My thoughts on The D.

Every morning on our way to work, my husband and I turn on our TuneIn Radio app and listen to 97.1FM "The Ticket". This is a sports talk radio station out of Detroit. They don't always talk about sports; they also talk about the city of Detroit and things that are going on. A little while ago they were talking about how we will know when things are truly turning around for the city and one of those things was when it becomes a place where people want to move their families to.

Nick and I both looked at each other with smiles on our faces. We are probably thinking too much of ourselves but we feel like there is a possibility that we are the start of that change. We are moving ourselves to (or near) the city and we want to start and raise our family there. We want this more than anything! We truly believe with all of our hearts that Detroit, Michigan is where we belong.

I daydream of being someone who can help the city become what it has been in the past. I don't know how yet, but I want to play a part in any way that I can to give Detroit the name that it deserves. Maybe I will volunteer with cleaning up the city or at a shelter, maybe I will be a teacher in Detroit, or maybe I will be a social worker. I don't know yet the exact part I will play but I do feel strongly that once I live there, I will do what I can to help the city come back around, because it IS going to come back around.

In my opinion, Detroit gets a bad rap, mostly from individuals who have never crossed the Michigan border. Yes, there is crime, murder and drugs. What big city doesn't have those things? Most of the crimes/murders are either drug or gang related and last time I checked, I don't partake in either of those things so I count myself to be pretty safe. I'm not saying that I'd go walking around the streets flashing my wallet around in the middle of the night but I am comfortable walking around and spending time in Detroit.

Nick and I went to Detroit for the first few days of our honeymoon (the reason was to attend a Tigers playoff game which did not happen but that is for a future post) and we walked around downtown, stopped at a couple bars, went to the casino and not one time did we feel uncomfortable or like our lives were at risk. If you use common sense and stay away from what looks like a bad area you will be just fine. The rebuilding of the city has already begun downtown; it is cleaner and safer than it was a couple of years ago. The big project in my opinion is going to be cleaning up the bad neighborhoods outside the city; though it can and eventually will be done.

Michigan is a beautiful state and Detroit is a great city with so much history and pride. Detroit deserves to be revived and in time it is going to happen. Michiganders have a lot of pride for their home and the city of Detroit. I know I will be one of those proud lifelong residents some day soon. There is no place like The D.