"Going To A Town...."

This Monday night I went to a Tigers game. I think they lost. It was a work sponsored outing and I went for the free food with no intention of watching the whole game. Getting down there was easy enough, I've done it before from time to time. But once you get near Comerica Park, it gets kind of crazy. I think I pissed off a traffic cop. He didn't give me ticket so it's all good. I parked a couple blocks away which cost $15 (yikes!). On my way to the park, I walked past the Arlington Midwest: the human cost of war exhibit in Grand Circus Park. It was hosted by Detroit Area Peace with Justice Network. I received an email about it earlier in the week, but forgot about it. I probably wouldn't have made a special trip downtown to just to see it, but I thought it was cool that they were doing it. I often get emails about events downtown, but I rarely go. I am just a part of a larger group of people who go downtown every now and then, and then get the hell out.

There are a few things that I go downtown for; concerts, events.... or just to meet friends. But I wouldn't say that I do it regularly. I guess I kind of have suburbanites' guilt. I know Detroit is falling (has fallen) apart, but do nothing to help it. When I go out of town and people ask me where I am from, I usually will say "Detroit Area." It's a lie to say that you are from Detroit and you actually live in, say, Mount Clemens. Such a person is nowhere near the city. Perhaps they make the trek and spend all their time there, but does that count? There are times when I get tired of trying to explain that for me "Detroit Area" is in fact 6 blocks from the city, exasperated, I just say Detroit.

I wish that I did live in or near a vibrant live city. I have visited a few. On one of my first visits to Chicago, I was amazed that on a cold November night the streets were filled with people. I tried to imagine Detroit as one of those places I visited, only this Monday night did I have the slightest glimmer of hope that it could be a reality. While standing on the third floor of Comerica Park facing the Fox and Fillmore theaters, I saw a bright and busy town that I had witnessed in New York, St. Louis, Chicago and San Francisco. I had the urge to leave the ballpark and meet friends for drinks.... but my friends weren't down there as far as I knew. Maybe some were at the Belmont in Hamtramck or Smalls.

I find it sad that I don't know more about Detroit given my close proximity to it. Growing up it was something to be feared. I was brought up to believe that Detroit was just a place to visit, but not a place to live. Both my parents grew up in Detroit and after they had a couple of kids, they moved to the suburbs. As a kid, my mother, would take us downtown to the DIA or the Science Center. On one of these trips we went to McDonalds.... I think it was right on Woodward.... and we were hit up for money by a homeless person inside the restaurant. My mother recoiled at his question and seemed frozen until he went on to the next table.

Nowadays I am able to go downtown without the same fear of the past, yet I can't get out of the mind set that it's not a place to live. Perhaps if less people felt like me Detroit could become a popular destination. Or maybe that is just wishful thinking. There are certain select areas of the city that have been revived as of late, but it's going to take much more than that I figure. There are condos and lofts being built. I have thought of what it would be like to live in one, they are very nice. But there are a few things that don't make it a realistic scenario for me. I think to get me to move downtown it would have to be economically beneficial, but those condos and lofts are in the same price range as those in any suburb.... what's the incentive to leave? There is no decent mass transit. I think that a viable city needs one. Someone told me a story once of catching a cab in Detroit (now that fact was not even the point of the story).... and I swear that that story is a lie. There are limited resources for decent food; groceries. (Just read this article to see what I mean. http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=11830). It would be much harder to live there than in the suburbs without enough benefits.

I thought of all these things on my drive home from Comerica Park. I missed my turn a couple of times and ended up taking Grand River all the way to Wyoming then to 8 mile. Gone were the bright lights and the promise that I saw in the heart of downtown. I wondered about the people who did live there who were walking the streets that night. Some seemed to have a destination and it was just another days' routine and some were hanging out perhaps without direction at all. I don't know whether their life there is good, bad or indifferent. And I guess I will never know.......... I will never know how it is to live on the other side of 8 mile.

Photo of the Arlington Midwest Exhibit in Detroit; Copyright 2006/2007 Patricia Lay-Dorsey.