Posted on 01/30/2006 6:01:15 AM PST by serendepitylives
Motor City hospitality will bowl over Pittsburghers By Marisol Bello FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIE Monday, January 30, 2006
DETROIT - Steelers fans taking a road trip to Detroit for Super Bowl XL can expect a pedestrian's paradise: a downtown buzzing with excitement, busy stores and restaurants, a street scene full of festivals, parties, ice sculptures and -- weather permitting -- even dog sledding.
OK, it ain't the real Detroit. Any other time, a pedestrian in the Motor City is about as rare as a Cowboys fan in Pittsburgh. But it is representative of the changes in place this week for guests coming downtown. They're closing off streets, for crying out loud. They're encouraging people to walk.
Next thing you know they'll be telling people to root for Ohio State.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
A crock. Overall downtown is safer now than it was 10-15 years ago.
>>Do you have any idea how far Pontiac is from downtown<<
Yup, sure do. I live three cities over.
I'm saying that Pontiac is as rough as any downtown at night.
And BTW, that's great that downtown Detroit is safer than it was 10 years ago. It still isn't safe.
A little dangerous is a like a little pregnant.
So is Beirut, but I still would not go there.
Actually at night there are plenty of places downtown I'd rather be than in much of Pontiac. Three cities over from Pontiac you live? Hmm.. would that be lily-livered Auburn Hills? To you, downtown Royal Oak probably looks sketchy. 48201 was my zip code for several years not too long ago, and have also lived in Ferndale just 6 blocks north of 8 Mile, and now live in Redford just a couple of stone throws from the city border.
Downtown is developing(re-developing I suppose) now at a pretty good clip. There is an actual night life, and good restaurants are popping up like weeds pushing thru concrete. Yes, it doesn't take long to hit some dicey neighborhoods, but downtown itself is on the upswing.
I have been to downtown Detroit a number of times but they were always during daylight. Mostly for Tigers games. The last time was a few years ago for the Auto show and that would be right at about this time of year. Its always a bit dicey when you are in an unfamiliar place but I didn't get any major bad vibes. Granted on these occasions I was like you for your dance thing part of a large crowd so it might be different if you are by your lonesome or perhaps at night which the Super Bowl will certainly be.
>>Hmm.. would that be lily-livered Auburn Hills?<<
*snicker*
Um, no.
My zip was 48239 as well at one point. When I first came here one of my good friends was an EMT. She told me that if I got into an accident on the east side of Telegraph to crawl to the west or I would never get help. She also worked in Pontiac and told me just to stay away from there at night. I've seen it first hand driving through it at night. She was right.
Perhaps your tolerance for danger is high because you have lived in the areas you have. Not mine.
You can say that the Downtown area is on the upswing but maybe that's because you are reading the Free Press for your information.
I don't know about Motor City's hospitality, so this is a bit off-topic, but I once read a moving tribute to the hospitality of Notre Dame when BYU played there. ND and their fans were a shining example of hospitality and good sportsmanship.
I agree with you.
When it's light and a big crowd, one is safe.
Alone and at night, you better have a CCW.
LOL!
Those ARE from the Free Press Hype aren't they?
LOL! Sad thing, I can remember a bustling downtown when I was a kid.
Lucido? Now there's a fine Grosse Pointe name. Went to GPN did you?
I have heard stories.
In Cleveland, it was just the opposite. In the sixties, no one went downtown. In the eighties, they started the nightlife in the warehouse district. Tons of $$$$ sunk into security and safety. The police pulled no punches. You could party until the sun came up, never mugged and your car was safe.
When I left 10 years ago, the partying was moving into the Public Square area and Tower City as well. They got a Hard Rock Cafe and a Huge Movie Theater there. It takes money and manpower to keep the people coming in. I don't think Detroit is ready or able to finance it.
>>Now there's a fine Grosse Pointe name. Went to GPN did you?<<
You presume a lot for somebody from Redford.
Ya know, even those of us from Warren, Sterling Heights or Southfield won't travel into some of these areas. We may not have much but we like to keep what we have. Particularly our lives.
Thats exactly what it is.
Ya got that right, Ditto!
Nothing wrong with playing in the sleet and snow, of course...
but ideally, the field should still be slushy mud, not froze hard as a rock...
And put those goal posts back on the goal line where they belong.
I said I live in Redford *now*. I didn't say I grew up there.
Warren? Have you noticed how the Detroit squalor passed the 8 Mile barrier years ago and is slowly working its way out along Van Dyke?
Southfield? You mean you haven't noticed how rough the southern part of that city is and has been for a good 10-15 years? And how the new color barrier in Southfield is all the way out to 13 Mile, from Southfield Rd to Evergreen?
Ok, you're not from Auburn Hills. Would it be all-white Lake Orion? Detroit has been expanding geographically for a long time. The metro area extends almost to Flint to the north, and to Ann Arbor out west. US-23 north of I-96 and south of Flint is going gangbusters. Point is, as the suburbs change with even the lower classes moving out of the city and pushing the white exodus even further(been to Macomb Twp?), there are plenty of pockets *in* the city that aren't quite as crime ridden as in the past. Simply because there aren't as many people left.
That's why they call it HOSPITALity
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Burbs are just as bad as Downtown.
Hype, spin. You are only making the case that the entire area is one that no one wants to visit. Geez, you sound like you're from Toledo. In other cities, you know when you are entering a bad neighborhood. In the Greater Detroit area and Downriver, you take a wrong turn and you're in a war zone.
And excuse me, FRiend but perhaps you should ask my black sister what I think of those "Lily-White" and "All-White" communities.
Know who you are speaking to before you throw in that race card.
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