I’ve been taking various routes to school, depending on construction and traffic on the freeway. The fastest way has been taking 8 Mile (whoo whoo!) to Gratiot to east Warren. I know the route. I know what to expect on the way. But still I am stunned every day by the urban decay around me.
Not to get all old, but I am old enough to remember when Gratiot was falling down circa the 1970s. There used to be a place called the Little Cafe that my family liked to dine at. But that closed its doors long ago, because the neighborhood is falling apart.
I can’t even count how many smashed windows, long-closed businesses, chained up doors, caved in roofs, abandoned houses, buildings with the bricks being stripped off of them and other horrors I drive by.
I just don’t know what I would do if I was Mayor of Detroit. I know I wouldn’t buy 2 Escalades and hire some strippers. But is it possible to raze the entire East side and start over?
My heart breaks for the kids I see coming out of these neighborhoods, waiting for the bus with broken glass and sheer destruction around them. What a mindset to have. Everything is destroyed.
Makes me think as I am driving to school…and count my blessings too. Unreal stuff.