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Downtown Detroit- November 25, 2006


rbdetsport

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It was another great night downtown! I went to the Division 1 Title Game for football to watch since my high school was the only team to beat the state champs. Then my family and I walked down Woodward and went to Hard Rock because noone would go to Lafayette Coney Island except me and my dad. We walked around CMP then down monroe to randolph, up randolph and broadway and went over to Harmonie Park, down madison to the Ford Field Parking Garage. It was beautiful in the city tonight! It even suprised my suburbanite family. The lights were beautiful! The thing that made me chuckle to myself was when my dad said, "It is pretty downtown tonight, wait, you can even hear birds chirping in the trees," making reference to the trees around the DAC.

The sad part of the night was when my mom was saying, look at all of the abandoned buildings making reference to the buildings on Woodward between GCP and CMP. She thought all of the old commercial buildings were abandoned in the upper floors. I set her straight and it was almost like she got mad that I was setting her straight. The good part was that my dad noticed the sign at Broderick Tower and other places and said, "They really got alot of lofts down here. That's good." I made me very happy that my family noticed the improvements, but of course they also tried to show all the bad things just to piss me off. It seems like they point out bad things on purpose. What really pissed me off was when my sister and her boyfriend claimed they were "cold" when I knew they were just worried about walking around after dark. But all in all it was a good night with lots of foot traffic around. I believe the people from towns around michigan noticed the improvements. Today was 2 out of the last 3 days I have been downtown. That stat just makes me so happy. I get in a better mood everytime I am downtown. And I give a lot of thanks to all of you who have helped me realize there are so many great things about Detroit.

October-November2006017.jpg

I was mad that the Christmas Exterior Lighting at the Penobscot turned on at most 5 minutes after I took this, but I thought it was a pretty cool picture.

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I was going to ask, what happened to all the lights on the P-nob? Phew!

My reaction to you mum is that it's ok for her to feel that way. Why? Because you and I and everyone else here knows better and wait in anticipation for her opinion to change. It's ok for people not to realize that economic development is sometimes like moving Mt. Everest. It's nice to look at all the improvements, but if you're not entrenched with development knowledge or interest, it's easy to be judgemental and critical.

I get positive reactions from my family as well. My mom and dad see the positive changes with an understanding of what Detroit really is (good and bad), because I take the time to tell them the reality. They make similar comments to yours as well, like when my mom said, "wow! I can't believe I'm walking in downtown Detroit right now!" This was in 2004 when I first moved to the city. Now, they come back and feel better with each visit.

It will take time, but in the mean time for all of us who have Detroit in our blood, might as well live it up like each day in the city will be our last! :)

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  • 1 month later...

back in December 1989, i was home on leave from the Air Force. my buddy was attending WSU and had to go to take an exam of somesort. he asked if i wanted to ride down with him since we had limited time together to screw around what with school, family and the like just before the holidays. i agreed and we headed downtown from Port Huron...

i sat in the student center (i think) and perused the papers, magazines and tabs. being that i was into military history pretty heavily i was really interested in an ad for a vintage clothing store on woodward...

trust me im getting to the point of my post...

so, the next day or so, i grabbed my parents car and drove back down to this store and went shopping. i picked up a few things including an 1946 dated OD #7 wool overcoat in like knew condition for all of $20. it was a steal...

well, i told my buddy that weekend i had gone down there and his reply was "you did this by yourself?" i told him "yeah, why should i be afraid?". he answered "no, im just proud of you for doing something most people wouldnt have the nuts to do"...

couldnt figure that out, ive never been anywhere in the city at anytime of day or night where i felt uncomfortable. ive walked to the Fox theater from Greektown several times in the late 80s and early 90s before alot of 'cleaning' had taken place...

i love being IN the city but i cant help but dream of it looking like Chicago with the number of people downtown that they have. i wonder if its the taxes keeping the commerce in the suburbs or if its the culture of the clientele...

david

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