Probably won't be moving to Detroit now.... (Warren, Petoskey: live, manufacturing)

[GalFriday]

I thought I'd put in my two cents worth on this. I was born in Detroit, grew up playing in the area, lived in Sterling Heights, and then moved out to the northern part of Oakland County. I've lived in West Michigan, the capital, and "metro" Detroit.

When I was 16 (mid-1980s) I would still go to Detroit for the fireworks, and to hang out in Greektown. Now, over 20 years later I flat out REFUSE to go to Detroit. I won't spend my money there, I won't work there (not that there are any jobs anyway).

Let's be realistic about Detroit. It was ONCE a nice place. It ONCE had industry. It ONCE had people who lived there, who cared about the city, who made it safe, who made it beautiful. Those days are gone. I watched as my grandfather's neighborhood (think 7 mile/outer drive) fell into ruin, how it once used to be a place I would play and feel happy at. It crumbled, and bullet holes were left in his car, and his house, and the neighbors cars and houses.

My other grandparents lived not far from there. I went down to the neighborhood I spent practically every weekend in and didn't even recognize the place. It was filthy and rotting. That is Detroit. Filthy and Rotting. It has been ruined.

And I now live back in northern Oakland county, and I am NOT rich at all. But I am happy to be here, because the people in this county care about their surroundings, and are trying to keep things great. They ARE friendly. They ARE nice. To categorize us all as pretentious is foolish.

Go to Detroit and you'll see a post-apocalyptic scene. Is is SAD. The only pictures you see on TV are of the little bubble that is Greektown and the Ren Cen. Everything else outside that bubble is a complete $h!thole. There isn't any other way to say it.

Enjoy Alabama. Don't know much about it - I hear Tennessee is great, too. You've made the right decision. Detroit is no Chicago, no San Fran, no New York. It is a sad little memory of what was, and what was ruined.

[michsnowlvr]

Originally Posted by northman

how can you compare 2 towns as different as detroit and huntsville, alabama? That's pretty much going from one end of the spectrum to the other, imo.

If you want a big town with everything to do and think you can deal with the winters, pick detroit. If you want a smaller, more laid back place that is much milder, then go with huntsville.

why someone would rule out a place based on things they read in one of these forums is beyond me to begin with. Do i understand that the op has never even taken the time to visit their possible destiantions? Wtf, man?

amen!!!

[marylee54]

Originally Posted by michsnowlvr

amen!!!

Then please, go there and form your own opinion!

The OP was asking opinions, and she got them. Now the thing to do is go there and form your own opinion. Just be aware that a bleeding heart is not a substitute for a bullet-proof vest.

[michsnowlvr]

Originally Posted by marylee54

Then please, go there and form your own opinion!

The OP was asking opinions, and she got them. Now the thing to do is go there and form your own opinion. Just be aware that a bleeding heart is not a substitute for a bullet-proof vest.

ummm...I live in the suburbs of Detroit....I have been inside Detroit city limits hundreds of times, and found it no scarier than any other big city Ive visited. No, I dont live IN the city limits, but the OP wasnt talking about living IN the city limits either. If you have a job (which the OP said was a yes), MI is a great place.

[MICoastieMom]

Originally Posted by wls2624

We were going to move there, but after hearing so many bad things about it, we decided it would be best to go south. I hope Detroit gets better some day. I've never been there but I always thought the skyline in the pics were pretty.

Sorry to hear you have made your decision, you don't know what you are missing. From reading another post I see your DH was considering positions in Huntsville and Warren. My parents had to make the same choice some years ago. They thought Huntsville too isolated and decided on Michigan, and let me tell you, the missile plant had the best candy machines around! Candy was never stale! Daddy brought home a candy bar for me every pay day, usually Chuckles. I would always eat the red one first and save the licorice one for last, so I could share it with him.

Oh yeah,.... I think they made some missiles there, too, that put Americans in space or something like that.

[marylee54]

Originally Posted by michsnowlvr

ummm...I live in the suburbs of Detroit....I have been inside Detroit city limits hundreds of times, and found it no scarier than any other big city Ive visited. No, I dont live IN the city limits, but the OP wasnt talking about living IN the city limits either. If you have a job (which the OP said was a yes), MI is a great place.

So you've "been inside Detroit city limits hundreds of times"

And I saw a cow once and I didn't like him!

[Tiger Beer]

If the original poster was going to WARREN, MI...she should have said that.

Obviously Detroit and Warren are two very different places, so it basically sounds like she was asking about the wrong place.

[Indentured Servant]

Let me just make some corrections here. The Detroit area is not 2.5 million and the Detroit area is more populated than Phoenix. There are different formulas for determining population, such as urbanized area, Metro area and Consolidated Statistical Area. In the smallest metric, Urbanized area, Detroit has about 4 million people. In the largest metric, Detroit has about 6 million people. If one takes the equal land area of places like Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston metro areas, Detroit would have well over 6 million people and would have more residents than any of these areas. Detroit area is international and there are many people who live on the other side of the river. Rankings are political in the way in which people are counted or not counted into an areas total. Bragging rights are at play in regards to whose got the biggest. As Norther States lose clout (representitive in congress), to the benefit of Southern and Western states, the Office of Management and Budget favors methodologies that make Soutern and Western areas population count larger.

[Tyryztoll]

Originally Posted by wls2624

We were going to move there, but after hearing so many bad things about it, we decided it would be best to go south. I hope Detroit gets better some day. I've never been there but I always thought the skyline in the pics were pretty.

I just had to quote this OP again.......it just kills me.

"I hope Detroit gets better someday". She's never been there, never experienced the town, the metro, or the people, but has become an instant Detroit D&Ger because of a few things she read online. Could have passed on a better job and way of life because some internet forums scared her into not even checking things out for herself.

Well, ALLRIGHTY THEN!

[Shrewsbury Road]

Which south do you mean, south of Detroit, or Southern America?