My boyfriend is a west-sider who hasn’t really seen Detroit (especially east-side Detroit). A few weeks ago, we drove down 6 Mi, starting in Livonia, and drove steadily east. I wanted to show him how it is (previously, he laughed at me literally shrieking “there’re manicured lawns and nice businesses on FIVE MILE??” when we were way west-side).
It wasn’t too long before he locked the truck doors and glanced around uneasily. I got to say things like, “there’s a parking lot with razor wire”, “hey, more razor wire!”, “ooh, razor wire wrapped around barbed wire, neat idea!” And then actually had to explain what razor wire is since he didn’t know. The idea that someone didn’t know what razor wire is astounded me.
The things that bothered him the most were the exact things that make me sad, when I think about it. You’ll see buildings that are old and were once absolutely gorgeous. There’s ornate stonework, decorative carvings, beautiful tile patterns… but the building is falling apart, all the windows are smashed in, there’s graffiti covering the outside walls, and you can see that most likely, a fire had been set long ago, so the inside is all burned cinders, held up by the once fabulous stonework. Just going down 6 Mi/McNichols, we saw dozens of these (just down one street).
The worst was many of the neighborhoods. I lost count of the number of times I heard him say softly, “oh my God”, “daaaamn”, and the like. You see old houses that would be perfectly nice if they had been taken care of. But no. The wood siding on the outside is rotting away, with at least half of the paint peeled off. The roof is probably starting to sink/cave in a bit. There were several garages we saw that had a distinct lean to them. There were some houses that had actual holes in the roof or outside walls. And around these houses were cars, or people sitting on the porch or around the yard. People live in these horrible houses that I honestly would not trust to hold up in a strong wind.
We drove down I-94 on my side of town, going “south” (technically west), and I told him, “when we get to where 94 crests, you’ll get a view of downtown Detroit. It is the most magnificently depressing sights you’ll ever see.” After seeing all the large factory buildings abandoned, decaying, windows smashed, and the overall decay of the city set against a dreary grey sky, he knew what I meant.
When we drove back to his side of town, I said, “now do you see why I was so amazed at 5 Mile looking nice and manicured around here?”
He nodded.
