(Detroit Skyline, 1929.) Writing about Detroit means writing about The Line. Manufacturing stuff was what provided the economic base that produced the graceful boulevards and avenues that made the city once called- without irony- “The Paris of the Midwest.” Detroit ranked third in the nation, after New York and Chicago, in the number of major […]

(1973 GMC Chevy Vega Kammback Wagon. Photo Socotra.) I can’t talk about the creation of the fabulous ruins of Detroit without mentioning the ride I had at the time. Raven bought it, brand new, and gave it to me to ensure that I had reliable transportation to get to work. It was part of the […]

(Coleman A. Young stands atop the Riverfront Apartments he encouraged as Mayor. Detroit Free Press photo by Tony Spina) So, Coleman Young grabbed Detroit by the throat and shook it so hard that the fifth largest city in These United States had its neck broken. Nah, didn’t happen that way. Walk with me back a […]

(The enigmatic cover of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.) I threatened you that I was going to take you back to 1973. Fasten your seatbelt and turn up the iPod. You have to put tunes to the year, that is the way it was. The Allman Brothers might have peaked that year, and […]

(The lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, five years after Katrina.) So, the morning jig through the very strange year of 1973 in the Motor City was interrupted by a call from my Coon-Ass buddy, Boats. He was up early to head to his current position as a moderately senior Government employee involved in Homeland […]

(Dr. Ossian Sweet’s house at 2905 Garland Street in East Detroit.) “There is a saying among Southern blacks that goes like this: White folks up North don’t care how high you get as long as you don’t get too close; white folks down South don’t care how close you get as long as you don’t […]

Chad and Jeremy are out of here this morning. The U-Haul truck is parked in the back, over the strong objection of management. Jeremy laughed about it at Union Jack last night at the farewell at Kate’s back bar. “So, I like went in to the office to tell them that I was parking the […]

The Conference is causing me to go through a lot of checked luggage. We are all going to be in Detroit shortly, and the Tigers are going to be hosting the Yankees, and I have tickets to one of the games. It will be the first time I see the inside of the new stadium, […]

I swear, if I have to drive Up North in one shot again I will slit my wrists. I am getting too old for that, but don’t have enough time to make it a relaxed two-day trip with a stay in a dump motel in Elyria, Ohio in the middle. That is one reason why […]

(2005: The Renaissance Center, home of the 2011 IT conference, rises behind the ruins of the Detroit Screw Works factory. Built in the aftermath of the 1967 riots that finished off the central city, the original design featured a gigantic concrete berm that sealed the complex off from the anarchy of the streets. Photo DetroitYes.) […]