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Detroit 300: Write A Letter To Detroiters In 2101
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T O P I C
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Discussion Started: 04-12-2001, 3:15 PM
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It's the year 2101 and the current Detroit mayor opens the Century Box left behind from 2001. It contains letters from citizens like you. What would you say about life in the city today to your ancestors and other citizens of metro Detroit 100 years from now? (Please include your name and city so those in the future know who you are.)
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View Messages: [newest first] | [oldest first]
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MICHALEK
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12-31-2001, 12:14 PM
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Happy 400th Anniversary Detroiters! A hundred years ago we celebrated our Tricentennial on a grand scale showcasing the very best that was Detroit. A parade of sail took place on the Detroit river, a concert which brought home many entertainers who originally got their start in Detroit, a re-enactment of Cadilac's landing in 1701, a spiritual observance of the oldest church in Detroit, St. Anne's, which also celebrated its 300th anniversary, and numerous other activities occurred during the entire year of 2001. My wish for your 400th anniversary is not just for one of commemoration, but for one that has hopefully solved some of the problems that have pursued throughout Detroit's history. I was a resident of Detroit for 32 years and I hope that the city has been able to find resolve for majority of its conflicts and that Detroiters have once again regained pride anabling it to again become a world class destination.
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williac13
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12-29-2001, 11:24 AM
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Welcome Detroiter (year 2101) I am now in heaven and wish so much to be with you from time to time, but there is a lot of happiness up here. I think of you often, especially since you are now one of america greatest and most visited city . You now have over 2,000,000 resident, when I live there Detroit had less than 1,000,000, what a difference in 100 years. I know that you(Detroit) are the envy of America with so many different cultures and many things to do just like heaven. It is so nice to have been a part of the beginnig of Detroit Rebirth, I believe in you then and more so now. Keep up the good work, peace and happiness to all. May God continue to bless and keep you strong and together, and let the next 100 years be even better. I will love you always. Clarence, Joyel, Christa. Detroit, Michigan
Clarence
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Sunyskys
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12-26-2001, 4:09 PM
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I came to Detroit in the summer of 1977 from a little town in Georgia. I had always wanted to live in the city. So much to see and do with easy access. I'm glad I stayed. There have been a lot of improvements since 1977. I would like to see a lot more. But in all, I am very happy to be a Detroiter!
Shirley Ray Detroit, Mi 48201
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Mwhitcali
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12-25-2001, 9:08 AM
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Having been born and raised in Detroit, I have seen Detroit go through many changes over my 50 years of life. I remember an "old" Detroit; where you could take the bus from the west-side to downtown for 50-cents, including the transfer. I remember the 4th of July Fireworks and being taken to and then, taking MY children to the Hudson's Christmas Parade, each year and also taking my children to see Santa Claus at Hudson's. Detroit holds so many dear memories for me that Detroit will always be my "hometown" irregardless of where I may travel to in search of my career. I remember as a young teenager, taking the bus from the west-side downtown to watch Gordie Howe play hockey! Gordie Howe was one of the greatest hockey players that ever lived. I attended Public Schools in Detroit and feel fortunate to have had such an excellent education, enabling me to deal with life with a greater insight and awareness. My teachers were very good and I appreciate every one of them. At this time of year, being I am so far away from home, this year, 2001, I wish nothing but continued success to the wonderful Mayor Archer and to the BEAUTIFUL CITY OF DETROIT! May the next hundred years be wonderful to you.
Loyal Detroiter,
~Marlyss Whitaker~
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Michael35
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12-24-2001, 10:27 AM
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Im a native Virginia, who married and moved to Ferndale MI in 1987. I now have 4 children all boys Dontrell(14) Darien (7) and Dreylen & Treylen twins who are 14 months. And My words of the futrure would be... never be affraid to let your love shine, and never look over your blessing despite how minute they seem at the start, God has A plan for us all...despite any out look we may have on life. and if we all remember that what positions we may hold in life,and no matter where we may end up,that we all start out the same, HUMANBEINGS. "Love is not Earned its Learned" Mike from Clarkston MI.
Michael Land
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ballen00
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12-23-2001, 12:36 PM
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Greetings Detroiters of 2101,
As you read this I hope that times are great in the city of Detroit and you are looking back on a darker chapter in Detroit's history. So much has happened to this city over the past hundred years. We've gone from the symbol of U.S. industrial might to the symbol for urban decay. Yet somehow, Detroit has survived. It's lost around half of it's population to the suburbs and a lot of business with it. I myself grew up in Pleasant Ridge just north of the city but two years ago moved into the city proper. I thought the other day that it's a strange thing that 80% of "Detroiters" don't live in the city proper but rather in a suburb that was spawned by the great city. I think this is proof that the city will experience a heavy resettling one day. The children of the suburbs like myself will find that they belong in the city of their ancestors. I hope that you are the children of those children.
As I write this I sit in a loft on Grand River and Elizabeth. The buliding used to be the Detroit Engineering Institute but now it houses a mix of artists, musicians and young professionals like myself. Over the past 10 years or so some people have started converting some of the vacant old buildings that dot downtown into what we call loft apartments. It is part of the effort to revitalize a downtown that appears war ravaged from decades of disinvestment and neglect. I'm right in the middle of one of the most vacant areas of downtown. On both side of this building are vacant lots used for parking for Comerica Park. Just outside my window I look out on the old abandoned Moose Lodge. The owners of St. Andrew's Hall, a nearby club, have purportedly purchased it. It could be turned into quite a club. It's huge!
Techno is quite a force in Detroit right now. The original Detroit innovators of this music have really embraced the city and made it an exciting place to live. I have seen many of them perform at parties around town and at the DEMF (Detroit Electronic Music Festival). Carl Craig, Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, the Burder brothers, have all inspired a new generation of Detroiters. We have all learned that no matter what happens to Detroit it's spirit lives on through it's people, through new generations, and particularly through music. It's as if the past technological might of the city has been reincarnated as this music. I hope you can listen to some of these artists perhaps in some digital format or perhaps on compact disc like we do. It's crazy to think that our compact disc recordings are antiquated to you (like old phonograph recordings are to us). By the way, currently my favorite CD is "Detroit Calling" by 430 West. It's a mix of Detroit Techno tracks by Lawrence Burden. There's something very indescribably "Detroit" that permeates these recordings. Maybe it's that mechanical yet soulful sound and a tinge of melancholy.
As you read this Downtown Detroit is surely a very different place. I'm sure that you view the Renaissance Center and Compuware building as "old" buildings. It is unfortunate that many of the beautiful vacant bulidings downtown will be torn down. I have many fond memories from when I was in college (at Wayne State University) of exploring them like mysterious old ruins. Several times friends and I climbed to the roofs of Michigan Central Train Station, the Broderick building, The Book Cadillac Hotel and others, to gaze upon Detroit as it expanded into the horizon. I remember watching Woodward Avenue going as far as the eye can see. I remember deep conversations with friends about the city, about it's turbulent recent past and uncertain future, as we watched the taillights of cars streaming into the distance and into the future.
As I write this "Detroiters" all around me are making decisions that will determine the sort of Detroit you are currently living in. Sprawl still continues at a rapid pace. Places like Commerce Township and Rochester Hills are exploding with new subdivisions and soulless strip malls. I hope this can be stopped. The Highway system also continues to expand out of control -- I-75, I-696, The Lodge, I-94, I-96, M5. We need mass transit but it seems that the companies that built this city won't stop crippling it. Their is a lot of poverty in the city and I am quite the minority in both income and skin color. Racism is a real problem in the region as well. Hopefully you have erased this disease from society but something tells me that's not likely. Sometimes the city seems hopeless. People tell me to get out. Move to Chicago, Boston, New York -- but I love Detroit. This is who I am. I'm a Detroiter.
Best Regards,
Bradford Allen
Bradford Allen
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sdavis4010
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12-21-2001, 1:48 PM
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SHERRARD DAVIS(DETROIT) EVEN THOUGH MUCH OF MY TIME IS SPENT OVER SEA IN THE NAVY IM ALWAYS HOME IN DETROIT WHEN IM NOT. I HAVE WATCHERD DETROIT CHANGE IN MANY WAYS, FROM PEOPLE TO PLACES. I HAVE SEEN THE GOOD AND THE BAD, BUT KNOW MATTER WHAT DETROIT AWAYS SHINE THROUGH. I WISH FOR MY TWO LITTLE GIRL ALYSIA AND AMBER TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE THE MANY THINGS DETROIT HAS TO OFFER NOW, EVEN SOMETHINGS THEY WONT BE ABLE TO BECAUSE THERE GONE BUT THE NEW DETROIT WILL KEEP GOING AND BECOMING GREATER.
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neshun
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12-21-2001, 12:28 PM
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Hello Detroiters of 2101: I hope that you are happy and content in the city which my family and I have made a home for the last 170 years. I know that my family line is still walking the streets of this city. I hope that the city residents as well as those living in surrounding cities can come together in peace to experience all that this city has to offer. God Bless you all and remember to always leave a memory of you behind.
NeShun Page
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BroSimmons
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12-21-2001, 9:04 AM
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Good blessing to all that lives in this beautiful city. I wonder what kind of new energy source you are using now? I larry Simmons used to work for a utility company name Dteenergy and was in local 17 IBEW. I was the first African American in the company to be an elevator journeyman, I was hire in the crane and elevator department in 1975. I wonder what kind of elevators are you using today in your time. I always love this city Detroit and the people who have work hard to make this a great city. God bless them all. One sure thing that makes a city great,and listen very carefully, it is the love you show one another, and helping others in need. One good access we have as Detroiters is we give from the heart and especially during the holiday seasons. Our newspapers, newspeople, and radio broadcast do a good job in telling the stories. I wonder if my children or grand children will be around when this time capsul open 100 years from now I love them so. may God bless all of you. Larry Simmons 14041 Asbury Park Detrot Mich 48227
immensly yours Larry Simmons
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tjcnick
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12-20-2001, 6:12 PM
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Our family has lived in the Detroit area for many generations. My grandparents had to travel on Michigan Ave from Canton MI to Detroit in a horse and buggy. It took 3 days roundtrip. Nowdays we can get there in our cars in 30 minutes. We pray for peace, prosperity and good fortune for this area and for the world. TJCNICK of Westland
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