"I'm from Detroit" boundaries (Southfield, Kalamazoo: schools, living in, move to)

[ForStarters]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

Actually, I find that people tend to want to "TEST" you (or themselves) when you tell them that you are from Detroit. There is no better way to get a rep than to kick someones butt from Detroit.....or so it seems.

Actually, when I'm traveling and I say "I'm from Detroit", many people want to know if I actually live in the city. There is apparently an idea that anyone who lives in the actual city must be some gritty figure out of the movie Sin City. Most people are surprised to find out that a clean-cut guy like me with golden boy looks actually lives in Detroit.

[Tyveker]

I've had the same experience as ForStarters. I worked at the DIA and another intern was from Troy and she was aghast that I lived in the city, even more shocked that I rode the bus - seriously, why are people so afraid of the bus? It's a bus! I've had worse experiences with New York buses than with Detroit buses , not to mention the cops that harass regular citizens in New York's public transit system. Obviously the busses that go to more dangerous areas carry that danger with them, but you're probably not gonna have too many problems riding the 53 up and down woodward.

This is some hefty evidence for the the public relations needs of the city that IndenturedServant has talked about.

[urbanliving99]

I think the disconnect re busing in Detroit is lack of knowledge. In NYC or DC - if you have a Metrocard or subway card - you can just hop on any bus and take it where you need to go (assuming it's on the route). You can get a Metro/subway card at any subway station - so it's easy.

But Detroit doesn't have a subway. So how does one get a bus ticket? Do you have to have exact change? How much is the ride? What are the routes? Of course - most of that info is online - but I suspect the "awareness gap" is the greatest reason most folks have never considered buses as a mode of transportation - It's not as obvious as other cities. That's what should be fixed.

[313Weather]

Originally Posted by ragnarkar

I'm pretty flexible when it comes to what people's definitions are when they claim they're from Detroit. My personal boundary areas are as follows:

North - Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills.
East - Canada Boundary
South - Flat Rock, Gibraltar, etc.
West - Livonia, Novi, Canton, Northville.

Nearby areas I don't consider as "part of Detroit" - Ann Arbor, Flint, Port Huron, Monroe, Windsor (Canada)

Wonder what others think of the boundaries of the "Detroit area"..

Any place that has directly benefitted from the population shift from Detroit proper to the suburbs is "Detroit." in my book.

Essentially, that's any areas offically along and within a Port Huron-Flint-Ann Arbor-Monroe line.

The folks that **** me off the most are the fair weather Detroiters. Tehy only claim the city when it's to their benefit, but when something negative happens, "Oh, we're in not Detroit" or "Them people down in Detroit..." These are the same ones who try to rebrand the area as "SE Michigan."

[Tyveker]

Originally Posted by urbanliving99

I think the disconnect re busing in Detroit is lack of knowledge. In NYC or DC - if you have a Metrocard or subway card - you can just hop on any bus and take it where you need to go (assuming it's on the route). You can get a Metro/subway card at any subway station - so it's easy.

But Detroit doesn't have a subway. So how does one get a bus ticket? Do you have to have exact change? How much is the ride? What are the routes? Of course - most of that info is online - but I suspect the "awareness gap" is the greatest reason most folks have never considered buses as a mode of transportation - It's not as obvious as other cities. That's what should be fixed.

Totally agree. I wonder how many people realize that you can get month long DDOT/SMART passes (or that it's only 5 dollars more to get a pass that covers both than a pass that just covers DDOT!) at most CVS's, for instance. The Rosa Parks Transit Center should have alleviated these problems, buttttt nearly every time I went in there they were out of stock of most of the DDOT bus routes, and the people that work there are profoundly unhelpful.

[Slappy san]

Originally Posted by ragnarkar

I'm pretty flexible when it comes to what people's definitions are when they claim they're from Detroit. My personal boundary areas are as follows:

North - Pontiac, Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills.
East - Canada Boundary
South - Flat Rock, Gibraltar, etc.
West - Livonia, Novi, Canton, Northville.

Nearby areas I don't consider as "part of Detroit" - Ann Arbor, Flint, Port Huron, Monroe, Windsor (Canada)

Wonder what others think of the boundaries of the "Detroit area"..

If the mail delivered to your home didn't have Detroit, Michigan on it...you are not from Detroit. This isn't hard but people still ignore that simple fact.

[zthatzmanz28]

Metro Detroit is different from Detroit. When I was younger my dad used to tell everyone we were from Detroit when we were traveling cross country in the summers. He said because most people would be confused if he said Taylor or Dearborn.
When I hear someone say they are from Detroit, I expect they are from the city. Otherwise I would think they would say Metro Detroit area, Near Detroit, around Detroit, outside of Detroit.

[313 TUxedo]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

<snip>

For my view, I simply use 60 mile radius. If its a town in the 60 mile radius.....then its part of that area.

So Toledo is?

[ragnarkar]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

For what purpose? I mean....what is your criteria for what area is in and what area is out?

There are multiple VIEWS of population counts.

There are:

Urbanized Area
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area
Basic Trading Area
Nelson Market Area
Etc

Depending on the needs of those viewing the demographics, there are different criteria to determine what is part of the Detroit area and what is not.

For my view, I simply use 60 mile radius. If its a town in the 60 mile radius.....then its part of that area.

Purpose? Just curiosity.

[detwahDJ]

This thread is a rehash from another several months ago.