Detroit (and there's more to Michigan than that) Musings from the Mitten State

[SpeedyChix]

It's been alternating between snow flurries and sunshine, we're locked in the deep freeze. I'm all busy being over winter. Sure, next thing you know, I'll be embracing the snow and cold. Probably multiple times in the same day. Thought I share things that I find interesting about the mitten state and post a few of them here. First there's that cool thing of always carrying a map of the state in one's hands. Ask a Michigan resident where they live and they'll point to their palm.

Starting the linked video below. Next up will be some other neat things happening in the D. From there maybe a quick diversion to the U.P. That's the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for those of you who live too far away to know what we're talking about when we say UP.

For now, let's start in Detroit. It's the city folks think of when you say Michigan. The entire cities of Boston and San Francisco, as well as Manhattan fit in the LAND area of the City of Detroit. Those cities have over 3 million residents, Detroit is under a million today.

To keep it seasonal I'll start it off with a video that you've possibly already watched. Shows some of the underbelly of what was once a great city.




Hope you enjoy.

[SteveP]

thanks for posting this.

i hope this city can come back.
smaller no doubt but find energy and motivation and innovation to come back and become great once again.

[progetto]

Who would of thought, Detroit a ski town.

[rowdyhillrambler]

I had no idea that most of the salt that is used in 'Merica comes from under the city off Detroit. This seems wild to me. I have been to the salt flats and toy he ocean, but this seems wild. Vast, underground salt caves.

Is this true?

[sonnybiker]

all that work building jumps out of pallets and tires and cinder blocks and trucking in snow for a few runs!

also i'm guessing the pickup truck powered the rope tow?

[nrs5000]

also i'm guessing the pickup truck powered the rope tow?

Looks elastic to me.

[Too Tall]

Brilliant stuff.

[SpeedyChix]

I had no idea that most of the salt that is used in 'Merica comes from under the city off Detroit. This seems wild to me. I have been to the salt flats and toy he ocean, but this seems wild. Vast, underground salt caves.

Is this true?

There is a large salt mine under Detroit, also Windsor and Cleveland. Today they only produce road salt (no longer table salt production).
A couple of good quick reads can be found at these two links:
History — Detroit Salt Company
The Giant Salt City 1200ft Beneath Detroit

A visual of salt deposits. The salt in other areas of the state tends to be even deeper than in Detroit, so not actively mined.

[Der_kruscher]

I have to admit to being annoyed by that particular video. The concept of rich kids on skis shredding the dangerous streets of Detroit just rubs me the wrong way - they act as if they were risking their lives to make a video. I'm from the Detroit suburbs originally and maybe I'm naive but I don't feel like my life was ever in danger the in all the times I've spent in the city. I have a hate - love relationship with Detroit and MI in general but in my last few visits back to Detroit I can't help but come away with some hope that things are turning a corner. I'd much rather see a video about the people who live there doing positive things for the place they live than some interlopers trying to cash in on the shitty image.

Oh yeah, "Detroit City is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an American Metropolis" by Mark Binelli is worth a read.

[Jeffrey Borisch]

Red Metal: The Copper Country Strike of 1913 | PBS

This was a really interesting film about copper mining in MI. If you've rambled around those areas it's hard to imagine it was once booming aside from a grand old house here and there.

[davids]

Growing up in Cleveland, I was always aware of the vast salt mines under the city. I could not tell you how to get into one to save my life.

Oh, and I was hanging out with some U of M friends this weekend The husband of one (a Canadian & Cornell guy) made fun of us by making the map with the wrong hand...

[maunahaole]

He's never going to find his way back to Sarnia holding his hand that way.

[davids]

He's never going to find his way back to Sarnia holding his hand that way.

His next trick was to try to make New York with his hands. Payback's a bitch.

[Steve-O]

I grew up in Northern Michigan and went to Michigan State for an engineering degree. At the time I graduated in 1993 the US auto industry was getting soundly trounced by Japanese imports. Some of my friends hooked up with auto-related jobs but many (including myself) left the state for a life somewhere else. One of the things that always blew me away about Detroit is the division between the city and the suburbs. The maps in this article below illustrate this... Eminem was an anomaly. The Best Map Ever Made of America's Racial Segregation | Wired Design | Wired.com

[SpeedyChix]

Have a list of items to put up here (Mid-century Modern, Dorais, Northern Lights and more) but just haven't done it. Might get to it again this winter.
For now I'll leave you with a couple of images from the downpour that hit the D last night

The freeway interchange of I-696 & I-75 is a major one. Much like 94 and 75 to the south.

These are a few shots from that intersection. There's an entire freeway level 14" below that overpass (upper right)
Lot's of homes had water a few feet deep in their basements. Today where water had receded in some residential areas their lawns were churned up mud from vehicles using them as roadways trying to commute last night. Talked with someone whose typical commute is about 45 minutes, last night was over 4 hours.


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