02-01-2011, 07:21 PM
The one thing that I will never forget about from my visit to Detroit a few years ago is the facade of prosperity that is visible from the Canadian side of the border. What were visible were tall, modern buildings; it portrayed an image of prosperity and success. What we saw in downtown Detroit was the exact opposite. The business area, where in most cities a tourist would expect to find bustling crowds, businesses, coffee shops and restaurants, was for the most part abandoned. Few people were on the streets. A large building, about twenty stories high stood empty, it's windows covered with boards. A film company could have used this part of Detroit as a backdrop for a movie about post-apocalyptic America. A sequel to Mad Max could have been shot there. I managed to find someone walking on the street and asked him about public transportation and he told me that the system sometimes worked and sometimes did not. I was shocked that in a major city of the US that the transportation system functioned on such an irregular basis. This is something you would expect in a poor third world country. I will never forget hat facade that I saw and I hope that it is not a precursor of what is to come.
John
John