A different experience. Not necessarily a good one
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12/7/2006
I've lived in and around Detroit for 30 yrs. It's not so good. There are a lot(950,000) of poor people in the city. Not much business growth. Worst foreclosue rate. #2 fattest people in America. Probably some of the most unhealthy too. That includes me. Doh! The weather is not good. Gray a lot. Not many nice parks. Not a lot of people walking around. Especially for a city of 900,000+ people. There is not a single Target or major Dept store anywhere in the city limits of Detroit. They probably don't want any part of it. Auto business are shrinking. Detroit doesn't have anything else to fall back on. Can't even forsee what it would be. I think they should legalize sports gambling and possibly even legalize mary jane. It's about all they can do. At least it would become somewhat of a destination for those reasons. Otherwise what else does it offer over any other major city? There is no riverfront development although it's been on the river for 300 years! Yeah, a slab of concrete doesn't count. They also cut the police force in half. Try getting a response if you live in Detroit. I would also be willing to bet Detroit has the highest number of people who don't pay their property taxes. Also there is so much baron and abaondoned land in the city. They need to downsize. But nobody want to buy any of it. Yet. Here's a funny. When they opened up the Hard Rock Cafe it was like the moon landing or something. And recently I've even heard rumors that Hard Rock is going to leave... That could just be rumor though but I wouldn't be surprised. There is one CVS store downtown but you better hurry because it closes at 6... After that you gotta drive a ways to get basic necessities. Oh there is no grocery store downtown either. At all.
Here's some positives:
Downtown is better than the outerlying neighborhoods and city. More to do and looks better. Good selection of bars and restaurants. Just not the chain flashy type. Decent casinos. But still no free drinks and the buffets are still expensive IMHO. There are bums but not as many as I saw in San Fran. But that's probably because there's usually really no one to haggle. There is some cool architecture and history. Comerica Park is one of the best ball parks in America IMHO. I've been to a few. For about 2 months June~July the weather is actually pretty nice. Ever since the Super Bowl in 2006 it's has perked up a bit. Downtown that is. Detroit offers a unique experience but one you'll probably not feel the need to repe
Chris | Detroit, MI