# Random walks in Detroit suburbia



## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

DarkLite said:


> Beautiful photos, the resolution is top notch
> Thanks for the thread, those afternoon shots are simply pleasant to imagine.


Thank you  I like afternoon shots too, but the large amount of them in this set is due to the fact that the pictures were taken after me leaving the office where I work. 
Later on I will post pictures taken in the morning and at noon as well


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Once again very nice shots from Detroit


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

christos-greece said:


> Once again very nice shots from Detroit


Thank you Christos, I am glad you are enjoying it


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Nice pictures, elegant environment!  Most threads of Detroit shows the decay of downtown and some suburbs, but this shows a totally different side!


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Nightsky said:


> Nice pictures, elegant environment!  Most threads of Detroit shows the decay of downtown and some suburbs, but this shows a totally different side!


Thank you Nightsky, I think there are interesting places in Detroit for the people to see. After this series, we'll go back to midtown


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## capricorn2000 (Nov 30, 2006)

I'm impressed with this place, nice and neat buildings and living houses,
great infras and peaceful and green environment, totally a one livable place.
thanks for sharing these photos.
Likewise, it would be great if you can upload some shots of vibrant street scenes.


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## po-low (Oct 6, 2011)

great pics!

in which part of Detroit were they taken?

post more!


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

po-low said:


> great pics!
> 
> in which part of Detroit were they taken?
> 
> post more!


Thanks, the pictures are from the suburbs located 20 miles to the west and north of downtown Detroit (in Oakland county).


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

capricorn2000 said:


> I'm impressed with this place, nice and neat buildings and living houses,
> great infras and peaceful and green environment, totally a one livable place.
> thanks for sharing these photos.
> Likewise, it would be great if you can upload some shots of vibrant street scenes.


Oakland county is a rather quiet area, there are few opportunities to shoot street life. During the summer you can find places that serve outside on a terrace or a patio, but not this time of the year. I'll have to look into my older photos to find some street scenes - but I have to tell you, cars are going to be the main subject, not the people


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Fitzrovian, you raise very good points.
Here is my view:



Fitzrovian said:


> I agree with you Dondonel... to a point. Every city -- to be a real City -- needs an urban core that serves as a center of activity. An area where people want to go to shop, party and socialize with other people.


Detroit has a functional downtown, but it is true that for many years (decades perhaps) it did not. As it is today, the downtown looks ok, but it is far from its maximum potential. There are many buildings in the downtown area that badly need restoration, and there are many others that remained with naked walls when the buildings next to them were demolished (it is hard not to notice this when we are talking about 50 stories high buildings).


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Fitzrovian said:


> Without a vibrant urban core, a city has no identity and no soul... it becomes a collection of lifeless, generic suburbs, freeways and shopping malls -- places that might be great to have a quiet life and raise a family but, as you mentioned, are not particularly "exciting" (for lack of a better term).


I kind of disagree here. A city can do very well with multiple 'urban cores'. Many of todays largest metropolitan areas were formed by joining two large cities, so naturally you'll have there multiple 'central' areas. And there are other large cities that while expanding generated many high density regions (you'll find there an old town, a commercial area, a business/financial area, a large central park etc, all far away from each other).

I don't think the spread affects the identity of the city, it just creates new identities. Suburbs are not by necessity generic - Oakland county is not generic, at least in my view. Besides the word 'generic' applied to urban areas is a rather broad sword. Are the Bavarian old towns generic? Is the Haussmannian Paris generic? It surely feels like after a while, even though I consider Paris the most beautiful city in the world.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Fitzrovian said:


> The problem with Detroit (from what I've read -- last time I visited was in 94) is that it's been losing its urban core to crime, neglect, and disastrous population decline. In fairness, that is a story that is typical of many (most?) rust-belt, midwestern American cities. But for a city that used to be one of America's greatest, that is a tragedy. I hope things change and people like me will want to visit again.


I agree that in US old downtowns were lost to neglect, including that of Detroit. Nevertheless this is not the reason why Detroit city proper had a half a century of decline. The decline was a direct consequence of the boom economy set up in the 30s for the war effort and the subsequent bust in late 40s. During these years Detroit doubled its population (from 1 to 2 millions) with labor from south. Then, in late 40s, these people were laid off. All the cheap living and working infrastructure created for the war effort crumbled soon after and it could not sustain a community. These are the 'real' ruins of Detroit. 

Today, Detroit is back to prewar population, and about 1/3 of the city proper is abandoned - a massive clean-up is required. So far there was neither the funds required nor the population support for such an effort. Lately though, there seems to be a broad agreement that a clean-up is a prerequisite for further re-development. 



Fitzrovian said:


> Thanks for the pictures though; it is interesting to see the other side.


Thank you for the interesting discussion


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Expat (May 25, 2005)

Ha! I see the Halloween decorations. Spooky!:skull:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

> Yes, this is true - but the nature of today's capitalism is a lot more cut-throat.


Mid 19th century Manchester capitalism was less cut-throat than contemporary capitalism?!? :crazy:
Sorry for the Offtopic.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Malyan said:


> Mid 19th century Manchester capitalism was less cut-throat than contemporary capitalism?!? :crazy:
> Sorry for the Offtopic.


not so crazy anymore - in US the level of wealth inequality is the same as during the Great Depression and will soon approach Victorian times levels. UK is not far behind in this process.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

I never tire of looking at shops and cafes/restaurants. 

Interesting images


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

openlyJane said:


> I never tire of looking at shops and cafes/restaurants.
> 
> Interesting images


Thanks openlyJane  too bad there weren't customers outside, but it was cold and windy.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Expat (May 25, 2005)

Is this Grosse Point?


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## aarhusforever (Jun 15, 2010)

Dondonel said:


>


^^ Can you tell me more about this building?...it looks very impressive. The photos are stunning, thanks for sharing


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

aarhusforever said:


> ^^ Can you tell me more about this building?...it looks very impressive. The photos are stunning, thanks for sharing


Thank you, that building is "Old Main", part of the Wayne State Univ campus in midtown Detroit. 

See here a picture of this building taken in 1904:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Main_(Wayne_State_University)


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Expat said:


> Is this Grosse Point?


Grosse Pointe indeed 

And one of the streets above is Lake Shore Dr. (you can see the street sign), a scenic drive on the coast of Lake St. Clair (one of the Great Lakes). Sadly the tourists won't find because it is surrounded by bad neighborhoods.

Here are some pictures I took on Lake Shore Dr. Please excuse the quality, they were taken in a moving car. The lake is in the background:


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## Bori427 (Jan 6, 2007)

Detroit's suburbs look great


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## aarhusforever (Jun 15, 2010)

Dondonel said:


> Thank you, that building is "Old Main", part of the Wayne State Univ campus in midtown Detroit.
> 
> See here a picture of this building taken in 1904:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Main_(Wayne_State_University)


Thank you for the info ...I love that building


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Bori427 said:


> Detroit's suburbs look great


I think so, too 



aarhusforever said:


> Thank you for the info ...I love that building


When I was studying at Wayne State I lived in a 10 stories building, right behind Old Main from the angle of the picture. The building was demolished some years ago - time passes by so fast


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

nt


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Expat said:


> Ha! I see the Halloween decorations. Spooky!:skull:


 I took these pictures at Zoo Boo, a couple of days ago:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## CCs77 (Jul 30, 2008)

Dondonel said:


>


Nice picture, it's soooo orange 
like a postcard of the autumn...


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

CCs77 said:


> Nice picture, it's soooo orange
> like a postcard of the autumn...


Thank you 

Let's continue with Grosse Pointe:




























the gate to a historic street:










and the house right behind it:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Korean War memorial:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

and surprise  behind this house is the lake:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Some fabulous homes. How far out from the centre of Detroit is this suburb?


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

openlyJane said:


> Some fabulous homes. How far out from the centre of Detroit is this suburb?


These are really modest compared to what's on the lake shore nearby, you can see some here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjZjVrYb8gE&feature=related

Grosse Pointe is pretty close to downtown Detroit, about 5 to 10 miles. It is beautiful but for me it is too close to some of the most crime-ridden parts of Detroit. This is a nice video of the community:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPkBwdlaRzk


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

So much wealth & prosperity. Are they still all occupied?


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## Expat (May 25, 2005)

openlyJane said:


> So much wealth & prosperity. Are they still all occupied?


Jane, from what I understand, Grosse Point is not only occupied, but one of finest residential areas in the nation.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

openlyJane said:


> So much wealth & prosperity. Are they still all occupied?


Oh yes, they are. The wealthy do not seem to be affected much by the crisis. I went a couple of weeks-ends ago on Lake Shore Dr. at night, and all of those houses had the lights turned on, and most were having cocktail parties :banana:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Dondonel said:


> Oh yes, they are. The wealthy do not seem to be affected much by the crisis. I went a couple of weeks-ends ago on Lake Shore Dr. at night, and all of those houses had the lights turned on, and most were having cocktail parties :banana:


Another world, heh! :cheers2:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

openlyJane said:


> Another world, heh! :cheers2:


You bet 

Anyway, back to real people:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

Beautiful autumn shots of Detroit...thanks.:cheers1:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Linguine said:


> Beautiful autumn shots of Detroit...thanks.:cheers1:


Thank you, Linguine 

and just a couple more from Grosse Pointe:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

meanwhile on the other side of metro Detroit  (about 40 miles away)


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

busted


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Back to Midtown:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Great pictures.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

openlyJane said:


> Great pictures.


Thank you


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

The impression that I get is that Detroit has a predominantly black population?


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

a few close-up and some Art Deco details:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

openlyJane said:


> The impression that I get is that Detroit has a predominantly black population?


Detroit city proper has indeed a mostly black population (in a 4:1 ratio, black:white).
The ratio is almost reversed if you consider the entire metro Detroit.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Detroit reminds me of Chicago - although I've never been to either. I've flown over Chicago ,and been to O'Hare airport - on route to San Francisco. Chicago looks phenomenal.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

openlyJane said:


> Detroit reminds me of Chicago - although I've never been to either. I've flown over Chicago ,and been to O'Hare airport - on route to San Francisco. Chicago looks phenomenal.


Detroit city proper cannot realistically compare with Chicago these days 
Still, I would say Detroit has better suburbs.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Magnificent buildings :banana:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Woodward Avenue cuts the city in half:









medical campus (and Ford field in the background)









a century old industrial remains - once at the edge of the city, now part of the downtown:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

sunset









GM building


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

I love high rise American cities.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

The Motor City Casino and the Ambassador Bridge to Canada in the background.


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## krnboy1009 (Aug 9, 2011)

Great looking suburb, guess the poverty and misery of inner city hasnt spread.


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## Битола (Aug 6, 2010)

krnboy1009 said:


> Great looking suburb, guess the poverty and misery of inner city hasnt spread.


Everything on this page is within the city of Detroit itself.

Thanks for the great photos, Dondonel. :cheers:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Thank you guys 

the distance from midtown to downtown on Woodward Ave:









and a close-up - Woodward Ave goes north-south and this is the southward direction, to Canada 
that's right, Detroit is one of the few places in US where Canada is to the south:









the medical campus at night









Old Main and the casino in the background:


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

That looks like a pleasant enough suburb. How far from the city centre?


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

openlyJane said:


> That looks like a pleasant enough suburb. How far from the city centre?


This area is pretty nice, but the weather was not good for pictures. The sky was covered and it was quite late in the day, this is why I did not want to post the pictures before.

It is actually from the same town as the pictures on the first page of the thread, but the light makes the difference! It is about 25 miles from downtown.


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## HS (Jun 7, 2008)

I like the last picture because I like Fiat 500  As I have said before, I just love this thread. You're making such a great job showing us the true Detroit, Dondonel! Could you please tell us something about public transportation in Detroit and about the job market there? I mean, I would really like to know how is Downtown Detroit doing in comparison with other similar-size cities in the U.S. And also, it really makes me curious - do all the people from the suburbs work in Downtown and Midtown Detroit? Or maybe there are some new financial and commercial centres?

And sorry for my English, I hope you understood that somehow.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

HS said:


> I like the last picture because I like Fiat 500  As I have said before, I just love this thread. You're making such a great job showing us the true Detroit, Dondonel! Could you please tell us something about public transportation in Detroit and about the job market there? I mean, I would really like to know how is Downtown Detroit doing in comparison with other similar-size cities in the U.S. And also, it really makes me curious - do all the people from the suburbs work in Downtown and Midtown Detroit? Or maybe there are some new financial and commercial centres?


Thanks HS 
What I am trying to do with this thread is to show the remaining 99% of Detroit that people never get to see, not even those that visit Detroit (how's that for a paradox?). Downtown + the abandoned neighborhoods next to it, cover an area of about 100 square km, which is literally 1% of Detroit. This is what people know about Detroit. Can one get a reasonably accurate picture of the city from a tiny fraction of it? obviously not. Metro Detroit is a quite a big place - for an European reference frame, Metro Detroit covers about the same area as one third of Belgium, or half of Slovenia.

Public transportation inside the city proper is pretty good by American standards. However, for the occasional visitor, for reasons of safety and mobility, I would not recommend using it. Just rent a car at the airport. Public transportation outside the city proper is poor to non-existent. There have always been plans to improve it, but the universal car ownership, and long travel distances makes both it financially unsound and impractical. A surprise for visitors is that even taxi services are not available in the suburbs (one more reason to rent a car at the airport). However, if you are stranded in the suburbs you can call a shuttle bus to pick you up.

The job market Metro Detroit is improving, as most of the manufacturing jobs lost in 2008 are back by now. The service sector has also picked up. In Detroit city itself, things are not so good, as the city has serious financial troubles; the job market is still thin there as well. Detroit downtown has slowly improved in the past decade, but Detroit is no financial center (and has never been one) to take advantage of the past three decades of growth in the banking sector - so there was almost no new real estate development (in downtown area). There is though, a sentiment of cautious optimism, that good times for banking are over, and some of the money wasted on Wall Street might return to the real economy.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)




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## ninehills123456 (Aug 26, 2011)

can u post images of rich in detroit mean very veyr luxury 

streets and luxury cars luxury rich people lamborghinis 

etc and post some rich street photos and rich culture and rich photos 

and streets cars luxury rich cars and streets


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

ninehills123456 said:


> can u post images of rich in detroit mean very veyr luxury
> 
> streets and luxury cars luxury rich people lamborghinis



No, not really. The rich have gated properties in forested lands, you will need a helicopter to get a glimpse of what is going on there.

I might have some pictures of mansions donated to the state by rich Michiganders, if that is interesting.


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## 600West218 (Aug 30, 2010)

If you could post some pics of suburbs with more industrial and commercial property that would be interesting. Dearborn, River Rouge, Warren, etc would be great if you ever get over that way.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

600West218 said:


> If you could post some pics of suburbs with more industrial and commercial property that would be interesting. Dearborn, River Rouge, Warren, etc would be great if you ever get over that way.


I agree, it would be interesting, unfortunately they are quite far from where I live (none of them are in Oakland). I had plans with some industrial sites closer to home - I know they look interesting covered in snow, but I had little luck with weather this year.


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## Tchek (Oct 8, 2010)

It looks very much like Belgium/Holland. Red bricks, weather, atmosphere..


Isn't one of the newspapers called "Gazette van Detroit"? Belgian-founded newspaper


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## ninehills123456 (Aug 26, 2011)

post the luxury cars found ind etroit post the luxury cars that can be found in detroit 

etc the rich cars in downtown detroit or any where if u ahve some mansion pictures u can post i just want to know how clean are rich street roads and neat etc


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## cachen (Feb 25, 2008)

Good thread I just read the whole. Amazed at how nice Detroit suburbs are, so many nice big trees and lush. I thought it would always look like Tim toolman Taylor's backyard (always brown and snowy and ugly).

When you will have spring pictures? 

Can you share what camera you use?

Thx!


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

Tchek said:


> It looks very much like Belgium/Holland. Red bricks, weather, atmosphere..


It probably does, other people have mentioned it on this thread.
It's hard to tell where is it coming from, though.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

cachen said:


> Good thread I just read the whole. Amazed at how nice Detroit suburbs are, so many nice big trees and lush. I thought it would always look like Tim toolman Taylor's backyard (always brown and snowy and ugly).
> 
> When you will have spring pictures?
> 
> ...


Thanks cachen.

The camera I use is a Sony a33. It's a good fit for my purposes.
I'm not sure about spring pictures  it all depends on how much time I'll have available.


Let's finish this set:


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## HS (Jun 7, 2008)

American suburbia in autumn = <3


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

HS said:


> American suburbia in autumn = <3


I'm glad you've enjoyed it.
Suburbia is not as bad as some would like to make you believe it is. Often people say it is artificial, it is not sustainable, etc etc. Still, people prefer it to inner city, especially families - there are strong needs behind the popularity of the suburban lifestyle.


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## aarhusforever (Jun 15, 2010)

Beautiful photos of Detroit suburbs  Thanks for sharing, my friend


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

ninehills123456 said:


> post the luxury cars found ind etroit post the luxury cars that can be found in detroit


I don't think Detroit is the place to look for the latest exotic/luxury car.
On the other hand, if you are interested in classic cars, from mass-produced to the most obscure models, you must come to Detroit, especially in August, when there many classic car events. You mentioned Lamborghini - well, Michiganders seem to have a soft spot for Italian cars, I see many classic Lambos, DeTomaso, coachbuild Alfas and Lancias etc. 



ninehills123456 said:


> etc the rich cars in downtown detroit or any where if u ahve some mansion pictures u can post i just want to know how clean are rich street roads and neat etc


Lakeshore Dr. in Grosse Pointe is a good example of a richer area in Metro Detroit, here's some low res videos of the place (I have already posted these on page 7 of the thread):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjZjVrYb8gE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPkBwdlaRzk

However, Grosse Pointe is not the richest place in Metro Detroit, Bloomfield Hills and West Bloomfield have most of the more expensive properties. Unfortunately, the mansions are not visible from the street, they are behind the woods of NW Detroit.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

aarhusforever said:


> Beautiful photos of Detroit suburbs  Thanks for sharing, my friend


Thank you 
A couple of weeks ago I shot some winter pictures:


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## okach1 (Jan 7, 2011)

Dondonel said:


> Thank you
> A couple of weeks ago I shot some winter pictures:


:eek2:
Amazing picture!!!
:cheers:
more winter photos please


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

okach1 said:


> Amazing picture!!!
> :cheers:
> more winter photos please


Thanks  too bad the winter is gone, and I only got a couple of snapshots here and there.


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

beautiful snow pics from Detroit....:thanks for sharing.:cheers:


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## hellospank25 (Feb 5, 2008)

What a beautiful camera u have my friend, what model is it?


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

hellospank25 said:


> What a beautiful camera u have my friend, what model is it?


It's nothing special, a Sony A33 with a Sigma superzoom lens.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Interesting and very nice new shots from Detroit


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

christos-greece said:


> Interesting and very nice new shots from Detroit


You are very kind 
Therefore, I am going to continue with more pictures of desolate parking lots :lol:

Now seriously, the pictures in this set do not have the most interesting subjects, but I am posting them because I find them quite representative for a certain slice of suburban life.


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## Dondonel (Jun 6, 2007)

I will finish this set with some apartment buildings.

And look, I caught this timid urban creature on camera, the public bus  (rare picture):


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## Locksmith05 (Mar 13, 2013)

*re : Random walks in Detroit suburbia*

hellow, thanx fpr these pix ,all pics are awesome and so beautiful , i have seen all pics , but anybody can't say you are not a professional photographer, i think you should become a professional photographer



Detroit Locksmith


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