January 31, 2006)
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3420
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Username: 3420

Post Number: 42
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 143.132.200.19
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit has not pushed me away like most young people because I learned to appreciate Detroit even more when I left 5 years ago for school. I thought by a change of atmoshpere that I may find something else out in the world, but I have come to find out that I missed Detroit even more when I left. I have had the opportunity to travel a lot during my stay here in Mississippi and found some nice places around the country.

The problem with most of Detroit's young people is that they don't get around and see Detroit and what is has to offer. Most just go to the clubs and Belle Isle and think thats all Detroit has to offer for the younger generation. If most of the young people in Detroit learn to expand themselves to more than that, they will see that the city has a lot of great things for them to do. I know crime ,poor schools, jobs, and neighborhoods play a key role in why younger people leave but Detroit needs everyone to work together. Detroit needs its younger generation to keep Detroit going in a positive direction and thats why I choose to stay in Detroit and make a difference.
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Darwinism
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Username: Darwinism

Post Number: 377
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 69.215.30.34
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I can understand the sentiments expressed by Jt1 and Dial. It is important for a young man or woman to develop themselves during their youthful 20-something and mature along the way. When they return, they will be bringing with them way more tangibles and intangibles, as far as skillsets and thoughts go. Dial is right, one can go out every weekend and still find nothing else new to do.
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Dialh4hipster
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Username: Dialh4hipster

Post Number: 1374
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.250.205.35
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was just trying to point out that not going out or getting involved isn't always the culprit.

I may seem a little down on Detroit here, but it's more a reaction to a saccharine picture being painted. I do realize that my case is somewhat unique, in particular among members of this forum, but that doesn't mean there aren't others like me who feel the same.

Jt1, you and I are pretty much on the same page.
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Ndavies
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Username: Ndavies

Post Number: 1626
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 129.9.163.233
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sounds like a typical overly programmed suburban kid. They had their parents dictate every minute of their lives right through their entrance into College. Now that they're out of their parents house, they haven't found a way to make themselves happy.

They're still looking for that person to tell them what to do with their lives.
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Dialh4hipster
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Username: Dialh4hipster

Post Number: 1375
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.250.205.35
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 1:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yay Grumpybritches! I've missed your insight. I feel like my old Pollyanna self again!

Definitely throw the kids out of the house early and let them find their own way. Detroit needs more of that!

(Message edited by dialh4hipster on January 31, 2006)
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Ndavies
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Username: Ndavies

Post Number: 1628
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 129.9.163.233
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 2:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There is a huge difference between guiding a child into adulthood and micromanaging their lives.
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Sharmaal
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Username: Sharmaal

Post Number: 652
Registered: 09-2004
Posted From: 136.2.1.103
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 2:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

One of my posts got deleted or lost.

JT1. you are correct sir. Get away for a while. Move to another city, state, or even country for the matter. It let's you know what you should expect, and it makes you appreciate what you already had. Hopefully you come back, bring that knowledge and ideas back with you!


3420 - you are also correct. Broaded horizons, it's not just clubs and sporting events. In this city you've got to dig a little, and people aren't used to that. We need to show them the way.

DH4H - On this subject I'd like to talk to you in person about this. Can you make it to the next DSG meeting? Valkareus can give you the details.
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 2241
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.167.58.137
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 2:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Of course what I said was out of amusement Dial4, but it was a little of the 'buck up kid - quit your whining and get out into the world'. I agree with much of what is said above - get out and discover the tremendous creative assets that exist here, learn the scene kid and you'll be amazed. In the seventies I comtemplated and visited NYC as a place to advance my art career. But after seeing all the others who had moved there slaving at menial jobs to pay rent on rat hole apartments with little time to make art, I stuck to the D.

However travels elsewhere are important, not only to broaden one's perspective but to understand what one has at hand. I have done that, still do it, and encourage it, because one finds out how good he or she has it.

"And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive at the place where we started
And know the place for the first time." TS Eliot
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Danny
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Username: Danny

Post Number: 3673
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 141.217.174.230
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 2:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No good jobs to find means NO economic backbone and the people will go someplace else. Gov. Grandholm did the fine job securing the budget, but she needs to find a way to brings jobs here to Michigan right away. She has to know that her election year is getting closer.
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Jimaz
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Username: Jimaz

Post Number: 87
Registered: 12-2005
Posted From: 68.2.191.57
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

One of the little things I miss about Detroit is the rain. The smell of it, the anticipation of the coming storm, knowing it makes things green. It's been a record-breaking 102 days without rain here.

I'll bet that sounds odd to Detroiters. Sometimes you don't know what you'll be missing by leaving ... until you miss it.
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Pffft
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Username: Pffft

Post Number: 763
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 71.144.94.155
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No I hear you, Jim. Whenever I'm out west I have to get acclimated to the lack of green ...

There's nothing like the dark, leafy green of Detroit after a late spring rain.
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Steelworker
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Username: Steelworker

Post Number: 556
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 68.79.88.251
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

detroit does push you away. There are moments when everyone realizes it. Some people enjoy a place to go with large expanse of places to walk to and maybe not have a car. Or a place they can go without the likelyhood of being a victim of crime. Im very envious of others who live in a relatively safe city that has plenty of appeal to pedestrians. I do like many things about detroit(music, festivals, museums) I just dont like the lack of good big city things (i.e. pedestrians, plenty of stores, ect.....)
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Everyman
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Username: Everyman

Post Number: 32
Registered: 11-2005
Posted From: 24.136.14.239
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I wrote the following somewhere else (very slightly edited):
As someone who is in their early-20's and a participant in this sort of migration, I hope I may be able to offer some insight. I was born in Detroit, and raised there and in a small town just north of Ann Arbor. I went to undergrad in Ann Arbor, and now I attend a top professional school in Chicago. I'll give a number of reasons I (or others I know intimately) have fled the metro Detroit area.

(1) Wages v. Cost of Living - In many cases, you can make much more here (Chicago) without a proportional rise in the cost of living. In my career's case, the market salary (including bonus) is about $40-50k less in Detroit than Chicago. I'd love to live in Detroit, I think it will gentrify more now that the lower Woodward corridor is getting taken care of. However, I can live here in Streeterville or in the Gold Coast for *less* or the same than it would cost to live in Kales or Merchant's Row or something like that. What sense does that make? Each of us has tons of civic pride, but won't make foolish economic decisions because of sentimentality. I can go catch Lions games at the local bar.

(2) Public transportation - City/Suburban leaders need to bite the bullet on this one, I think. Even if it's only the downtown loop and regional spokes to those places that have the density to make it somewhat worthwhile. Hopefully, density would appear along the lines. Here, I can be anywhere in the city or to either airport in a reasonable amount of time for 2 bucks. Home, I would have to have a car to do anything reasonable. If I could get away with not having a car there, it'd be great. Not necessarily because I am 'green' (I actually might fall right of center), but because automobile ownership is generally a poor economic decision.

(3) Access to necessities - Even in Ann Arbor, in the Linden/Walnut/Elm student ghetto, we had to drive a few miles to get to a Kroger's for groceries. There's a similar situation in Detroit. Here, there is a Treasure Island and Fox & Obel within a block or two, and they are building a Dominic's like a block or two away. There's also a 24hr White Hen and Walgreen's right nearby. Detroit is getting better for this, with a CVS downtown, but it's still not quite there. I'd like to be able to walk places, which leads me to...

(4) Walkability - It's not so fun walking in a ghost town with little to no street-level business. I was gonna create an "energy" entry, but I think energy falls under walkability. I love to be out and see people, smile at them, maybe say hi. I don't want to be sequestered in my apt. or condo
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 3208
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 65.222.10.3
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

As a person of this age, I can say I agree about this. I have never permanently left Detroit, but that is simply because I learned to appreciate what there is for me. It is not for everyone. I wish people would get off of the fact that there is something in the Detroit area for everyone. There isn’t. If you are creative, which I am not, I would suggest leaving the area only so you don’t become frustrated and narrow-minded later. And I do not suggest leaving and going to a similar place like Chicago. People my age are most worried about college and jobs. They (we) seemed to be more focused on themselves than any generation that has come before as far as I am concerned.

Detroit does have a magnetic quality that not a lot of cities have. There seems to be so much potential here, that it draws people in. When I say potential, I mean things that could happen….not things that are currently happening. Currently, it is bleak here. There is ho hope. If you are a recent college grad in Michigan you would understand. If you weren’t, then it is hard to explain. Can you really blame people my age for feeling alienated and pushed away? I can’t. Not everyone sees Detroit in the light that a few dozen forumers see it. Most kids don’t care about Albert Kahn skyscrapers or winter festivals. They don’t give a damn about the happenings in Detroit regardless of how nice it all sounds.

What attracts younger crowds to an area is basically the “scene” of that city. Does Detroit have an attractive “scene” worth coming to? I have had five friends move to Atlanta. One to Boston. Three to San Diego. Two to Seattle. All of them claim it is the best decision they have ever made. Their outlook is so much better and they feel included. There are thousands of people their age doing the same things they like to do. This, Detroit will never have.
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Dabirch
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Username: Dabirch

Post Number: 1348
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 208.44.117.10
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

There's nothing like the dark, leafy green of Detroit




Bongman...are you out there?
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Darwinism
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Username: Darwinism

Post Number: 378
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 69.215.30.34
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Everyman: Thank you for sharing your story. I have personally heard similar, if not identical, accounts from many of my own friends, relatives and work associates. These people, a few in their early 20s and mid-20s, are currently living and working in cities like Boston, Raleigh, Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, NYC and Dallas. They aren't abandoning Detroit, they are simply weighing the financial benefits of making a better wage and career prospects elsewhere. They still proudly proclaim Detroit as their hometown, nothing can take that away.
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Southwestmap
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Username: Southwestmap

Post Number: 362
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 64.79.90.206
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Patrick, In my experience people will rarely admit that they made a "bad decision." People will always go on and on about their good decisions, often while hiding some misery. You have to listen with a grain of salt sometimes.

But, as far as leaving Michigan, I agree, as I said above - when you are young you need to get away from what you've known all your life. Your friends have made the right decision. And you should go too if you have been here all your life. Leave Michigan and see the world. But know that many of them, and maybe you, too, will come back, because home and family and the midwestern values that are in your DNA are here. Maybe someday a city of young, rootless people will lose its glamour.
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Warriorfan
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Username: Warriorfan

Post Number: 240
Registered: 08-2005
Posted From: 141.217.173.125
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Global warming will fix Detroit's bad weather problems and the young people will move back when it's 60 degrees all throughout winter. :-)
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Steelworker
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Username: Steelworker

Post Number: 557
Registered: 02-2004
Posted From: 68.79.88.251
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 3:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Everyman" articulated my post much better than I.
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Mind_field
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Username: Mind_field

Post Number: 477
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 209.240.205.61
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 4:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The old grass is green on the other side proverb. But in the end you always take you with you everywhere you go. You can have the best life imaginable in Detroit or a hellish life in utopic cities like Seattle or Miami. It's all about what you decide to do with your life. It is rarely about setting.

If you're expecting a place to change you, you'll be let down 9 out of 10 times.
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Czar
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Username: Czar

Post Number: 2885
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 129.137.203.237
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 4:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I moved away from Detroit in 1989 because there weren't any jobs. I've been trying to get back to Detroit the past two or three years and...jobs for someone in my field are scarce.
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Sharmaal
Member
Username: Sharmaal

Post Number: 657
Registered: 09-2004
Posted From: 136.2.1.103
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 4:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, we've already got enough dictators!
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Everyman
Member
Username: Everyman

Post Number: 33
Registered: 11-2005
Posted From: 24.136.14.239
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 5:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Heh, I still proudly wear my Detroit and UofM stuff all around Chicago.

I'm always trying to catch the Pistons or Lions when I can at the local watering hole.

When people ask where I'm from, I'll proudly proclaim Detroit and encourage them to visit downtown. I tell them that it's a cheap, close vacation and it's always good to bust stereotypes.

But I'll be back. I'll probably hit up NYC and HK for a couple of years each after Chicago, just so I don't regret not having lived in what I consider to be the three best cities in the world (besides all of the cities in the OC, of course). Then I'll settle down and hopefully be part of a city on its way back up!

(Most of my classmates/friends think I am crazy :-))

(Message edited by Everyman on January 31, 2006)
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Treelock
Member
Username: Treelock

Post Number: 84
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 68.77.166.98
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 10:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm in my mid-30s and have already gone through a time when I thought moving to new surroundings would change everything. Those were great years but you also learn that setting has little to do in the end with happiness.

Detroit is at once wondrous and maddening, don't we all know it. I still wrestle with the temptation to go back to NYC or to San Fran, some place where you don't need a car and there is presumably more opportunity and a better economy, etc. Given Michigan's current economic state, I'd probably seriously entertain getting out, too. Yet all in all, I've found Detroit is also a pretty interesting place in which to live.

Think about it: We make national and international headlines all the time, and not just for the wrong reasons. We have a hell of a musical legacy that is still going full steam ahead. We have one of the country's largest Arab-American populations and tons of great Middle Eastern, BBQ, Asian, Mexican, and Indian eateries (a friend who moved years ago to San Diego laments that city's lack of culinary diversity by comparison). We have four major-league sports teams. George Clinton, who hails from Detroit, wrote the song "Chocolate City." We have a phenomenal collection of pre-WWII architecture. Access to clean drinking water and lakes and rivers for recreation. A roster of summertime music festivals that are second to none. People who are a lot more real than many of the folks in tonier, more "hip" cities.

I think this city is full of secrets and that makes it all the more interesting. As an example, I just ran through Palmer Park the other day for the first time. Aside from trampling on a spent syringe and catching a few whiffs of fresh urine, the place set my mind on fire. It's a beautiful place that just needs some TLC.

Detroit still has a long way to go and many massive challenges facing it. We have reasons to be frustrated, but also many reasons to be proud.
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Paulmcall
Member
Username: Paulmcall

Post Number: 583
Registered: 05-2004
Posted From: 68.40.119.216
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 10:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I used to write for the South End back in the 70's and know how that gal feels. Not much has changed in 30 plus years.
The problem with "How you gonna keep down on the farm after they've seen Parie" is they don't want to come back.
Have you been to New York, Chicago or overseas to real functional towns like London or Berlin?
They have jobs, transportation and living, breathing neighborhoods. I haven't seen anything like certain sections of Detroit except for when I was in East Germany in 1975. They still had bombed out areas from the war then.
Unless we offer young people a reason to stay, this city will become a virtual ghost town. Instead of taking bus tours of New Orleans, you can just visit what used to be Detroit in a couple of years.
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Jenniferl
Member
Username: Jenniferl

Post Number: 236
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 4.229.156.134
Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 11:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was at the bus station last week and there was a young man buying a Greyhound ticket to New Orleans. I heard him tell the cashier he's moving there because he has a job lined up and that he can't find work in the Detroit area.
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Islandman
Member
Username: Islandman

Post Number: 51
Registered: 08-2004
Posted From: 68.42.171.59
Posted on Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 12:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm in my mid 30's and moved here from Puerto Rico in 1979. Yes, it was extreme culture shock. Back then the city was very different and dare I say, vibrant. Then from 88-96 I bounced around in the military, so I got to live in Chicago, Orlando, Denver, and San Diego. Loved them all but I simply hated the west coast. Living in San Diego had me begging to move back to Detroit, if you can believe that. I also loved in NYC for a while (2000-2001) and it was the most magical place I've ever been; the city feels like an animal that has a life of its own. You also had this excitement of never knowing what was going to happen when you walked out of the door to go out. This is a quality that you don't find here yet, but hopefully it will happen one day. I'm in school to switch careers now, so I'm going to kick it here for several more years and see what happens.

It can only get better with butter.
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Karl
Member
Username: Karl

Post Number: 1022
Registered: 09-2005
Posted From: 68.230.22.99
Posted on Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 12:57 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit is blessed with practically no risk of natural disaster - floods, earthquakes, vast fires, drought, terrorist attack or hurricane/tornado - and for that reason, every so often something happens in these other "wonderful" places - New Orleans, San Francisco, San Diego, even New York - that scares the wits out of everyone, and scares a few off - thus the job openings in New Orleans.
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Lowell
Board Administrator
Username: Lowell

Post Number: 2242
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.167.58.237
Posted on Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 4:21 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Don't jinx us Karl. :-)
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Tomoh
Member
Username: Tomoh

Post Number: 72
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.40.205.183
Posted on Saturday, February 04, 2006 - 12:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't think enough people seek out and discover the rest of the world which lies inside Metro Detroit -- the Middle Eastern/Arab neighborhoods and Chaldean Town, Mexicantown, the Chinatown/Viettown (informally) and Via Italia in Windsor, the multiple cultures in Hamtramck, etc. It can be harder to find other cultures, arts and nightlife (especially at the rate it changes) in this area compared to some other cities, not because the things don't exist, but because you are less likely to happen upon them. You gotta look. All that said, I'm glad Toronto is just a four hour jaunt east. :-)

Most of my friends left to live in San Francisco, Boston, or Chicago. I should note that most of those in SF and Chi have already left those cities or are planning to. My friends who moved to Atlanta all moved back after awhile.

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