Detroit.

Detroit.

How is it, that my birthplace, Detroit, and my second home, St. Louis, always get lumped in the top 5 most dangerous cities in America? Really? What exactly are these statistics based on? Apparently, as of the 2010 rankings, St. Louis is #1 and Detroit is #3. As if Detroit needs any more negative publicity. I’ve been dealing with it since I moved to Chicago. People always have the strangest responses when you tell then you’re from Detroit. The “Ooh..” or “Really?” or even worse, “Wow, I’m sorry”.

Let’s cut the crap, people. You usually have no idea what you’re talking about, so maybe you ought to keep your mouths shut just to be safe.

Detroit is the known as the world’s traditional automotive center. It’s the birthplace of Motown. It’s the hometown to the Red Wings, who (sorry to offend my Chicago friends), have won the most Stanley Cup championships of any NHL franchise based in the U.S. (that would be 11 for those of you who still think the Blackhawks are so amazing). The city’s large farmers’ market is better known as Eastern Market. The farmer’s distribution center is the largest open-air flowerbed market in the United States and has more than 150 foods and specialty businesses. On Saturdays, over 45,000 people shop in this historic district, including many restaurateurs from the metropolitan area. The city’s architecture should not be overlooked, nor its rich musical tradition that has influenced many genres over the decades. And the art is still alive today. Ask anyone who lives there.

Yes, the economy has gone a bit to shit because of the automotive industry, but chances are, when speaking to a Metro-Detroiter, you don’t know the real issues and repercussions of the automotive industry dying. The bailout is despised by many who don’t understand that supporting and investing in American products and American industries is what this country needs right now. Anyone who understands host/home country economics would agree that funding our own engineers and manufacturers is the smarter move. Politically, we’re not doing so well either with this whole Kwamecatastrophe, but that certainly does not mean that the entire is filled with criminals.

Detroit may be holding on by thread to some, but I believe it will make a comeback someday and all these hoosiers who think that reading a headline allows them to make an educated judgment about a city they’ve never even been to will be putting both feet in their mouths.