Y ou kind of have to admire a devious mind that will go to great lengths to pull a practical joke on an entire city.

 

I'm referring to a fake (but very official-looking) sign attached to an authentic Michigan Department of Transportation post on southbound Interstate 75 at the Oakland/Wayne county line. The green and white sign reads "Welcome to Detroit … We Hope You Survive."

 

I was tipped off to the sign via e-mail from sharp-eyed reader Robert Paxton.

 

It sounded intriguing so I hit I-75 after work on Wednesday and found the sign just where Paxton said it would be. There's no telling who put up the sign but they obviously put a lot of time and effort into it.

 

Though made of plywood it looks very official from a distance and the designer took great care with the green-on-white lettering. After crafting the placard, its creator then had to take a chance on getting caught by attaching it to a real MDOT sign, right under the noses of thousands of passing motorists!

 

I checked the back of the sign to see if the "artist" had left his signature, but it was blank. You have to wonder: Was it there during the Super Bowl to be seen by thousands of out-of-town visitors? Are there similar signs on I-96 and I-94 where drivers cross into Detroit? Who knows?

 

It's just a hunch, but I'm betting that the bogus "Welcome to Detroit … We Hope You Survive" sign will be gone by the end of the day.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/OPINION03/604070340/1016/METRO05

Classic

They did a nice job with the sign, but I still find it lame.

They did a nice job with the sign, but I still find it lame.

 

I think it's inspiring. I can visualize signs at the city limits of my town, saying:

 

Welcome to Fort Wayne

Unwavering commitment to mediocrity

 

Or signs at the various county lines, with illuminated digital clocks:

 

Welcome to _______ County

The time here is xx:xx [am/pm] [central/eastern][daylight/standard]

I hate to say it, but when I first glimpsed at the middle sign, I thought it read "Ammunition Alley." Maybe the vandals can work on that sign next so it will read that way....

i love stuff like that.

 

an artist guy i know made a jerry garcia gnome bronze statue and stuck it in a park in san francisco about five years ago. it got some attention and was pretty funny:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/08/12/MN109791.DTL

I don't think Detroit is as bad as people make it out to be. The sign is hilarious though, they should leave it up!

  I don't know...other than the obvious attractions like the Casinos, I think it is a pretty bad place.  I spent many summers there as a kid..and my Grandparents lived there until a few years ago.....it's a pretty rough place.

Just from what I saw, Detroit wasn't "scary."  There are plenty of bombed-out neighborhoods here in Pittsburgh, and every other big city.  For those who think it's a bad place - why?

Just from what I saw, Detroit wasn't "scary."  There are plenty of bombed-out neighborhoods here in Pittsburgh, and every other big city.  For those who think it's a bad place - why?

Well I know that in Cincinnati neighborhoods seem to be either really bad or really nice. To live in a nice inner city neighborhood you will generally pay out the ass. There seems to be a big gap between the two polar ends.  As far as crime statistics the good neighborhoods cancel out the high crime of the bad neighborhoods but Detroit is basically bad as a whole. It doesn't have a lot of nice areas to cancel out the bad ones (I've never seen a good area of Detroit but I've heard about places like Sherwood Forest, which is in Detroit right?). Downtown Detroit is definitely not what people would think.

I wouldn't agree with the Cincinnati example.  The Northside, Mt. Washington, West Price Hill, Westwood, Linwood, Avondale, etc are all affordable, safe areas (well, parts of Avondale ;)).

Mt. Washington is extremely far away, and although I love Northside and wouldn't mind living there I wouldn't consider it a "good neighborhood" or safe. The west side is affordable but it lacks character and shit to do. Oakley is a good example though!

To live in a nice inner city neighborhood you will generally pay out the ass. There seems to be a big gap between the two polar ends.

 

Is what I was referring to.  Not your preference.  Mt. Washington, the westside, and the others are all "safe"ish (though in reality, NO WHERE is "safe") and are affordable was my general point ;).

I see your point. But would you agree that it's common for safe yuppie infested neighborhood in the inner city to cause high demand and unrealistic prices, making that gap bigger?

That's just common sense for any city ;).

I don't think Detroit is as bad as people make it out to be. The sign is hilarious though, they should leave it up!

 

I have heard that the sign was taken down. :-(

Wow, I knew Detroit was hurting, but I had though it was the same kind of hurt Cleveland and Cincy are feeling (as far as losing inner city population), But from things I've been reading the past few weeks alot of people think Detroit is past the point of no return. It will be interesting if not heart breaking to see what happens to Detroit in the coming years.

I don't think the demise of Detroit is even that recent. Detroit's population went from 2 million to a little under 1 million after white flight of the 60's and 70s I think. I think Cleveland's population peaked at 900k though so that's the same percentage of loss :[

Detroit has suffered the largest population decline of any US city.  It was once a premiere city in the US with a massive population.  But with the massive exodous from the city (which is continuing) it has been left with an empty core with a few attractions that suburbanites sometimes come into town for:  Tigers, Lions, Casinos...some jobs.

 

I would love Detroit to be at its former glory again, but I very much doubt that it will EVER happen :|

I don't know how many of you are rap fans but Proof of Eminem's group D12 (and also Eminem's best friend) was just shot and killed at a nightclub in NE Detroit :( RIP

Well IF, and when Detroit fianlly takes its last breath, what will happen to the vast suburbs of Detroit. Like somebody's signature quates "You can't be a suburb of nothing."  What will those people do stay in their suburban communities or leave the region to cities like Chicago, Toledo and Cleveland or other places?

Detroit will be the last city to be be gentrified. It's hard enough turning around a neighborhood let alone an entire city of a million people.

you guys are funny

you guys are funny

you're funnier!

Detroit is just a more intensified version of what's happening everywhere in the country.

 

I think you just answered why it's harder for Detroit to "comeback" than Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Columbus.

haha, I remember reading about that sign before.  That's hilarious!

The appearance of birth control pills and the legalization of abortion in 1973 set in motion the demographic trends that resulted in the depopulation of cities.  With 40~ million abortions since 1973 and tens of million of more pregnancies prevented by birth control, the nation would be currently pushing 400 million instead of 300 million.  With family sizes similar to those of the past (or even higher, due to improved health care keeping old people alive longer, more children alive, etc.), almost no cities would have lost population in the past 30 years.  The re-illegalization of abortion alone would see the populations of cities everywhere start heading back up.     

How did birth control and abortion cause population decline in cities?

The appearance of birth control pills and the legalization of abortion in 1973 set in motion the demographic trends that resulted in the depopulation of cities.  With 40~ million abortions since 1973 and tens of million of more pregnancies prevented by birth control, the nation would be currently pushing 400 million instead of 300 million.  With family sizes similar to those of the past (or even higher, due to improved health care keeping old people alive longer, more children alive, etc.), almost no cities would have lost population in the past 30 years.  The re-illegalization of abortion alone would see the populations of cities everywhere start heading back up.     

 

Even better, prevent women from having an education or a career!

^I'm not talking about those matters as being "rights" (neo-"rights" are most often the fabrication of what I call a secular morality) or in a religious moral context, I'm just bringing up the fact that they have affected the size of our population ENORMOUSLY, in all states, in all towns, in all cities.  We wouldn't even be talking about the supposed problem of cities losing population if, like many so-called developing nations, there was a cultural stigma against contraceptives and abortion, and if peasants were moving to cities by the millions.

Meanwhile back at the original topic of this thread.  There has been another sighting of a "We Hope You Survive" sign on the Detroit border.  This time along the Lodge Freeway at 8 Mile Rd.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060415/METRO05/604150392/0/ARCHIVE

Does anyone know if the "A site for more eyes" billboard is still up on I-75 in Detroit?  The River Rouge plant is in the immediate background of the billboard (which has a three-eyed Teddy Bear on it).

^don't recall seeing that anytime recently

^It was there in 99-00. 

I do live here in the city and, while I must say we have our rough edges, I still find the city to be a very desirable place to live. I have lived here all of my life and have seen more good than bad happening. I think the image that Detroit has nationally is just a victim of the media vultures that have glorified every bad thing that has taken place, creating a worse than actual appearance to all who look upon her.

Detroit is just a more intensified version of what's happening everywhere in the country.

 

I think you just answered why it's harder for Detroit to "comeback" than Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Columbus.

 

Not that I know the city like the  back of my hand, but does Columbus really need to "come back"?  Aren't its best years ahead?  Its such a growing city that never really had a 'glory years' period like Cincy or Cleveland.  Its unfortunate that there is so much sprawl, but there is enough inner city development and a holy grail educational institution to keep urban spirits high.

 

Colday,

 

I agree that Detroit is too far gone to hope for significant revitalization within Wayne County.

 

As for the sign, I am not a fan.  In terms of blight, Cleveland is Detroit's AA affiliate.  It hits too close to home.

 

 

In terms of blight, Cleveland is Detroit's AA affiliate.

 

That's a quote for the ages... lol

It's so deliciously easy to bag on Detroit, but as anybody with halfway decent critical-thinking abilities would see: as Detroit goes, the region follows. Trash Detroit, or rather, ignore the region-wide problems it is a part of; and you're trashing your precious little suburb.

 

Besides, there are much funnier anti-Detroit slogans out there.  I stand by the classic "Detroit: Where the weak are killed and eaten."

 

And as it's been mentioned further up in this discussion, there is quite a bit of residential development springing up south of 8.

 

Detroit has a bevy of hoary impediments, but I fear its most potentially insurmountable is its sheer surface area. Nothing will change that Detroit came to be in its present form as a major early 20th century industrial city. It took amazing amounts of space to build things and house the people building them. You fly into Detroit and you're flying in a straight line over streetlights for 20-minutes before you land.

 

But get past that, the crippling racism, crumbling infrastructure, vanishing tax base, shredded social fabic and run amok social injustice, and you've got yourself one heckuva city.

 

Seriously, though: downtown condos are selling faster than they can announce the project. Something's going on in Detroit, and it ain't clever vandalism.

 

*SNIFF*

 

Homesick already.

 

KF

Detroit is just a more intensified version of what's happening everywhere in the country.

 

I think you just answered why it's harder for Detroit to "comeback" than Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Columbus.

 

Not that I know the city like the  back of my hand, but does Columbus really need to "come back"?  Aren't its best years ahead?  Its such a growing city that never really had a 'glory years' period like Cincy or Cleveland.  Its unfortunate that there is so much sprawl, but there is enough inner city development and a holy grail educational institution to keep urban spirits high.

 

Columbus' inner-city is still losing population, thus yes, it needs a Mariah Mimi Emancipation and I'm confident with Coleman and powerful, home-grown corporations, Columbus will do fine.  But that shouldn't exclude Columbus out of the equation as it has a while to go (namely, downtown).  And to be honest, sure, there's sprawl, but it's unfortunate that every city in this country has sprawl, so it isn't anything new (just tragic).

 

And I do agree with KF that Detroit certainly is doing the right thing, which is starting with their core (downtown) and expanding out.  Sure, Detroit will take decades to even reach halfway but atleast they are doing it and investment is taken.  I was support Detroit as it reminds me of a larger-scaled Dayton (a similar auto-town suffering the same ghetto fate with hope).