Detroit covers many areas - not just the city prop
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3/5/2007
Many of the posts here are quite negative about Detroit, and while I agree with the fact that parts of Detroit can look "blighted" I'm not sure any big city dosen't have it's "blighted" areas also. I have lived in the "SUBURBS" of Detroit my entire life, worked in the city of Detroit on and aff for over 20 years. Most (if not all) of my family and extended family have lived here for generations and choose to stay in Michigan (Southeast Michigan, suburbs of Detroit, within 30 minutes drive of Downtown DTroit) and many have moved back after living in places like Seattle, Chicago, etc.
I would classify our social status of upper middle to upper class white, advanced education, etc.
While many of the cities I have visited seem better than Detroit, it seems hard to compare. If you look at appearances, yes, many cities look better. When it comes to crime, many cities "feel" safer, but I think that is mostly an illusion. Living, working, and playing in and around Metro Detroit for a combined hundreds of years (among my entire family) I have NEVER heard of ANYONE of my family & freinds being robbed, mugged, stabbed, beaten, car stolen, purse stolen, etc. Of course, there is crime in prats of Detroit. If you think of the city of Detroit as a wheel, with the downtown at the hub (center) and the city radiating outward - it is generally at the outward edges of the city where crime is the worst. In the poorer neighborhoods of Detroit. If you don't go there (who does) you usually don't see any crime. You hear about it everyday on the news but you don't see it personally.Even going downtown to cultural events, sporting events, etc. You drive in, eat at decent restaurants (not as nice as more "touristy" downtowns like Chicago) go to your event and then drive back to the suburbs. For the people living in these "bad" neighborhoods of teh actual city of Detroit - well I'm sure things are bad. BUT, go to any major city - Washington DC, Chicago's South Side, East St. Louis, etc and you have bad areas. On one of my recent trips to Chicago I walked into Cabrini Green area and also drove through the South SIde of Chicago - I was scared - I didnt know the areaa and felt vunerable. Parts of the city of Detroit have that effect also. The suburbs of detroit are excellent, self sufficient, and thriving. Current Auto Industry employment is troublesome but there are plenty of well paid employed folks in town.
The suburbs of Detroit are very large with nice houses, due to the lac
John | South Lyon, MI