stereotypical single woman

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say something you might not agree with. It’s certainly something I never thought I’d say. But here it goes - Detroit is a great place to live.

There, I said it.

I actually like living here. I didn’t expect to. You see I grew up in Grand Rapids, the antithesis of Detroit. The two cities are 163 miles apart, on opposite ends of the mitten, and even further apart in scope. If Detroit was you filthy-mouthed uncle that works for the union and has served time, Grand Rapids would be your spinster great aunt that has plastic on all of her furniture and continually blesses you, even when you haven’t sneezed. Grand Rapids is just a nice, mid-sized, conservative, suburban, and quiet city. It’s the city that brought the world Amway and Gerald R. Ford. It’s also where I was born and every five years or so I find myself back there. It’s a good place but something is just missing. Maybe it’s that it’s a city of 200,000 but it has a small town mentality. Which is fine. It makes it a great place to raise a family. It means that it doesn’t have the problems that big cities have. But to me it was stifling. No one ever seemed to leave. So many people were convinced that it was the end all be all of the world. They were content with where they were, what they knew, and how they lived. No one wanted to leave. And while I do think its a nice place, I also definitely know that there’s more to see and do in life. And I plan on seeing and doing it all. It’s just not where I’m supposed to be (Chapel Hill is - but that’s a completely different post…)

Detroit is definitely a city with a big city mentality. It’s tough, hard working, and gritty. But unlike New York there’s no attitude. When I graduated from grad school the first time I moved to New York - I was working in Manhattan and living on Staten Island. But very quickly I found New York intimidating in many way, especially financially. There were so many opportunities, stuff to do, people to see - but even though I was making what would have been considered a decent amount of money anywhere else, I was really poor there. There were so many things I wanted to do - see the shows I had made costumes for, go out with friends, even just go shopping….. but I just couldn’t afford it. Rent and living expenses ate up so much of my paycheck there wasn’t much left to play with. And I just didn’t fit in. I’m just an easily intimidated white girl from the midwest with no pretensions, so I came home.

In Detroit I fit in. There are none of the pretensions of New York, or even Chicago. Even though I’m a broke grad student I can afford to live in a high rise studio with a view of the Detroit river. Because the city has received so much bad press and is going through such a tough economic time no one wants to live here. I’ll admit that two months ago I was one of those people. But it really has been a good experience so far. Aside from the low rents there’s the excitement of living downtown (which is beautiful and very much alive) along with the convenience of mega-marts and strip malls a mere 15 minutes drive away in any of the numerous suburbs. It’s also a truly diverse city - racially, economically, and religiously. After living on the homogeneous west side of the state I find the change endlessly fascinating. Keeping in mind that it is a big city, and like all cities you need to keep your wits about you, I still feel perfectly safe (safer than on Staten Island.) All in all, I’m happy here.

I don’t plan on being here forever, just for the next 15 months or so (and then we all need to think good “entry level library job in the Triangle - Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham…” thoughts because I really, really, REALLY want to move back there), but until then I certainly plan on enjoying my time here. I’m glad that at least I was able to get rid of my own prejudices of this city - and if you come visit me I’ll do my damndest to change yours as well.