So You Want To Rip On My Town Huh?

So two of my designated wheelhouses are the internet and my hometown.  The Detroit Free Press ran an article about recent attempts to revitalize the city. And It was a good article. I wish it would have been a little bit more indepth, but I've long ago made my peace with the fact that as a suburb we're probably not going to get as much ink as Detroit proper.

Nope, what made me want to claw my eyes out is the bile spewed forth in the comments section. On the one hand I've done my fair share of  Southfield bashing myself, but not only do I live here I was born here and with a few brief college intermissions have made this my home since birth.  On the third hand it's the internet and people will act like asshats on the internet. Don't feed the dragon Miles. It will eat you, then spit out your bones, then teabag them while calling you names that ...



Okay despite all of that the comments do bring up some interesting ideas and thoughts I've been having for a while so here goes.

1. Okay every now and again you'll hear me go off about racism. Hell, I did it at four in the morning two days ago but I feel that a larger predjuidice people have is socio-economic. People know how to check racism but not classicism. Classism offends me just about as much as racism, but I have a harder time explaining why it offends me or pointing to specific behaviors and opinions that I believe are classist so I don't hit it as hard, but I really need to start because this shit is starting to piss me the hell off.  Or put another way, if your primary problem with Southfield, or Detroit for that matter is that you don't like the people I would have words with thee. 
2. Yeah up until this article I always believed the "we need better marketing" comments I'd hear in council were bunk. The roads are crap, the test scores could be better, and this town has no night life. Whenever someone would say we "need to tell our story," I felt that it was distracting from larger issues like unemployment, the aforementioned roads, and urban development. I... ach spew garggleee .... was chahkahhh...wrong. Start rolling out the commercials. Just don't use crap music in them. 
3. How realistic are the plans for redevelopment? Make no mistake I want a downtown. But and this deserves a post in and of itself there are political realities. A lot of people don't want the city to do the things it would need to do in order for a downtown to be viable. The me of three years ago would moon them, but a house is the largest investment a person is likely to make and is it really all that unreasonable for them to not want the circumstances of that investment to change? Qu'est-il arrivé aux tison? Life is about to get complicated. 
4. I'm am constantly trying to bridge the reality of living my life with the reality my political ideologies. I do blame suburbs including my hometown from draining businesses and residents from Detroit proper. How do I bridge that belief with my strong desire to be able to hop a bus and get a quick slice for lunch? I have no clue but it's something that rattles around in my head.