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I noticed that a lot out west too! The nice areas are very nice, but the bad areas look like some kind of desert wasteland and are really depressing. The lack of green is what I couldn't adjust to. Brown, rocks, tan houses with concrete block walls, brown, rocks, tan houses...repeat, repeat, repeat...when I flew back into Metro in August it literally felt like I had landed in some kind of rain forest, so lush did it seem after living in the brownlands...
And no, I don't think that Metro Detroit is "uglier" than other metro areas. It's all in where you are and how you choose to see it. Ugliness is a subjective thing. There is no city in the U.S. that doesn't look ugly to someone and gorgeous to someone else. To each their own. I know that areas like Northville, Plymouth, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester, and the Grosse Pointes rival any suburb that I have seen in any large U.S. city, but again, that's a subjective opinion, same as all of yours.
Yeah, and all the development signs say "mountain views!!!" Like, "Please look at the mountains so you wont' notice that you're building a house in a dumpy rocky wasteland." Parts of the desert out there are gorgeous, but not the suburban parts, IMO.
There's a city we went through called Pahrump, NV (I think that's how it's spelled). I gave it the nickname, Pahrump the Dump.
Compared to elsewhere(think Europe and parts of East Asia), midsized cities in America generally are hideous enough to not be bickering with one another.
I agree that many of the major boulevards look the same throughout the Detroit metro area. And areas that were probably nice (relatively speaking) twenty years ago are starting to look run down, like areas of Farmington Hills, Southfield and other parts of Oakland County.
But I was also in Las Vegas this past weekend and traveled through the Western suburbs on my way to my next destination, and it is a dump. At least in Michigan, most empty lots fill in with grass, bushes and trees. In Vegas, it's one nice commercial building (Home Depot or some other chain), 3 dumpy rock and weed strewn lots, 150 houses packed so tight you can barely see daylight between them surrounded by DEFCON 4 concrete retaining walls, one nice building, 3 dumpy rock and weed strewn lots, repeat, repeat, repeat... Oh, and lots of abandoned development "model homes."
Over on the Las Vegas forum people ask about those DEFCON walls all the time (and the nearly universal use of subdivision gates)...supposedly it's a western thing...it clearly delineates your land and provides a sense of privacy (unless the house next door is a two story). I like them a whole lot more than stockade fences so loved in the Detroit suburbs. The one thing really jarring to me about Vegas is the graffiti in all but the best of areas, in EVERY non-casino bathroom, and on the computer monitor of all things at Jack in the Box. I don't mind some graffiti (we have some around here in Harrison Township and I really don't care) but out there it's a massive problem.
As for metro D being ugly, much of it is. Even supposedly upscale places like Shelby Township. Old Van Dyke (splits the township in half) is downright ugly, even by my standards (I just loooove the roads out west and I don't mind suburban sprawl a lot of the time and my opinion of trees is that they block the view). However, if you want ugly and depressing suburban blight, go check out 9 Mile in south Warren...much of it looks just like a slightly better version of 7 Mile. 14 and 15 Mile in Clinton Township are depressing as well. The one detail I notice in SE MI that I find really unattractive in streetscapes is the widespread use of wooden light poles and stoplights strung across the intersections like Christmas lights.
My wife thinks the Oakland Mall area is ugly. I like it (it's one of my fav areas of the metro) but I understand why it comes across as ugly. I like 14 Mile over there, though...the metal light poles as opposed to wood, the narrow concrete median, no trees, the freeway going through, an old mall...
Mass transit, plain and simple. Look at Chicago. Not only is downtown a beautiful sight to behold, with the skyscrapers rising at breakneck speed, Millennium Park, museums, waterfront, theaters, shops, etc., but there are scores of urban/suburban areas that line the Metra and CTA lines that are exploding with tight-knit new developments, with little shops, condos, parks, you name it. Just when I think Chicago can't get any more beautiful, it just keeps amazing me.
Chicago is not perfect, of course, but it's what Detroit should emulate. And Chicago was not always that way. Even 25 years ago, it was ghetto land as far as the eye could see beyond the Loop. I remember visiting Chicago as a teen in the late 80's, and looking out at the ghettos and projects from the top of the Sears Tower. You wouldn't dream of venturing outside of Michigan Ave back in the 80's. Now, the areas just outside of the loop and the Magnificent Mile are hot properties, all served by mass transit.
Yes thats right and Michigan was like a jewel compared to Ohio and PA a decade ago.No doubt the auto industry played a big role.
This is a comment I have heard from various out-of-towners who visit. It's not so much about the pockets of decay as it is about the general layout, sprawl, and appearance of the metro area, combined with its general lack of natural landmarks. Los Angeles, for example, may sprawl terribly, but you can see the mountains from various angles.
A lot of metro Detroit is nothing but low-density housing tracts with little commerce strung together by commercial boulevards that are wide and ugly. There is a general sense of bleakness to a lot of the environment.
What can be done to fix this, and how did things get this way?
I felt that a long time ago in the neighbouring states and man Michigan had life despite bad weather,but we got there too now.
I agree with many here,but what`s the use of Grosse Pointe being nice when there is no freakin jobs or Bloomfield Hills?I lived in that area and of course it is excellent but you had to do a long commute to work because there were no jobs and there is still no jobs and that has been going for at least 30 years.Of course these cities can`t accomodate everyone that just settles there,but things have gotten way too nasty.You can`t recognize many cities now from what they used to be.Birmingham is going down to the toilet with many closures and i bet you people there are desperate to sell their properties,but its not gonna happen.The state does not fix the roads and subsequently we need to go to the mechanic to fix our suspension system and that too is another chapter.The state does nothing to help other than making people to go elsewhere.Hey these are not issues for the minority who is well off but for the rest are.The rents in Michigan are overpriced with today`s economy and i expect that millions will leave within the next 5 years.Remember that this state has been in this mood for close to a decade now and did not enjoy what others did, albeit a bubble.
The Chicagoland people have a thread about 'ugly intersections' in suburbia. There are a lot of flatland intersections in the Chicago burbs with deteriorating pavement and no landscape work, but there are plenty of nice streetscapes there as well.
As for southeastern Michigan, Birmingham (where I currently live & pay plenty to do in part because the area still looks relatively clean/decent), Northville/Plymouth, the Grosse Pointes, and perhaps Rochester (my hometown) and select areas of Ann Arbor have invested in streetscapes and public landscapes, but my overall view is that vast stretches of Troy, Farmington Hills, etc are falling into pieces. I'd warn the Canton city fathers of this to get them to spend money on landscapes/streetscapes, and to an extent they are, but there's not much you can do when the area lacks economic vitality and the money could be spent to keep a fire station open.
Cleveland and Pittsburgh certainly have ugly areas, but they have sprung back from deterioration/decay in a number of areas. The roads are kept fairly clean.
I like that there is landscaping work being done along I-696 now in Macomb County, but I don't know what the finished project is going to look like, or if most of the people driving down I-696 will notice and/or care.
Quick anecdotal story: my parents and I ran into a shopkeeper out in Carmel, California a few years ago. The guy had fond memories of Bloomfield/Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Southfield, etc and I didn't have the heart to describe to him what Southfield looks like today.
I agree with many here,but what`s the use of Grosse Pointe being nice when there is no freakin jobs or Bloomfield Hills?I lived in that area and of course it is excellent but you had to do a long commute to work because there were no jobs and there is still no jobs and that has been going for at least 30 years.Of course these cities can`t accomodate everyone that just settles there,but things have gotten way too nasty.You can`t recognize many cities now from what they used to be.Birmingham is going down to the toilet with many closures and i bet you people there are desperate to sell their properties,but its not gonna happen.The state does not fix the roads and subsequently we need to go to the mechanic to fix our suspension system and that too is another chapter.The state does nothing to help other than making people to go elsewhere.Hey these are not issues for the minority who is well off but for the rest are.The rents in Michigan are overpriced with today`s economy and i expect that millions will leave within the next 5 years.Remember that this state has been in this mood for close to a decade now and did not enjoy what others did, albeit a bubble.
I'm not going to argue with any of this. I don't know why Rick Snyder wants to be king of Michigan now. I guess when you have that kind of economic security and friends in the business community, you can afford to stay and fight. I do believe that I'm out of here again pretty soon (lost job in GM's economic department 7 months ago). I just had my mechanic do some work on my Acura, it's still making some noises from the front end suspension but I may elect to wait on that.
Birmingham's bubble still exists, but it seems like a fainted facsimile of what I remember in the 1980s as a child. Housing and rent prices in the Detroit Metro area are still way too high. I have a buddy in Auburn Hills who wants to buy some 'cheap cheap cheap' foreclosed homes in less-than-desirable corners of Bloomfield Township and Rochester Hills (that is, 'East Pontiac' and 'West Utica') and I just laugh. They're not cheap ... yet.
My parents have been talking about 'leaving Michigan' for years. It's kind of like a running gag in a (bad) movie.
The Chicagoland people have a thread about 'ugly intersections' in suburbia. There are a lot of flatland intersections in the Chicago burbs with deteriorating pavement and no landscape work, but there are plenty of nice streetscapes there as well.
As for southeastern Michigan, Birmingham (where I currently live & pay plenty to do in part because the area still looks relatively clean/decent), Northville/Plymouth, the Grosse Pointes, and perhaps Rochester (my hometown) and select areas of Ann Arbor have invested in streetscapes and public landscapes, but my overall view is that vast stretches of Troy, Farmington Hills, etc are falling into pieces. I'd warn the Canton city fathers of this to get them to spend money on landscapes/streetscapes, and to an extent they are, but there's not much you can do when the area lacks economic vitality and the money could be spent to keep a fire station open.
Cleveland and Pittsburgh certainly have ugly areas, but they have sprung back from deterioration/decay in a number of areas. The roads are kept fairly clean.
I like that there is landscaping work being done along I-696 now in Macomb County, but I don't know what the finished project is going to look like, or if most of the people driving down I-696 will notice and/or care.
Quick anecdotal story: my parents and I ran into a shopkeeper out in Carmel, California a few years ago. The guy had fond memories of Bloomfield/Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Southfield, etc and I didn't have the heart to describe to him what Southfield looks like today.
I hear so many negative things about Southfield, I don't know what it used to be like. I'm curious, what has changed? It is very 70s boring strip mall suburbia, which is very out of fashion now, and there are a lot of for rent signs, but it looks clean and kept up. I've even heard it called a ghetto, but I don't see that at all. I definitely prefer the older neighborhoods that have more character, but it doesn't look like a horrible place to me.
I have also noticed some of the chain stores like the Target in Southfield are better managed than others in the area, and some of the stores in other cities I have lived in. There seems to be a lot racial segregation, but I don't care about that, I'm going to go to the best store, and I am always treated well. Shopping is not a big deal, but it seems to me if the stores are good and well cared for there must be good people in the area.
Seriously Southfield you have something negative to say, the golden towers in the sunshine in the morning is very beautiful plus there are some nice parks, plus a very pretty library, and its not so much sprawl. Beverly hills is pretty, Royal Oak is very pretty, and has some great architecture, Dearborn is unique and very middle eastern and that is interesting, Detroit has some nice places too. I think Detroit area has a lot to offer. Its not ugly overall but there are some places that could use improvement cause obviously I don't call a ghetto with bars on windows and burned down and/or falling apart houses in the middle of a field of rubble and grass growing in a broken up street pretty and I actually saw that kind of thing for 20 minutes straight once when I was driving around Detroit.
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