For the stupid people (me), can anyone tell me what the "urbex" after Detroit means? I didn't see it on the website.
urban exploration
Thanks, I thought it was 'urban exploitation' ;-)
Detroit in Ruins
151–160 of 177 posts
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm no stormfronter. I grew up progressive, went to progressive schools, I've volunteered in inner city neighborhoods mentoring kids and fixing up houses. I live in a neighborhood that's mostly middle class black, I play pick up football with kids from the projects, and I even have the cliched black roommate. I studied the issue of urban decay because I spent a lot of time living near and walking through these neighb…
I would simply object that the division of blame along black/white lines is arbitrary and serves no useful purpose. I'm sure that people of every different skin tone have had a role in Detroit's decline, I just don't see the point in trying to figure out which skin tones are to more blame for what, any more than I would think it sensible to partition blame according to how much bread people ate, as if to set the brea…
I don't think it should be about blame at all. It's about identifying causes, so you can fix stuff and prevent it from happening again.
You can't blame any individual black or white person for what happened, unless he was personally involved in it. But you can identify what happened in specific communities and sub-communities in order to understand the processes at work. If you don't want to do that because some communities happen to be dominated by certain skin colors, you'll never understand exactly what happened.
And let's face it, in the US, skin color matters. It might not be right, but for cultural and social reasons, many people do tend to hang out with people of the same skin color, however silly that may be.
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The ability to get whatever you need, yes even groceries, within walking distance is a reality." No offence, but having lived in about 4 major US cities (Detroit not included), that seems to be setting the bar awfully low. Being able to buy groceries is just a basic necessity, and restaurants/nightlife is something every city has.
Tell that to the folks living in downtown St Louis. We finally got a grocery store downtown last year. Not that it's a major city though.
Why do people live in places without grocery stores? Serious question - unless you farm the groceries yourself?
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#154My brothers run a property service company that maintains foreclosed homes in Detroit and parts northwest of it. When they need extra help, I ride along with them. Detroit and Pontiac are not the kinds of places that one would care to go by oneself, even for muscular young men. On more than one occasion, we would be approached by "youths" (one of them wasn't even that young) who were clearly drug dealers. One of my b…
On more than one occasion, we would be approached by "youths" (one of them wasn't even that young) who were clearly drug dealers. One of my brothers confirmed this to me. The smell of marijuana smoke was another tell. pro tip for suburban residents: not all black people who smoke marijuana are drug dealers, despite what your brother 'confirms'.
The word 'black' wasn't mentioned in the parent comment, which makes your reply rather jarring...
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, it's not illegitimate to state that. Racism was a small factor. There was virulent racism in Chicago as well. The big reason is economics. The viewpoint that will (rightly) get you shunned is the one that says "black people" were a factor (or, worse, "an international Jewish conspiracy to take over American culture").
"The viewpoint that will (rightly) get you shunned is the one that says "black people" were a factor" Do you shun that viewpoint because it is false and slanderous? Or do you believe that it is true, but that it must not be talked about, because the wrong people might exploit the history for undesirable ends? It seems to me stunning that anyone can dispute the statement that "black people played a role in the decay o…
Studies show that becoming criminal has nothing to do with race or background. It has to do with lack of social control from families, neighborhoods and governments.
So I think you are right but it doesn't have anything to do with being black.
Don't blame people for calling you a racist because words like "(almost entirely black)" are setting the tone of your article.
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The ability to get whatever you need, yes even groceries, within walking distance is a reality." No offence, but having lived in about 4 major US cities (Detroit not included), that seems to be setting the bar awfully low. Being able to buy groceries is just a basic necessity, and restaurants/nightlife is something every city has.
Tell that to the folks living in downtown St Louis. We finally got a grocery store downtown last year. Not that it's a major city though.
Wikipedia says St Louis had 353k inhabitants; how can a city of that size not have grocery store? Not all of them could be eating out every single meal? Or is this for some specific definition of 'grocery store'?
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#157My brothers run a property service company that maintains foreclosed homes in Detroit and parts northwest of it. When they need extra help, I ride along with them. Detroit and Pontiac are not the kinds of places that one would care to go by oneself, even for muscular young men. On more than one occasion, we would be approached by "youths" (one of them wasn't even that young) who were clearly drug dealers. One of my b…
I've lived in the Metro Detroit suburbs, and downtown Detroit is the spot right now. The ability to get whatever you need, yes even groceries, within walking distance is a reality. Walking to Tigers games, enjoying the nightlife, eating at amazing restaurants, and enjoying the city are a regular part of life. I live in downtown Detroit. I do not want to live in the suburbs.
[deleted]
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tell that to the folks living in downtown St Louis. We finally got a grocery store downtown last year. Not that it's a major city though.
Wikipedia says St Louis had 353k inhabitants; how can a city of that size not have grocery store? Not all of them could be eating out every single meal? Or is this for some specific definition of 'grocery store'?
The parent comment is referring to downtown in particular - of course the city has grocery stores, but many cities have few or no grocery options in the central business district, as suburbia sucked the life from downtown in the 80's and 90's.
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm no stormfronter. I grew up progressive, went to progressive schools, I've volunteered in inner city neighborhoods mentoring kids and fixing up houses. I live in a neighborhood that's mostly middle class black, I play pick up football with kids from the projects, and I even have the cliched black roommate. I studied the issue of urban decay because I spent a lot of time living near and walking through these neighb…
I would simply object that the division of blame along black/white lines is arbitrary and serves no useful purpose. I'm sure that people of every different skin tone have had a role in Detroit's decline, I just don't see the point in trying to figure out which skin tones are to more blame for what, any more than I would think it sensible to partition blame according to how much bread people ate, as if to set the brea…
I don't think anyone was claiming that skin tone mattered. Imagine you have a structure supported by two pillars, where one is painted red and the other green and weaknesses in one pillar will make the whole structure fall apart.
No one gives a damn that the pillars are different color. However, it is not politically correct to point out that there are structural weaknesses in the green pillar that need fixing simply because they are different color, so the problem is not addressed.
The pillars could be interpreted as two different communities. What make a pillar weak or strong could be social inequalities, culture, social cohesion, unemployment, etc... Political correctness in the last 40 years has made it impossible to discuss these things in public.
Mentioning the color just serves to describe which of the two pillars has the weaknesses. Nothing else.
Re: Detroit in Ruins
#160I grew up in Michigan. If you want to see some of the prominent architecture that has been abandoned check out this site: http://www.forgottendetroit.com/ If you drive down Woodward Ave. to go to a Tigers game you get the sense you are in postwar Germany in parts. Some of the highrise buildings have facades on them so they look like functional buildings from the baseball stadium. However when you walk around the back…
I grew up in Detroit. I presently live in Berlin and have for several years. I disagree with your analogy.