by
We're glad Wayne State grad Kevin Conley came back to see the changes since he earned a master's degree here in 1985. His report in Town & Country magazine, a national style and travel magazine for the swanky set, urges readers to see for themselves by booking their "next long weekend getaway" in Detroit.
The arts editor mentions more than three dozen sites and neighborhoods, including those typically featured in these types of national pieces.
So yes, there are shouts to Slows, Jack White, the Heidelberg Project, Antietam, John Varvatos, the train station, Wright & Company, the DIA, Selden Standard, Gold Cash Gold, MOCAD, Parks & Rec and Sister Pie.
But Conley isn't a typical fly-in journalist, even though he's Manhattan-based:
I grew up here, and, like other natives, I was depressed by the city's demise. But over the past year I began to notice a shift, a success that was sticking, particularly among the most skeptical demographic of all: Detroiters who had fled.
Another difference is that he jotted notes about Detroit "on a recent trip with my family," which generates delights such as these:
- "It's not unusual to spot a pheasant, as my kids did, rising out of the ruins of a factory."
- "For home games the Lions stay at the Book Cadillac, so you can, if you're 11 and wide-eyed, ride up and down in the elevator, as my son did, meeting football players as they make their way over to the stadium."
The visiting writer's unconventional stops include Power House Productions ("an artist collective on the edge of Hamtramck that turned six derelict buildings into a creative nexus) and Wasserman Projects ("a vast contemporary gallery and concert space that could hold its own in New York or London.")
The Detroit Institute of Bagels also earns world-class praise for "innovative products, boiled and baked in small batches, [that] beat the more hidebound variations from such bagel emporia as Canter's Deli in L.A. or Zabar's in Manhattan."
Conley's homecoming circuit includes a stop at Nemo's, which he says "serves the foodie's equivalent of a split-finger fastball: the city's best burger and spiciest Bloody Mary." He also shows hometown knowledge by mentioning that the lower-level performance space at St. Andrews Hall. the Shelter, is "where Eminem famously lost his mom's spaghetti."
And in a rarity for travel journalism on this city, Town & Country acknowledges life beyond Midtown, Corktown and downtown. "The somber aftermath of the city's history of race riots, white flight and systematic segregation can be seen throughout Detroit," Conley writes.
Still, there's a familiar off-key note. "This vibrant city has the coolest art scene and hottest restaurants this side of Brooklyn," says the subhead up top, echoing the B-word cliché that's a hallmark of New Yorkers' love letters to Detroit.
The heading above Town & Country's lovce letter to Detroit, written by an editor who grew up here.
