This is Detroit...writing experiment..

Intro

I was looking at a couple articles on the web and realized how easy I can be manipulated by the writers thoughts coupled with the right picture. If I didn't look any farther, if I just took everything at face value, it would be easy for someone to sway me into believing whatever it is that they wanted me to.

I decided to try this for myself. I took a city (Detroit I know has had some bad times and is recovering from them) and found some bad pics and good pics of it, then created my own stories based around those pics.

Neither of these stories hold any truth...I don't know what Detroit is or isn't like, I don't live there. But, if you were reading this stuff, if it was the headline of your favorite major news outlet...would you believe?

Anyhow... it was just a quick writing experiment that I thought would be ok to post in the short stories forum.



This is Detroit

Or this is what they don't want you to see. Once a booming, prosperous city, it now stands mostly vacant. Crumbling buildings can be found on street after street. Decaying just as quickly as the hopes and dreams of the people who live there.


They've been hiding it from you. But I wanted people to know the truth. The truth is, most of Detroit looks like a war zone. In some areas it is heavily militarized. There has been an increase in what they call "gang wars". But what it really is is just people fighting over food and trying to survive.

While I was there I saw a few young children toting guns. You could see in their eyes that they were willing to do what it took to get what they needed. I saw heavily armed police patrolling, dressed more like military personnel with their riot gear on. In some places, there is no police presence at all, the people are left to fend for themselves. In the areas that are still policed, there is a curfew in place. Off the street by dark, anyone found on the street will be arrested or worse.

The sad part is that people still live here. Basically ignored or forgotten by the masses. Wherever violence is, drugs follow. And the streets are heavy with both. It is not uncommon to have bullets whiz by your head while out in the open or even while in the safety of what they call home. To have someone walk up to you in broad daylight, just to beat you up and take your valuables.

The children here have no access to clean running water as the city long ago shut off the supply. No one can afford to pay for it. Two types of schooling available: Home school or send your children trekking through the dangers of this area so they can catch a bus that takes them out to the better parts of town. Letting them walk through the bullets and drug ridden streets in the wee hours of the morning everyday is not the preferred option. So, most parents home school with whatever books they can find to do so with...




This is Detroit

Detroit...one of the most beautiful cities in the United States. Full of history and culture. Where the past mixes with the present, and the people charge forward into the future. United together, we stand shoulder to shoulder, having within us a strong sense of purpose and understanding about what that future will be. We're focused on building a better life for the generations that come after us, while remembering the generations that came before.

That is what they say about Detroit. I just visited there and I have to say, it really is true. The city is full of historical memorials/buildings intermixed with new, innovative, and modern architecture. I spent a day on the river walk, relaxing and taking in the lush and beautiful scenery. I sat on the benches and watched as the ships came and went, staring across the water at the shores of a foreign country.

I took in a show at the Fox theater, spent a day at the Detroit zoo, visited Greek town , Ford field, walked around the GM Renaissance Center and spent hours walking around the many museums and art shows there. I shared a few laughs with the locals at the comedy club and danced the night away at the oldest jazz bar in town. The city is jam packed full with things to do!

One of the cleanest, most affordable places to live, many people are flocking there in droves now. The unemployment rate trending to become one of the lowest in the nation, jobs are plentiful and the average salary is quite good. The city is growing in all the right directions. And it shows no signs of slowing down.

The locals are some of the friendliest people I've ever met. Every place I went they greeted me with a heart felt smile and warm welcome. Offering me help when I needed it and a couple even offering to share a cab with me when they found out I was going in the same direction.

I will definitely be going back to Detroit soon. Even though I spent a full week there, I felt like I could spend a year and never fully be able to explore all the sights and beauty that it has to offer. If you are looking for a beautiful, friendly, and prosperous city to vacation in or relocate to...Detroit should be on the top of your list.


As always, thanks for reading,
blend57

a reply to: blend57

Interesting. What made you choose to write about Detroit as apposed to Chicago?

SF

Neith

I remembered that they went bankrupt a few years back, the bailout of the car companies...and I have some family that live in Michigan. It just seemed as good a place as any really. Was the first city that came to mind I guess...so I googled it and the pictures were there and it all came together pretty easy.

Thanks,
blend57

originally posted by: blend57
Neith

I remembered that they went bankrupt a few years back, the bailout of the car companies...and I have some family that live in Michigan. It just seemed as good a place as any really. Was the first city that came to mind I guess...so I googled it and the pictures were there and it all came together pretty easy.

Thanks,
blend57

Yeah, i know people in Michigan too, some are family. But I have a friend in Chicago and she says it's like living in Satans back yard, but that Detroit isn't far behind.

Really cool concept for a thread.

I live about 45 minutes north of Detroit, and when I'm there, I'm fortunate to say that my reality is mostly your second part... an even for some of the residents that can be Detroit depending where you live and work.

Sadly, while the top half is exaggerated a bit, it's not far off for the people that live in the ... darker areas? Detroit, like Chicago can be the most beautiful and cultured place you'll ever see and 2 blocks away a literal war zone.

Currently Detroit is going through a huge revitaliation but that just means building up a few areas for the rich whites to live and play while the poor scurry around out of site around the corner ..

Same thing is happening in flint.

I know this wasn't really about Detroit more about media but you did get some things right and I guess it proves that both sides can be true depending on your perspective.



a reply to: blend57

Note of interest.

Detroit was once Canadian. they changed sides due to a Pig that wandered over to Canada, thus to prevent an all out melt down, Canada gave the US Detroit.

Neat huh? laughs....

a reply to: SteamyJeans

I know this wasn't really about Detroit more about media but you did get some things right and I guess it proves that both sides can be true depending on your perspective.

I think your comments are very in line with the thread. I really just made the first story all up from the pictures. I don't know much about the city..just knew they had gone through some tough times. The second story I searched for some key tourist attractions and built it around those.

Just weird how we can make anything look anyway we want it to look...and I think most places fall right in the middle of those two stories, as you said. Thank you for your thoughts, it is nice to hear from a person who lives close by..also sad that maybe I got some things right in the first story.

Neith

I had to look that up about the pig...lol

Pig War (1859) It may sound like a bunch of baloney, but the United States and Canada nearly went to war over a dead hog. On June 15, 1859, American farmer Lyman Cutlar killed a large black pig, owned by the Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company, that was eating the potatoes in his garden on San Juan Island, land off the coast of Washington claimed by both the United States and Canada. When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar and evict 17 of his fellow countrymen from the island, the U.S. Army dispatched 64 soldiers under Captain George Pickett—later of Gettysburg fame—to the island. British warships sailed to the island, but clear-headed British Rear Admiral Robert L. Baynes refused to attack and “involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig.” For more than a decade, British and American troops peacefully occupied the island until an arbitration commission selected by Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm I ruled in 1872 that the San Juan Islands were American territories....

A military stand off..over a pig.

Thanks,
blend57

a reply to: blend57

Nice thread blend.

The unique part of this experiment is that even though you made up both stories, they are both still pretty close to reality. Makes you wonder how easily the truth can be manipulated.

Some see London . . . .some see France,
I see De-troit, albeit . . askance.

We see . . .what you want us to see, trusting to the end,
Don't pull the wool over us, . . .Sister Blend.

originally posted by: SIEGE
Some see London . . . .some see France,
I see De-troit, albeit . . askance.

We see . . .what you want us to see, trusting to the end,
Don't pull the wool over us, . . .Sister Blend.

I can see London.. I can see France.. I can see your underpants.