By CHRIS ZADOROZNY, Sports Editor
Detroit is a city on the move, it is coming back, it is on the rise. I’ve tried time and again since September to convince you, the reader of that. I’ve given you many reasons, from the Tigers opening weekend in last week’s issue, to talking about Navy week in the first edition of Motor City on the Move.
This city, the people who live in it, and even some of us who don’t, including myself, want to see it come back. There is always talk of college graduates going to other big cities for jobs, because they want that “big city” experience.
A view of Downtown Detroit from Belle Isle.
Detroit really doesn’t have that does it? To some, it does, to many, if not almost all others, it’s a rotting city that will continue to rot until nothing is left.
People will see that, eventually, Detroit isn’t just a rotting desert wasteland filled with drug houses, vacant land, and poverty-stricken people.
Yea, Detroit isn’t what it once was, but that’s ok, no city is. We as college students, have no idea what cities were like back during the boom era of the 1920s through the 1950s.
Suburbia was created in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It wasn’t just Detroit that experienced White Flight, it just experienced it in a different and more dramatic way.
The Motor City has seen its better days, but that doesn’t mean the bad days are going to continue. There are so many things that you can do throughout the year, but specifically the summer in The D, that you won’t even think it is a city that has experienced so much decline.
The International Riverfront is a draw every summer. Running from Belle Isle to Joe Louis Arena, this incredible waterfront park and walkway is a great way to get some exercise, see the river, check out our Canadian neighbors, and even take a mini-vacation.
There are festivals on the waterfront, there is development going on in certain parts, that pretty soon, it’s going to be a destination outside of Downtown, something the greater downtown area hasn’t experienced in a very long time.
What about Belle Isle? It hosts the Grand Prix this summer, and is a draw for many Detroiters. The aquarium is now reopened on the weekend for FREE. It has a small beach, a water slide, home to many different creatures. It’s larger than Central Park in New York City.
Eastern Market is the oldest outdoor market in the United States of America and it’s just outside of the Downtown Detroit limits. Say what? Yea, Detroit has a pretty big food scene at Eastern Market and it’s only going to grow. Companies are seeing the growth around the area, and with the Brewster-Douglass Towers coming down this year just across I-75, that space will only become more intriguing as the city looks to expand and eliminate blight.
Midtown Detroit is a cultural and educational experience. The DIA, Library, Historical Museum, shops and restaurants, the people make this part of Detroit thrive. Construction is happening and it’s not going to stop anytime soon.
These are just a few examples of what Detroit has. There is so much more to Detroit than meets the eye. Go drive around Downtown, Midtown, the riverfront, Belle Isle, heck even drive through some of the neighborhoods. Sure, it may look like a war zone in some places, but don’t let that give you distaste towards a city that is growing and will continue to grow for a very long time.
My goal two years ago writing this column was to convince at least one person that Detroit was on the rise. Hopefully I’ve done that in the past two years. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all the readers for following me each and every week. Keep on rollin.
Chris Zadorozny 