Urban Vignettes Week 4: Psst...! Detroiters Care a Whole Awful Lot...

Psst...! Detroiters Care a Whole Awful Lot...

Trailhead at Gratiot

I know, I know, you wanted to hear about clandestine meetings and hidden stories. I don't know very many of those, but I do know places I love to retreat to, and they are nearly always out of doors. One of Detroit's hidden stories is that it is a city of outdoor spaces and opportunity to expand them.

Detroit likes to reinvent the wheel. One place I love in the city is the Dequindre Cut. Formerly an abandoned railroad bed, it is now a roughly 1-mile pathway cutting through the heart of the city leading from Gratiot near the Eastern Market to the River Walk. 

On any given day you can see families biking or walking, youth skateboarding, runners, walkers, bikers, couples holding hands, and children scampering between overhead railroad tracks.

I particularly love the aerosol art and graffiti that line the path and uniquely mark it as a part of everyone's Detroit - the tidy and the messy, the formal and informal, the obvious and the underground.

One of my favorite pieces on the Cut.

This place invites you play, to remember that we are a big city, and to nurture the place with unity and love.

Play at Dequindre Cut

A completely different refuge and oasis in the city of cars and controversy is Brightmoor's Farmway.

Brightmoor Farmway House Board

Brightmoor is both a retreat and an inside story. This neighborhood is on the western border of Detroit; it has a rocky past, and a very hopeful present. Around the same time that residents in this neighborhood were involved by a program I previously worked for (community+public arts: DETROIT), they realized there was a LOT that could be done to make everyday life better. Determined residents created a "Farmway", with various gardens and community spaces created with limited resources that resemble a series of parks. Activities are led in these spaces, abandoned houses (like the one above) are converted into works of art and/or community places.

Anytime I need a little inspiration about the determination and sheer willpower of Detroiters, I go to the Farmway. I feel like a part of the community after attending meetings and watching them grow and promote their greenway. This area resembles the country, or even mid-Southern states with the larger lots, with many yards backing up to the river. It exudes a sense of peace, but the message I always come away with is this:

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

This message from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax has profound meaning in this neighborhood, especially since it is written on the local elementary school that was close a few years ago. In Detroit (or anywhere), if you don't care a whole awful lot, nothing gets better.

Sincerely,

Kaity Nicastri,

Detroit Lover

If you want to read the edited blog post, go to Urban Vignettes!