For the past two weeks we’ve been staying at an comfy couch in New Center (a central Detroit neighborhood), more precisely on Hazelwood Street, before moving to our eventual place in Woodbridge. This summer only, there was two gun shootings down the street. To say the least, it’s not your typical safe neighborhood. But when you’re a cat you don’t care too much. Just like those two living at the house. One is an indoor cat (Inyo), the other is an outdoor cat (Garfield.) Inyo is afraid of going outside, and Garfield is never allowed inside. But whenever the front door opens, each cat sits at the entrance and stares at each other, never crossing the door/border. It sort of reminds me of the relationship that the suburbs (Inyo) have with Detroit (Garfield).
In a recent book titled Reimagining Detroit, John Gallagher (journalist at Detroit Free Press), mentions a fact that could as well be illustrated by this picture.
“In fact, Detroit’s metropolitan population – city and suburbs combined – has grown since 1960 from 3.9 million to about 4.4 million today. This may provide cold comfort to residents in places like [...] Detroit. Noses pressed against the glass, they feel more acutely than ever their own population loss.”
[...] “8 mile” (road) supposedly crime-blighted. Beyond that, sprawls the world of the suburbs, predominantly white and wealthly. As we were exploring the city further, we got to hear a more [...]
[...] No matter how many big cameras surrounded Tim, Tom, Stephen and all their friends welcomed us very warmly. All the mower gang members (except for one retired couple) live outside 8 Mile. Most of them are the kids of the white flighters who left Detroit after the riot of 1967. So why would some people mow grass from a place they actually don’t live in? Well, sticking to what we were told, even if most of the gang members don’t go to Detroit on a daily basis (when you live in Detroit suburbs you really don’t need to go to Detroit – note from the redaction), they all feel deeply connected to the city. They seem to confirm the hate/love relationship that “the D” keeps with its suburbs. [...]
[...] of Detroit. A neighborhood, South of the Airport, that few would recommend to visit, for here gunshots sometimes travel even faster than light… Colorful character of Georgia Street, Mark managed [...]
[...] depending on whom you talk to…) – to join the comfort of the reassuring middle-class suburbs. Mark Covington decided to become an urban farmer, after getting laid off 3 years ago. He has [...]
[...] one, there’s some déjà vu in the air, as those “cool kids” (usually from the suburbs) move in up-and-coming areas, and are thus displacing the current Black [...]
[...] – because objects are closer than they appear. Those objects have names: the Great Migration, the “white flight” and the 1967 “riots” (which inner city Detroiters prefer to call a [...]
[...] contrast with the suburbs is obvious too at night. Woodward continuing after 8 mile is glittering past Detroit city limit [...]