Blogs from Detroit, Michigan, United States, North America - page 7

Well guys tomorrow is the big day, we start our western trip. real excited.... read more

I came back from Virginia a bit earlier because my sister who was supposed to be coming back from graduation of her training school was delayed a day, and I was reminded that I am actually leaving for Moscow on Monday the 31 not Tuesday June 1. And also not realizing that Monday was Memorial Day (I know, I'm a dork!) I wouldn't have been able to get anything done that was needed because everything would have been closed. So I said goodbyes to the nieces as they went off to bed on Thursday night, my sister packed me a whole bunch of her delicious fruit and the last of their homemade venison summer sausage (which is amazing) ((THANKS, SISTER, YOU ROCK IN SO MANY WAYS!!!!)) I gave my sister strict instructions NOT to be popping ... read more

Visiting Detroit was definitely not about culture or sightseeing. We came to spend Christmas time with our 91 year old aunt who resides here. The GRAY: The “Motor City” is decaying. I read that “Detroit does waft a sort of bombed-out early East Berlin”. That’s true! The downtown area is particularly gray, full of empty lots and boarded-up buildings with trash swirling around them. At one time it was the pride of the US for its car-making savvy, with GM, Ford and Chrysler with headquarters here. But once the auto industry tanked, so did its economy and today this is a grim tourist destination, a city with off-the-chart homicide rates, drug problem and plummeting population. Unemployment rates here in Michigan are 20%, double the nation’s average. The average price for homes has dropped from almost $100,000 ... read more

Norman (our car) was having problems with his brakes so we got some prices on getting them fixed and then headed to the Henry Ford museum. It was a great place, so much to see. It had every sort of historic technology from the model T to tractor and train equipment. It showed how Henry Ford transformed factory working into a production line which was pretty interesting but the best thing of all was the sheer amount of cars that were on show. It had everything from old mustangs to the JFK car. We got some pics of some great old cars and then stumbled across a 1980's Honda accord, what would anyone want to look at one of them things for!!!... read more

Detroit: Detroit was my first stop in a whizz around the world on this crazy abroad program I am doing this Semester. Detroit was a real trip. I came in with so many negative expectations from the media--that Detroit was falling to pieces because of the crashing auto-industry, that everyone was trying to get out, that racial tensions were searing as the black inner city continued to decay, that there was no hope for Detroit--that the best thing to do would be to give up on the city and walk out. While many of my expectations were confirmed (Detroit is a mess, it does have a tons of economic, racial, and land-use problems), one thing I learned was that the heart and soul of Detroit is still very much there. There is hope: there are awesome ... read more