41 ms·

Detroit is an odd place. For years of going there for work it was tough to find locally owned restaurants in favor of chains, it’s do-able but you might end up

Detroit is an odd place. For years of going there for work it was tough to find locally owned restaurants in favor of chains, it’s do-able but you might end up in weird places like a polish restaurant literally in the basement of a house a few blocks off Woodward. The people who identify with Detroit really do so. There is at first an inexplicable pride of being “from the D”, but it’s nice, there are really diverse art scenes, I’ve had great food, and really most people are quite friendly for being eastern half of the country. It’s an odd place.

api 9y ago
> It’s an odd place. This is the most bullish thing you can say. An odd place is special vs. the rest of generica.
ch4s3 9y ago
> It’s an odd place. That's exactly how I felt living in Baltimore. Now that I live in New York, everyone and everything seems so normal, but in a dull kind of way. America's downtrodden and resurgent smaller cities have a lot going for them in terms of culture, character, the resiliency of their people. I really hope they can find some measure of economic success.
- hackeraccount 9y ago
  I live in Baltimore - I've always thought Detroit was our sister city. Both totally F'd. I still like B'More though. Dunno why.
  - dionidium 9y ago
    St. Louisan here. Arguments for why we're actually your sister city: 1) Both independent cities. There are only a few in the entire country. St. Louis and Baltimore are the two largest. This dynamic plays out in very similar ways in both cities. I hang out on r/baltimore a bit. The people there use the terms "City" and "County" almost exactly as we do. 2) Similar demographics, crime rates, and issues. Detroit is down to about 10% white. The splits in Baltimore and St. Louis are more even, which informs quite a bit of the racial politics in each city. (I can't imagine there's much of a white voting bloc left in Detroit, but it still makes a big difference in St. Louis and Baltimore.) 3) Very similar population peaks. St. Louis peaked at ~850k. Baltimore once had about 950k. Detroit was much, much larger at its peak. 4) The Baltimore Orioles used to be the St. Louis Browns. 5) Similar architectural patterns. Where Baltimore has row houses: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/7e/11/557e11d75dd3b45ed3efaca2b2269aa6.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/7e/11/557e11d75dd3b45ed3ef... St. Louis has red brick: https://misfitstream.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/25.jpg https://misfitstream.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/25.jpg The prevalence of each form creates very similar vibes in each city. Detroit doesn't seem to have any such dominant form. 6) Detroit's boom (driven by the automobile) came later than either Baltimore's or St. Louis's. Baltimore and St. Louis are much more from the same, earlier era and that definitely comes through when walking around in their older neighborhoods.
- busterarm 9y ago
  I feel that way about Baltimore too, although I've only visited a bunch. I think there's a really fine line though between a city like Baltimore and one like Buffalo, where I did live for a few years and revisited after a decade absent. Buffalo seems to try to redevelop a neighborhood, but after not finding the success they hoped for will abandon that neighborhood and move on to try another. When I was first in Buffalo in the early 2000s it was downtrodden but had promise, but my visit there last summer was incredibly depressing.
hpcjoe 9y ago
Mario's[1] for excellent Italian food. Xoxhimilco[2] for excellent Mexican food. Antonio's[3] in the burbs. New Peking[4] in GC for excellent Chinese food. I've lived in Michigan 30 years now. Came here for grad school, first at MSU, then down to Wayne State for Ph.D. Never left. There is something about this place. Even when we are getting the crap kicked out of us ... we don't give up. It took a long time to get rid of most of the corrupt city management. Some are still there, and the city council are generally throwbacks to the bad time. Detroit school system is still ... crap. Private and charter schooling is doing a great job of fixing that, giving parents a choice, and forcing the schools to compete for students. This helps. There are many other anachronisms throughout the region and state. Some of these are quaint, some of them are incredibly frustrating, off putting, etc. If we could only attract more money to the area, this would be a great place to form small companies seeking to be large companies. Low burn rates/costs. Lots of talent that wants to escape the autos, and other failed regional initiatives (life science corridor anyone?). Ann Arbor has a nascent/tiny startup scene. Should be bigger. [1] https://www.facebook.com/detroitmarios/ https://www.facebook.com/detroitmarios/ [2] http://www.xochimilcorestaurant.com/ http://www.xochimilcorestaurant.com/ [3] https://antoniosrestaurants.com/ https://antoniosrestaurants.com/ [4] http://newpekingusa.com/ http://newpekingusa.com/
- trisimix 9y ago
  Rep for Wayne State
- jacquesm 9y ago
  > Private and charter schooling is doing a great job of fixing that, giving parents a choice Free private schools? If not they are giving parents that can afford it a choice. Just like wealthy expats tend to place their kids in good private schools in poor places because they can afford it. As long as education isn't good for everybody it's just another way to stack the deck.
  - sremani 9y ago
    I would be really interested what you did with your kids'(if you have any) education. Tell us what you practiced.
tjr225 9y ago
I went to that restaurant after I ran the 2014 Detroit Marathon...locked my wife(then girlfriend's) keys in her car. Great food!

api 9y ago

> It’s an odd place. This is the most bullish thing you can say. An odd place is special vs. the rest of generica.

ch4s3 9y ago

> It’s an odd place. That's exactly how I felt living in Baltimore. Now that I live in New York, everyone and everything seems so normal, but in a dull kind of way. America's downtrodden and resurgent smaller cities have a lot going for them in terms of culture, character, the resiliency of their people. I really hope they can find some measure of economic success.

hackeraccount 9y ago
I live in Baltimore - I've always thought Detroit was our sister city. Both totally F'd. I still like B'More though. Dunno why.
- dionidium 9y ago
  St. Louisan here. Arguments for why we're actually your sister city: 1) Both independent cities. There are only a few in the entire country. St. Louis and Baltimore are the two largest. This dynamic plays out in very similar ways in both cities. I hang out on r/baltimore a bit. The people there use the terms "City" and "County" almost exactly as we do. 2) Similar demographics, crime rates, and issues. Detroit is down to about 10% white. The splits in Baltimore and St. Louis are more even, which informs quite a bit of the racial politics in each city. (I can't imagine there's much of a white voting bloc left in Detroit, but it still makes a big difference in St. Louis and Baltimore.) 3) Very similar population peaks. St. Louis peaked at ~850k. Baltimore once had about 950k. Detroit was much, much larger at its peak. 4) The Baltimore Orioles used to be the St. Louis Browns. 5) Similar architectural patterns. Where Baltimore has row houses: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/7e/11/557e11d75dd3b45ed3efaca2b2269aa6.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/7e/11/557e11d75dd3b45ed3ef... St. Louis has red brick: https://misfitstream.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/25.jpg https://misfitstream.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/25.jpg The prevalence of each form creates very similar vibes in each city. Detroit doesn't seem to have any such dominant form. 6) Detroit's boom (driven by the automobile) came later than either Baltimore's or St. Louis's. Baltimore and St. Louis are much more from the same, earlier era and that definitely comes through when walking around in their older neighborhoods.
busterarm 9y ago
I feel that way about Baltimore too, although I've only visited a bunch. I think there's a really fine line though between a city like Baltimore and one like Buffalo, where I did live for a few years and revisited after a decade absent. Buffalo seems to try to redevelop a neighborhood, but after not finding the success they hoped for will abandon that neighborhood and move on to try another. When I was first in Buffalo in the early 2000s it was downtrodden but had promise, but my visit there last summer was incredibly depressing.

hpcjoe 9y ago

Mario's[1] for excellent Italian food. Xoxhimilco[2] for excellent Mexican food. Antonio's[3] in the burbs. New Peking[4] in GC for excellent Chinese food. I've lived in Michigan 30 years now. Came here for grad school, first at MSU, then down to Wayne State for Ph.D. Never left. There is something about this place. Even when we are getting the crap kicked out of us ... we don't give up. It took a long time to get rid of most of the corrupt city management. Some are still there, and the city council are generally throwbacks to the bad time. Detroit school system is still ... crap. Private and charter schooling is doing a great job of fixing that, giving parents a choice, and forcing the schools to compete for students. This helps. There are many other anachronisms throughout the region and state. Some of these are quaint, some of them are incredibly frustrating, off putting, etc. If we could only attract more money to the area, this would be a great place to form small companies seeking to be large companies. Low burn rates/costs. Lots of talent that wants to escape the autos, and other failed regional initiatives (life science corridor anyone?). Ann Arbor has a nascent/tiny startup scene. Should be bigger. [1] https://www.facebook.com/detroitmarios/ https://www.facebook.com/detroitmarios/ [2] http://www.xochimilcorestaurant.com/ http://www.xochimilcorestaurant.com/ [3] https://antoniosrestaurants.com/ https://antoniosrestaurants.com/ [4] http://newpekingusa.com/ http://newpekingusa.com/

trisimix 9y ago
Rep for Wayne State
jacquesm 9y ago
> Private and charter schooling is doing a great job of fixing that, giving parents a choice Free private schools? If not they are giving parents that can afford it a choice. Just like wealthy expats tend to place their kids in good private schools in poor places because they can afford it. As long as education isn't good for everybody it's just another way to stack the deck.
- sremani 9y ago
  I would be really interested what you did with your kids'(if you have any) education. Tell us what you practiced.

tjr225 9y ago

I went to that restaurant after I ran the 2014 Detroit Marathon...locked my wife(then girlfriend's) keys in her car. Great food!