What's the real deal with travel to Detroit?

On 25 Sep 2003 14:14:13 -0700, (Roger Meadows)
wrote:

My wife and I will be travelling to Windsor (by car) in the next few
weeks and we'd like to visit Detroit while we're in the area. My
question is this: Is Detroit as dangerous as people say or are people
exaggerating? I want to be cautious, but I'm also aware that cities
can often be labeled as unsafe when in reality they're quite OK.

I'd appreciate any feedback by anyone who currently resides in Detroit
or who has recently visited Detroit. Where to go, what to avoid...etc

What, exactly, is it you hope to visit in Detroit? That will make
all the difference.

I can certainly see wanting to visit the Henry Ford Museum and
Greenfield Village in Dearborn (which isn't really Detroit); the
Museum is awesome (it's not *about* Henry Ford, but was funded by
Ford).


************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

My wife and I will be travelling to Windsor (by car) in the next few
weeks and we'd like to visit Detroit while we're in the area. My
question is this: Is Detroit as dangerous as people say or are people
exaggerating? I want to be cautious, but I'm also aware that cities
can often be labeled as unsafe when in reality they're quite OK.

I'd appreciate any feedback by anyone who currently resides in Detroit
or who has recently visited Detroit. Where to go, what to avoid...etc


Thank you

RM

Roger Meadows wrote:
My wife and I will be travelling to Windsor (by car) in the next few
weeks and we'd like to visit Detroit while we're in the area. My
question is this: Is Detroit as dangerous as people say or are people
exaggerating? I want to be cautious, but I'm also aware that cities
can often be labeled as unsafe when in reality they're quite OK.

I'd appreciate any feedback by anyone who currently resides in Detroit
or who has recently visited Detroit. Where to go, what to avoid...etc

Earlier this summer I went to a wedding in Detroit. We made a long weekend
of it, staying in Windsor but playing tourist in Detroit most of the time.

We walked around downtown, up around the Detroit Institute for the Arts
(excellent, by the way) and Wayne State, and out Warren Ave in East Dearborn
(for the best middle eastern food in the country, and for pretty run-down
but pervasive middle-eastern ambiance - almost all signs in Arabic for
several miles). One evening in Windsor (lots of bars, thick with 19- and
20-year-old rich kids from Detroit suburbs, plus of course a giant casino),
and one night at a little hole-in-the-wall, no doubt unlicensed indie bar in
what seemed to be a pretty run-down neighborhood.

My conclusion: Detroit is not nearly as bad as people say. I went to college
about 40 miles away (Ann Arbor) and back then we only seemed to go to
Detroit for hit-and-run events - drive straight to a concert in Detroit,
then drive straight home to Ann Arbor and go out to a bar. Upon reflection
that was probably not necessary. There are plenty of people out having fun
and being friendly.

On the other hand, huge swathes of the city are very down-and-out - blocks
after blocks of empty and collapsing buildings and so on - and if I were not
as accustomed to urban surroundings as I am, I could readily imagine feeling
uncomfortable in those areas once the sun started to go down.

miguel
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