Swedish Newspaper comments on Downtown Detroit (Traverse City, St. Louis: hotel, luxury, casino)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Translated version of http://www.vlt.se/
Click "sport" and scroll down to find
"VLT in the U.S.: High mood in Scott Rade Center"

This is a Hockey blog following Blues Patrik Berglund. Anyway, they spent a couple days in Detroit. Here are the comments.

Scroll down to Day 9.
It says (some parts are still hard to figure out)
"Downtown Detroit is a ghetto. Large derelict buildings surrounding our oasis of luxury sham.

I dare not go one meter outside the hotel door. Shall we go somewhere that is the car that case, otherwise it may be.

You may think that I and photographer Bilberg are cowards. Sure, maybe we are, but we tried anyway to make contact with local people on the nearest bar. The future will show whether they really liked us, or if the reporting from Detroit to be short-lived.

Sure, we drive a fat lobster here in Detroit, but if the truth be made, I would need a tank to feel safe.

Downtown Detroit is simply a different world than we are accustomed to, and I Bilberg is as misplaced here as two twelve tags for elk hunting.

I am afraid and I do not ashamed of it - for it is truth.

If all goes as intended, you will still receive part of Detroit's front - Nicklas Lidström lives in luxury Bellagio and the Red Wings finance facilities in Joe Louis Arena.

Surf into vlt.se and see if VLT's crews will survive the reality of Detroit.

With the help of police officers who continually check the Hilton hotel are we going to do our best to deliver to Thiruvananthapuram. "

Day 11:

"Noted that Detroit's urban actually is beautiful - at a distance, from Canada."

Day 12:

"Today, I left and Jonas Bilberg Detroit. Indeed the city was not what I had expected, but Hockey Town gave us yet memories of a lifetime. "

Not saying I agree or disagree, but it is an interesting view from an outsider. Do you think most foreigners feel this way?

[Coldjensens]

Perhaps if they are prejudiced. There is no reason to be terrified to go out in downtown Detroit. I do it all the time. I walk around. Sometimes I bring my wife and children. No one bothers us.

It is all about perspective.

[djmilf]

From the above link...(via Google translation)

We quickly came to the conclusion that we like downtown St. Louis much better than downtown Detroit - and we found a place servererar an absolutely wonderful thin-bottomed pizza.

Also...

Day 11, Saturday, Sept. 20
Today I am fit and photographer Jonas Bilberg to have lunch in another country. We went therefore biltunneln as the Detroit River and visted Windsor in Canada.

Imagine that world may seem so different on the other side of the border. We wander around in the sunshine on the beachfront in Windsor and just enjoyed life.

Of course, we also looked into the luxurious Caesar's Casino before we closed the day in Canada, each with its kycklingpanini in the riverside.

Funny thing about this is that most Canadians consider Windsor an armpit of a city. Those Swedes must have a really bad opinion of Detroit!

[MICoastieMom]

I have a great deal of sympathy for this man for two reasons. First he is obviously being held hostage by his own fears and preconcieved (albeit misguided) notions. Well, there goes that whole Swedish notion about the Stockholm syndrome! Secondly, he suffers from an extreme case of foot in mouth disease. Regardless of his opinion, which he is entitled to, how terribly ungracious and unprofessional to express it publicly when he made no attempt to judge for himself. I hope he is a better hockey player than a diplomat because at least in hockey discretion isn't the better part of valor. Too bad his mother never taught him if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Let him go to St. Louis, Red Wings don't need players with that attitude.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I don't think he's a player. I believe he's a reporter, following the Blues Patrik Berglund. They were in Traverse City for the tournament and visited Detroit to see Lidstrom, who is from the same town as Berglund.

That first link may not link to the translated page.

Try this link:
http://tinyurl.com/4nge88

[MICoastieMom]

A reporter? Evidently they haven't heard of investigative reporting over there. I believe in freedom of the press. I also believe there is a responsibility that goes with that priviledge to find the truth and not report innuendo and preconceived ideas as fact. I am trying to give this man the benefit of the doubt that something was lost in translation, but unfortunately prejudice is a universal language.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

It's also a blog.

[jrmontag]

What exactly is the point of this thread???

Are you just a bored kid trying to stir up crap because you have nothing better to do? Is this supposed to make the people who live there feel bad, especially since they have no control over any of it? I'm pretty sure I can make several stereotyped generalizations about Sweden but ultimately is that going to change the way that the people over there feel about living there?

Oh, at least Detroit isn't as bad as St. Louis, right? Right?

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I was just wondering what you guys think of this. What you guys think of outsiders views in general.

The St. Louis thing is just a coincidence. They're following Patrik Berglund and Nicholas Lidstrom.

The blogger seems to be negative about things in general, but I was just wondering your response to his views. I'm not saying he's correct at all.

And obviously Downtown St. Louis has issues as well.

[ChunkyMonkey]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

Translated version of http://www.vlt.se/

Sure, we drive a fat lobster here in Detroit...

LOL. Hummer is lobster in Swedish, but I think in this case the Swede was referring to the car. Gotta love translation software.

If it makes you feel better, vlt is not a major site at all. I've never even heard of it. I'd be more worried if it was dn.se or svd.se, the national papers. Most Swedes are not used to the kind of poverty and urban decay that may be found in the U.S. Sweden is a socialist country that do not see much poverty at all. So, seeing this in the U.S. must come as a shock to the system. Keep in mind that a majority of foreign TV programming in Sweden comes from the U.S. So, all the ghetto "shoot em ups" may have gotten to them. Although this is one guys' opinion of Detroit in a blog, it should also not be dismissed so easily. Although I've read that Detroit has slowly worked on making its downtown better, it is clear that they have to continue their efforts as Detroit needs more positive blogs rather than negative ones.