Breaking up is hard to do: Moving out of Motor City
Keith N. Dusenberry
I’m moving away from Detroit
in two weeks. I was born here, and have lived here for all of my 28 years, I covered the city as a writer and editor, but
it’s time to go. I’m one of those college-educated, creative-class kids you
read about leaving the city forever in the “great Detroit brain-drain” of the last few years.
But I’ll miss this town. I’ve traveled around the world and
back, and there’s no place like it. It’s ugly and beautiful, ruined and
hopeful, a place where “nothing ever happens” … until everything happens — and
it’s hard to say goodbye.
Here are some of the things I’ll miss most, and the places I
am trying to stop by one last time before I bid adieu to The D.
I suggest you visit, or re-visit, them before you load your
U-Haul, too. You may even like these Detroit
treasures so much you decide to stay.
While the standard Old English "D" cap or vintage Bad Boys T-shirt will do just fine, you might want to mix it up away from the city with one of Pure's fresh D-centric designs
Wandering through Cranbrook -- dotted with architectural gems along with tons of public art installations, sculptures and gardens -- always seems like a sweet summer outing, but how often do you do it?
Get down to the basement of the old church now called St. Andrew's Hall and hear some real Detroit rap in the house that a lot of hard O.G.'s built, and a certain Slim Shady put on the map.
This Albert Kahn-designed mammoth fell into disrepair years ago. The abandoned interior was even used as a paintball playground a few years back, but has since seen action only from bums, vandals and art school kids.
Once the go-to getaway for horny post-war teenagers, there aren't many drive-in theaters left in America. Detroit's lucky to have this massive old gem still running strong.
From the legendary Funk Nights to the well-respected noise festivals to the recent Art Fag Incorporated monthly dance party mayhem, CAID has long been the choice of the “we’ll sleep when we’re dead” set.
The “oldest continuously operating bar in Michigan,” the Stonehouse has been serving its colorful assortment of patrons since before the Purple Gang legendarily made this 150-year-old Victorian farmhouse their clubhouse/brothel during Prohibition.
