Motor City and Motown vs Murder City and GhostTown

I’ve always thought the average human’s image of Detroit was very misconstrued. As Rembert Browne states in his article when you tell someone you’re going to Detroit you get the general reply “Be careful,” “Why?” and “Take pictures.” When you hear Detroit most people automatically think: deteriorating, dangerous, murder city, and hopeless. I recall one time late last semester discussing Detroit in my WRD 110 class and multiple people responded: “you don’t want to go there”, “it’s dangerous there”. I find it gut wrenching hilarious that one can speak of how dangerous inner city Detroit is, without having ever been there. Society’s image of Detroit isn’t in the least bit gratifying. But the fate of Detroit is in the hands of those with an eye for the wrong image, there is good and bad in all cities, just depends who is on the other side of the camera. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEX3Diz6PTo 

If you ask anyone who lives in Michigan near Detroit where they reside and they will proudly say Detroit. Yet, they don’t live in Detroit they live miles out in a suburb near the city. The same thing occurs with Chicago, most people are scared to travel within the inner city of Chicago yet will proudly declare that’s where they reside when they clearly do not. Chicago was declared by the FBI as Murder Capital of the great USA, only problem is their statistics were wrong. Chicago is a beautiful city just as Detroit. Yet one is not capable of seeing and knowing such things because society has painted Detroit as a horrible place to be. There is crime everywhere, Orlando and Miami are at the top of the list for most dangerous cities in the USA, but people travel there by the masses every year.

Detroit is now referenced to as Murder City or a ghost town, however it has not always been known as such. Although Detroit may be considered “dangerous” now, Detroit was once known as Motor City and Motown. What used to be the most prominent, flourishing, and populous city is now considered scum of the earth. However, Browne describes and captivates Detroit and all of its beauty, in his article. The people of Detroit are on a mission to transform their city. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211498/Detroits-amazing-transformation-captured-camera-loses-ONE-MILLION-residents-60-years.html (the video at the bottom of the page) The Heidelberg Project I believe is apart of the transformation of Detroit that is occurring. Things such as the Heidelberg Project brings out the beauty, creativity, liveliness, and hope for Detroit as a recovering city. Although there is much work to still be done in many places, and help to be given out, Detroit is capable of transformation despite society’s irrationally publicized view.