Janus is the Roman god of transitions whose faces sit opposite each other looking in opposite directions. This is so appropriate for Detroit that Imagination Station should get right on this for another statue in the park.
Detroit was never like other major cities. It had sprawling tracts of houses. Most Detroiters grew up in houses, maybe they were two or four family flats but you didn't share your space with a lot of people like in NYC. The wealthy didn't live in the downtown, they lived further out. Everything nicer was, in fact, further out.The idea was built into Detroit that as you moved further out on its spokes life got better and better, thus the Janus faces north.
This wasn't the case for all of us though. I grew up at Joy and Grand River. The streets were full of people and activities. Everything was in walking distance with familiar faces along the way. When the highway came through and my mother moved to Northwest Detroit, I saw what the Janus portended. I had to walk a half mile simply to get to a party store. Hardly anyone walked so faces were few on Seven mile. As soon as I graduated from high school I lit out for the Cass Corridor, where once again there were bodies on the street with the added attraction of a great set of bars.
From here, I eventually moved downtown where I worked at the Water Board. What I found was a village of all kinds of people who lived in and loved Downtown Detroit. Our world was encompassed by the Boulevards and Downtown Windsor. I shopped Hudson's pantry during the week and would stroll to Eastern Market on the weekend. I lived across from the Music Hall and would walk back to my apartment during intermissions and could hear the chimes ring so I could head back. Dinners with friends at the International in Greektown. Drinks at tiny bars dotted across the downtown and, because at that time a quarter could get you around on the buses between the Boulevards, the best mass transit anywhere. The best part was that this involved Detroiter's, who are people who speak their minds on nearly everything. You may guess from my tone that I loved it. My Janus definitely faced south.
I had to join the Detroit Diaspora when I got married and my wife could not find work. We moved to Illinois then to Lansing but I kept my eye always on Downtown Detroit. What I saw was horrific. It all collapsed as the relentless moving out continued. The Janus facing north sucked the city dry. My apartment was torn down and replaced by the Gem Theatre, a former porn theatre, The rest of the neighborhood was wiped out by stadiums and the people mover wandered about in endless nearly useless circles. Everything was about the north. The commercial infrastructure collapsed. Shopping was done beyond Eight Mile and Detroit lent its strength to the building of the suburbs.
Guess what? The Janus' eyes are slowly opening to the south. There are people here who view Detroit as an escape from the suburban environment. They have resources that they are bringing to the city and with the completion of the Woodward rail to midtown, all the action will be between the Boulevards and that strange wandering creature, "The People Mover", will be just that. It will make all the Downtown a space where people can live but be intimately connected to Wayne or the cultural institutions. In a few years, the area between Alexandria and the Vernor Highway will be a major shopping area and it will be possible to do - without a car. This will be the attractive place in metro Detroit and people will start pushing south. I plan to be here when all this occurs.
Detroit was never like other major cities. It had sprawling tracts of houses. Most Detroiters grew up in houses, maybe they were two or four family flats but you didn't share your space with a lot of people like in NYC. The wealthy didn't live in the downtown, they lived further out. Everything nicer was, in fact, further out.The idea was built into Detroit that as you moved further out on its spokes life got better and better, thus the Janus faces north.
This wasn't the case for all of us though. I grew up at Joy and Grand River. The streets were full of people and activities. Everything was in walking distance with familiar faces along the way. When the highway came through and my mother moved to Northwest Detroit, I saw what the Janus portended. I had to walk a half mile simply to get to a party store. Hardly anyone walked so faces were few on Seven mile. As soon as I graduated from high school I lit out for the Cass Corridor, where once again there were bodies on the street with the added attraction of a great set of bars.
From here, I eventually moved downtown where I worked at the Water Board. What I found was a village of all kinds of people who lived in and loved Downtown Detroit. Our world was encompassed by the Boulevards and Downtown Windsor. I shopped Hudson's pantry during the week and would stroll to Eastern Market on the weekend. I lived across from the Music Hall and would walk back to my apartment during intermissions and could hear the chimes ring so I could head back. Dinners with friends at the International in Greektown. Drinks at tiny bars dotted across the downtown and, because at that time a quarter could get you around on the buses between the Boulevards, the best mass transit anywhere. The best part was that this involved Detroiter's, who are people who speak their minds on nearly everything. You may guess from my tone that I loved it. My Janus definitely faced south.
I had to join the Detroit Diaspora when I got married and my wife could not find work. We moved to Illinois then to Lansing but I kept my eye always on Downtown Detroit. What I saw was horrific. It all collapsed as the relentless moving out continued. The Janus facing north sucked the city dry. My apartment was torn down and replaced by the Gem Theatre, a former porn theatre, The rest of the neighborhood was wiped out by stadiums and the people mover wandered about in endless nearly useless circles. Everything was about the north. The commercial infrastructure collapsed. Shopping was done beyond Eight Mile and Detroit lent its strength to the building of the suburbs.
Guess what? The Janus' eyes are slowly opening to the south. There are people here who view Detroit as an escape from the suburban environment. They have resources that they are bringing to the city and with the completion of the Woodward rail to midtown, all the action will be between the Boulevards and that strange wandering creature, "The People Mover", will be just that. It will make all the Downtown a space where people can live but be intimately connected to Wayne or the cultural institutions. In a few years, the area between Alexandria and the Vernor Highway will be a major shopping area and it will be possible to do - without a car. This will be the attractive place in metro Detroit and people will start pushing south. I plan to be here when all this occurs.
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