In the last two decades, Detroit has lost a bigger chunk of population than any other major city in the country. Detroit used to be the sixth biggest U.S. city. That's hard to believe.
We had cars. We had bars. We had Bob Seger singing about running against the wind, turning pages and going to Katmandu. I think, and I could be wrong, that Katmandu is in the U.P.
Detroit was the epicenter of the middle class. Hopefully we will continue to be so. Hopefully we will continue to be normal and average and easy to get along with.That's the Detroit area, that's the Midwest.
Back in the 1970s, my friends drove down to Houston in caravans like it was a less fruitful version of "The Grapes of Wrath."
Some of my friends came back from Texas. Some didn't. Some moved to Juarez, Mexico and became drug lords with a lot of throw pillows scattered around.
I hope that's not true.

When someone says Detroit doesn't have mass transit I can't wait to be annoying. I quickly raise my hand and point out that, yes, Detroit does have mass transit.
It's called buses.
Buses are not fashionable means of mass transit, but those lumbering beasts will take a suburbanite downtown to see a ball game or a historical site, such as a plaque celebrating the underground railroad.
If President Obama has his way, people will take overhead light rail trains to learn about the underground railroad.And they will be confused.
Lately, the masses in Detroit say their transit system is broken. Literally. Mayor Bing says the bus mechanics are purposely working in slow motion to protest a lack of mechanics who might work in normal motion.
Busless drivers are getting paid to sit around playing cards and video games.
Meanwhile, hard-working citizens stand for two hours in the rain waiting for a bus ride to work.
That's not your average two-hour wait. That's two hours on a Detroit street.

It may seem that suburbanites sit atop ivory towers and gaze down at the crazy doings in the city of Detroit. That's ironic because all of the towers and skyscrapers are located downtown. But suburbanites are undeterred. We'll make ivory towers out of a White Castle which, by the way, is one of the few things common to both urban and suburban landscapes.
Everything Detroit does affects the suburbs and those of us who like to enjoy our Pleasant Valley Sundays unaffected -- resent it. And, yes, I just referenced The Monkees. You won't see an urbanite do that.
The latest headline stealer is the proposed bridge from Detroit to Canada. Gov. Rick Snyder wants it, but he doesn't want a successful, private businessman to build it.
If Snyder plans to someday cross his own taxpayer-paid bridge, his surprising anti-business position will surely make Customs officials demand to see his Republican credentials.

Approximately  2,000 Quicken Loans employees will soon move into the Chase Tower in downtown Detroit.

Those workers for the online retail mortgage lender will now join 1,700 other Quicken employees at the company's headquarters inside the Compuware Building.

These workers had formerly toiled in the suburbs.

Officials said that about 4,000 of Quicken's entire staff will eventually have offices in downtown Detroit.

I must admit that when I heard about this wonderful investment in the city of Detroit, I had the same reaction when Compuware first announced it was moving its HQ downtown.

I thought: All of those workers must be really ticked off because they live in the suburbs and now they must drive down into Detroit every single day of the work week.

It's not a cake walk coming to Detroit. Suburbanites don't mind driving downtown for an occasional Tigers or Lions game. But commuting five days a week -- that's a different story.

It's easy to assume that the biggest differences between suburbanites and urbanites are race, and its ensuing evil twin, racism. And you're probably right. Big cities also have more people with sore necks from looking up at skyscrapers and suburbs have more quality grocery stores.
There's no getting past the race issue in this area. In the face of oversimplification, I'd say just go with it -- admit the many  differences between whites and blacks and then decide if differing skin colors, fashion choices and speech patterns add up to things worth hating each other for. And then we can all walk off into the sunset holding hands.
You say that's not realistic? How about suburbanites and urbanites uniting over the one thing we have in common: Rap music. Step aside Dave Bing, Eminem is the next Detroit mayor.
— From Ed Fitzgerald’s blog

In the last two decades, Detroit has lost a bigger chunk of population than any other major city in the country. Detroit used to be the sixth biggest U.S. city. That's hard to believe.
We had cars. We had bars. We had Bob Seger singing about running against the wind, turning pages and going to Katmandu. I think, and I could be wrong, that Katmandu is in the U.P.
Detroit was the epicenter of the middle class. Hopefully we will continue to be so. Hopefully we will continue to be normal and average and easy to get along with.That's the Detroit area, that's the Midwest.
Back in the 1970s, my friends drove down to Houston in caravans like it was a less fruitful version of "The Grapes of Wrath."
Some of my friends came back from Texas. Some didn't. Some moved to Juarez, Mexico and became drug lords with a lot of throw pillows scattered around.
I hope that's not true.

When someone says Detroit doesn't have mass transit I can't wait to be annoying. I quickly raise my hand and point out that, yes, Detroit does have mass transit.
It's called buses.
Buses are not fashionable means of mass transit, but those lumbering beasts will take a suburbanite downtown to see a ball game or a historical site, such as a plaque celebrating the underground railroad.
If President Obama has his way, people will take overhead light rail trains to learn about the underground railroad.And they will be confused.
Lately, the masses in Detroit say their transit system is broken. Literally. Mayor Bing says the bus mechanics are purposely working in slow motion to protest a lack of mechanics who might work in normal motion.
Busless drivers are getting paid to sit around playing cards and video games.
Meanwhile, hard-working citizens stand for two hours in the rain waiting for a bus ride to work.
That's not your average two-hour wait. That's two hours on a Detroit street.

It may seem that suburbanites sit atop ivory towers and gaze down at the crazy doings in the city of Detroit. That's ironic because all of the towers and skyscrapers are located downtown. But suburbanites are undeterred. We'll make ivory towers out of a White Castle which, by the way, is one of the few things common to both urban and suburban landscapes.
Everything Detroit does affects the suburbs and those of us who like to enjoy our Pleasant Valley Sundays unaffected -- resent it. And, yes, I just referenced The Monkees. You won't see an urbanite do that.
The latest headline stealer is the proposed bridge from Detroit to Canada. Gov. Rick Snyder wants it, but he doesn't want a successful, private businessman to build it.
If Snyder plans to someday cross his own taxpayer-paid bridge, his surprising anti-business position will surely make Customs officials demand to see his Republican credentials.

Approximately  2,000 Quicken Loans employees will soon move into the Chase Tower in downtown Detroit.

Those workers for the online retail mortgage lender will now join 1,700 other Quicken employees at the company's headquarters inside the Compuware Building.

These workers had formerly toiled in the suburbs.

Officials said that about 4,000 of Quicken's entire staff will eventually have offices in downtown Detroit.

I must admit that when I heard about this wonderful investment in the city of Detroit, I had the same reaction when Compuware first announced it was moving its HQ downtown.

I thought: All of those workers must be really ticked off because they live in the suburbs and now they must drive down into Detroit every single day of the work week.

It's not a cake walk coming to Detroit. Suburbanites don't mind driving downtown for an occasional Tigers or Lions game. But commuting five days a week -- that's a different story.

It's easy to assume that the biggest differences between suburbanites and urbanites are race, and its ensuing evil twin, racism. And you're probably right. Big cities also have more people with sore necks from looking up at skyscrapers and suburbs have more quality grocery stores.
There's no getting past the race issue in this area. In the face of oversimplification, I'd say just go with it -- admit the many  differences between whites and blacks and then decide if differing skin colors, fashion choices and speech patterns add up to things worth hating each other for. And then we can all walk off into the sunset holding hands.
You say that's not realistic? How about suburbanites and urbanites uniting over the one thing we have in common: Rap music. Step aside Dave Bing, Eminem is the next Detroit mayor.
— From Ed Fitzgerald’s blog