This is funny

It really saddens me, what's happened/happening to Detroit. I think it's great that you moved from the suburbs into the city.

Detroit is certainly making slow but steady progress. Movie sets, great restaurants, amazing new lofts, a huge green movement...it's a great sight!

Ignore the negativity and pity those who sit bak without a cause to fight for.

if i come visit will you take me around?

I would think that the city has a wealth of fascinating things to discover. Hope you continue to enjoy & discover.

The Guardian Building looks beautiful.

Thanks for the guide, Blake.

Great, the motor city is looking good!

I love Detroit's urban ruins.

Detroit is horribly understood and has been horribly hurt by self-destructive policies—you'll pay more per month on property taxes in Detroit than you will a mortgage.

Glad there are urban warriors out there still making a difference. Bravo!

I meet a lot of people from Detroit and the outlying areas. Common thread is they all left. I hope there is recovery in Detroit's future, but it is looking grim at best. As my friend from Detroit (who moved years ago) recently said, "Will the last one to leave please turn off the lights".

Of everywhere I've been, Downtown Detroit is the best urban-living value in the world. It's cheap, safe (seriously), clean, full of beautiful old buildings and parks, and packed with restaurants, bars, and music venues. Thank you, Blake, for reminding AT readers that Detroit is more than just an abandoned train station.

Blake, thanks for sharing! You've inspired me to head into Detroit early to check out Eastern Market before hitting the DIA or seeing a show next time I head back to Michigan.

John King rocks! It's actually an old glove factory (the mural of the glove is still on the side of the blue building). Besides the books, the biggest kick for me is getting to the restroom. You're given the key chained to a board bigger than the biggest high school hall pass, and it takes you to the freight elevator. Way cool!

Thanks for the post, Blake - I love our city, too!

I used to live in Detroit (not the suburbs) and its downtown interiors (especially the tiled ones) are spectacular. I'm so glad you included the Guardian Building.

Woooohoooooooooo! I can't believe you featured Detroit! Though I haven't lived in Michigan for ten years, I lived there the first 24 years of my life. I love Detroit, and so much of what's going on there now excites me.

lhdun421--do you have any clue what you're talking about or why you said that?

There is actually a lot going on in Detroit now, and a lot of people are moving back. Yes, it's really poor, a lot of it is in ruins, and there's just a lot of badness, but Detroit has a strong spirit. If you look at something other than the photos of the urban ruins and read about grassroots projects, artists, musicians, activists, urban homesteaders, and other things, you'll see that there is hope for Detroit. It's starting with the people, but hopefully its government will one day figure out wth it's doing.

I think that a big chunk of the stimulous money should have gone straight into re-building Detroit back to the automobile capitol of the world. Imagine all the jobs...all the renewal.

Thanks Blake for highlighting our fair city!

Great job highlighting Detroit. Especially love the nod to the great coffee at the Guardian! I also like Goods - the cool little shop next to the DIA.

Thank you Blake for highlighting Detroit, it is quite the gem!

John King is AMAZING!

Such an inspiring post/tour! Thank you for sharing!

I've lived in Detroit all of my 25 years.

But for one gloriously marvelous year I lived in downtown Detroit in a stunningly beautiful building down the street from Comerica Park, behind The Filmore and across from the Opera House. I loved every freaking second of it!

I moved farther into the city on the eastside, but I long for the days when I walked everywhere, went ice skating or saw an outdoor movie at Campus Martius or talked to lost suburbanites on game days. I love my city so much and I'm glad you're appreciating it Blake.

Wow Blake!! Big kudos to you for supporting this secret gem of a city! Please let me know what building your loft is in: lisaredd "at" gmail.com Despite Detroit's problems, it is filled with citizens and folks in the burbs who are working hard to bring it back. There is so much progress being made there, but the national media mainly covers the mess and rarely acknowledges the positive growth and development. At the same time investors from China and other countries are visiting Detroit and taking bus tours around the city to seek and purchase real estate for dirt cheap prices. I know, because I'm a Detroiter, living in Los Angeles for the past 10 yrs. My family is there and I do go home to visit....will be there in November to look at property to live in and also for investment. I don't have a ton of money, but the quality of the homes and the cheap prices make it possible. There are still many great neighborhoods in the city. I am planning to move back next summer, but will probably still spend the coldest part of winter in L.A.
Now let me add a few more amazing places to visit. Lisa's Short List:

1. Pewabic Pottery - www.pewabic.org On East Jefferson, near downtown. A must-see! Pewabic was founded during the Arts & Crafts movement in 1903. There are tile installations in many of Michigan's buildings and around the country that feature Pewabic Pottery designs. Often featured in design publications and still going strong with classes, retail and tours.

2. The Fisher Building on W. Grand Blvd. in the New Center area. An Art Deco building (1928), designed by Albert Kahn. The lobbies and corridors have colorful marble, granite and brass inlays on the floors and walls, with painted Art Deco patterns on the walls and ceilings. The theater features traveling Broadway shows. It's a public building...just park and walk in. See link for info.
http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=32

3. Cadillac Place/ General Motors Bldg (1923) - Across from the Fisher Bldg. Old GM headquarters before they moved to the Renaissance Center on the river. Another beautifully designed, ornate building, but not quite as amazing as the Fisher.

4. The Motown Museum - Need I say more? The house that Berry Gordy owned and turned into Motown Records. It's the first place that visitors from the U.K. ask to see when arriving in the city. You can feel the Motown beat in there!

5. The Detroit Salt Co. - Detroit sits on a salt mine. It has been mined for 100 years. They haven't done tours in many, many years, but it's an honorable mention.

6. Oh Canada! The Detroit River is an international waterway...you can watch massive freighters travel up & down the river. You can see Windsor, Ontario easily and can visit via the mile-long tunnel under the river or the Ambassador Bridge over the river. Drive in 4 hours to Toronto or take the train!

Best wishes and have fun!

Oh, this warms my heart.

I finished graduate school this past April at Michigan, and during the job search I had options of moving to Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, or even my old stomping grounds of Berlin. At the end of the day, I asked myself two questions:

1. Which people did I like the most of any city I've observed? and

2. Where can I make the most immediate impact as a young professional?

I knew Detroit wasn't perfect, but if you're a civic-minded, out-of-the-box personality that isn't afraid to get his or her hands dirty, you will find yourself in the most amazing company of fellow individuals that will share their joys and frustrations associated with living in the D. And yes, I get those looks of disbelief when I visit my dear friends in the aforementioned cities above -- not everyone gets it, and that's why I love being here.

A few additions to the list of growing hot spots:

- Mudgie's in Corktown: they give Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor a fight, and they're cheaper to boot.

- Le Petit Zinc: they make a meeeeeean hot chocolate, and their crepes rival those at All Good Girls Go to Paris

- The Riverfront: it's not Chicago's, but it's well-laid out and perfect for a short jog. Connects with the newly-developed Dequindre Cut that takes you through the heart of east downtown

- Cliff Bell's: another Cafe D'mongo-type place, I one saw one of the most phenomenal jazz saxophone players I've ever heard here last winter. And the food's a cajun-inspired mish-mash....fantastic.

- Slow's BBQ: This place needs no introduction other than the two-hour wait you experience on weekends. It's THAT good.

- Magic Stick and the Majestic Theater: some of the country's greatest indie bands come here to play, and while you wait grab a pool table, have a PBR and wash down your Mr. Pepperoni pizza.

I love a Detroit feature. And I say that as a Ferndale resident that enjoys going into the city. Michimoby's list is near and dear to my heart as well.

Thanks Michimoby for adding some new food spots for me to check out when I go home next month!

Detroit is just like St. Louis in many respects, in terms of gentrification, revitalization etc, value, cost of living etc. Awesome potential