I love the city of Detroit.
And I have for years, even back when Michigan Central Station was still abandoned, and the city was synonymous with crime and urban decay. It’s been amazing to see Detroit go through its renaissance and bounce back. I always knew it would.
People always ask me what it is I love about Detroit, and the answer I always give is that the people there have pride in their city in a way no one else does. It's an enduring love that brought a city back from the brink of near-total ruin. Yeah, New Yorkers love their city, but it’s an easy city to love and has been for decades. Detroiters had to stick by their city through 70+ years of economic and social decline and have only recently begun enjoying better press and a shifting global perspective.
Beyond the love and passion people have for Detroit, it’s a place that has everything anybody of taste would appreciate.
It’s extremely walkable. If what you need isn’t on Woodward (the DIA, Little Caesars Arena, the Fist of Joe Louis, the Spirit of Detroit, Martius Park, Wayne State University, hella restaurants), then it’s probably at most two blocks off of Woodward (Ford Field, Comerica Park, Joe King Used Books). And if you don’t feel like walking, the People Mover (takes you around downtown Detroit) and the Q-Line (takes you up and down Woodward) are both completely free.
It’s extremely cultured. It has some of the best architecture. Detroit enjoyed tremendous wealth in the early 1900s, and that wealth is still visible in how beautiful many of the buildings are. My favorite thing to do is get something to drink and just walk around Detroit. I did that all the time, and gosh, do I miss doing that. There’s also the Detroit Institute of Arts. If you can name a mainstream artist, they probably have a piece of their work. There’s also a famous mural by Diego Rivera in one of their halls. I had a yearly membership, so I used to go and study in the Kresge Cafe. It was such a beautiful spot. The Charles H. Wright Museum is also not to be missed; beautifully designed and, as someone who is a Museum Person™, a great museum.
It’s also deeply historical. It’s the home of Motown (I love Motown). I saw The Temptations and The Four Tops at the Fox Theatre before the last surviving member of the former died. It has the oldest bowling alley in the United States. Rosa Parks is buried there, which many people don’t know. Many of the world’s biggest auto companies are/were based in and around the city.
The absolute best part about Detroit, though, is her people. They’re the best, and it truly feels like a city community. My first time visiting the city was in 2009/2010 - the city's lowest point. I was with my family, and we were lost, circling a neighborhood with abandoned and burned-out homes when we drove up to some guy grilling in the middle of the road. He was so nice: he gave us directions, went over them to make sure we understood, and told us to come back if we had trouble. I’ll never forget how nice he was and how happy he was to help. His directions were fantastic, too, because we got to our destination and never saw him again.
In my first year of law school, I used to visit the Indian Village neighborhood quite a bit. I saw this USPS mail carrier more than once; she was so nice and had such a sunny disposition. Hope that diva is doing well. Another time, I was driving over the border after a shitty day. The border guy asked why I was there, and I said I didn't know; I was having a bad day and just wanted to be in my favorite city. I don’t really remember what he said, but I remember feeling so much better after he said it.
I went to Detroit all the time in law school; usually twice a week. I knew where to get free parking for Pistons games. I was the person people came to for recommendations or to borrow my museum pass. I have so many happy memories of going up and down Woodward with friends or huddling around in a group at The Skip. My then boyfriend cheerfully accompanying me to see some historic building before it was knocked down (we went to see the Hannan Memorial YMCA mid-demolition en route to a Valentine’s Day dinner lol). Quiet afternoons spent studying for the bar exam at Cafe Sous Terre or the Wayne State library.
I can get around Detroit without a map, after three years of frequent visits, better than I can in Toronto, where I was raised.
God, I miss that place.
