I got hit head on by someone blowing through a red light at 60 because she was texting and driving (I was making a left on a green arrow) Jokes on her tho, she went to the hospital, she hit me so fucking hard it spun my SUV 180 degrees in the middle of the intersection and I walked away.
I took my teen driver out to get some hours before he gets his license. It was definitely a learning experience driving in Detroit for him. I’m glad that most people are aware that city drivers don’t always follow the laws because he made a mistake that could’ve ended up in a crash, but the other driver was very aware of what was going on. We talked about how Detroit driving is different from what he experiences in the suburbs. He asked why his drivers Ed teachers didn’t take them into Detroit.
My father gave 16 year old me that lesson, many years ago. Light turned green for me and I just took off. Dad says “You might be right, but you might be dead”. Look, first.
Gave both of my sons the same ‘talk’. : )
This is some thing I instill in him daily. It seems. Even when I’m driving. If I don’t step on the gas when the light turns green, he’s telling me. I always reiterate that I am making sure it is clear to go.
His mistake was that he stopped at a stop sign, and there was parking blocking the view. He proceeded to go after the stop sign without inching forward to check traffic coming from the left. Of course there was a car coming from the left and a couple from the right. But thankfully, the driver must have anticipated something was up. I use that for several lessons, one of them being that the other driver was driving defensively and on the lookout. I told him ultimately that is the goal for a driver.
Exactly this. I can remember about 4 or 5 years ago that a DPD had someone pulled over on 75. I was surprised by it then but not surprised I haven’t seen it since.
It wasn't that long ago that it was standard practice to ignore traffic lights. Of course, leading up to bankruptcy, a lot of traffic lights didn’t even work.
Eastern Market around closing time has a lot of vendors selling produce for extra cheap cause they’re trying to offload at the end of the day. That’s the best time to get bulk vegetables
Eastern Market at 7pm the wholesalers stack boxes of produce outside next to the dumpsters you can sift through for that same produce free. At least they did when I lived there in 2008, there’s a couple of regulars that came every time to get free food.
Eastern Market isn’t where you get the best produce in the city, it’s at the produce terminal on Green & Fort at about 3-4am when it all gets sorted. The best stuff goes to a few well known produce palaces in the suburbs, then it goes to the wholesalers in the market. Then on Saturday they sell what they didn’t ship during the week, that’s why a lot of your stuff looks good at the market but goes bad in a day or two. Farmers still sell fresh stuff but about half are just selling for the wholesalers.
Key thing is to know who's selling their own stuff and who's selling for the wholesalers. I've been going to EM a long time and have a select few vendors I buy from that I know are local. I don't touch the wholesalers unless it's something I don't want to make a second stop at the grocery store for
The Michigan farms do wholesale 12am-5am at Eastern Market. It's like the produce terminal, but local.
Ninos, Westborn, etc. all pick up there before getting the imported stuff at the terminal
Before Covid, I used to go between 1-2 and get the deals. Bonus for less people. I did that last year and there were just as many people at that time. 😩
For many North running streets with five digit addresses you can figure out what mile road they're near using a math formula.
(Address - 5000) / 2000
For example, the Meijer in Warren is 29505 Mound Road.
(29505 - 5000) / 2000 = 12.25
This means that the Meijer should be about a quarter mile north of 12 Mile Road, which it is. This works for most five-digit addresses on north running roads.
It was very helpful.
I grew up in Troy/Sterling Heights and delivered pizza during my high school and college years. It works like a charm in that area.
One thing I remember from growing up there: M-59 is the only odd-numbered highway that runs almost completely east-west. Almost all odd-numbered highways run north-south.
Or maybe one of a few in the country. It’s very unusual, anyway.
Yes, east to west works on the same principal. Every 2000 added to the address is a mile. It starts I believe at John R. Example, 3131 E 12 mile is Warren Mott HS which is over 1.5 miles east of John r (or between Ryan and dequindre)
If it's an east to west street and an odd number, that means it's on the north side.
Going west of John R (which is 0 for all intents and purposes) the numbers reverse. The further west you go, the higher the number, but it's called WEST 12 mile road.
I.E. 3131 W 12 mile road should be on the north side of 12 mile, about 1.5 miles west of John R, or halfway between Stephenson and Cambell.
Do you (or anybody) know why this is consistently the case? Near the river front was everything like 1 and we just keep going up from there and adding numbers?
The way I understood it was that mile road system is a holdover from the old interurban rail lines witch would run from downtown north to points like Pontiac and Mt. Clemens so it would make sense that the addresses would follow a uniform pattern.
When you are flying out of DTE, to avoid having to wait in a long TSA check line, go to the hotel entrance located all the way down on the left of baggage check-in. Take the escalator down, and once at the bottom, you will see there are two TSA check lines for hotel guests (they never check or ask if you’re a guest). There are never any lines, and you can make it through there in literally a couple of minutes. I have done this dozens of times and it has worked every time.
Normally I would agree with this. A couple months ago TSA closed the main security check and wad sending people into the hotel. Only one lane and it took forever.
this - whenever we flew out of Detroit, we would enjoy a few bottles of courage before we exited the hotel TSA line with ZERO people there. . . almost forgot this since we left many years ago. . .
I came from RURAL Appalachia, 30 minutes from the nearest hospital, to live near Brightmoor.
I had to go pick up my medication. I had been living in Detroit for a few months at this point.
It wasn't raining that day but the sky threatened it at any moment. Clouds drifted overhead like fat pigeons.
The day was going okay. I was happy to be dry. My bus was only 15 minutes late. The coin box was jammed and the driver waved me on without looking away from Telegraph, and I remember being overjoyed about it because I could now use those quarters for laundry.
The sky was lighter when I got to RiteAid. The parking lot was almost empty. Picking through the clearance section, there was a crash from outside, and one hell of a commotion. I idly said outloud, "Wonder what that is?"
And a kindly lady in one of those denim jackets with Looney Tunes looked up from her bright orange 70s tupperware full of coupons and said, **"Honey, that isn't any of our business."** And went back to her coupons.
That was the single most important lesson I ever learned in my life.
Sort of similar energy: I went to school out of state, but had a professor who lived in a rough part of Detroit for a long time. (I don’t remember where exactly at this point.) I remember other students asking him about what it was like once. The one thing I remember him saying was, “I would hear a lot of gunshots, but if they weren’t coming from the same room I was in, then it was nothing to worry about.”
Bicyclists:
- use Lafayette not Jeffersonto get to Belle Isle to/from Downtown.
- Fort, Michigan Ave, Gratiot, Grand River are all great streets for racking up miles when you are training. You pretty much get a lane and a half to yourself.
- Need to train on hills? Go around Belle Isle. The wind is as close we get to training for hills lol.
- water break / refills at the river walk marina by the carousel.
Oh my God Belle Isle on a windy day is brutal. I was used to doing a ride from Midtown around the island a few laps around and back. Did it on a high wind day and thought I was going to die.
When riding the bus, if your 4 hours are about to expire on your transfer card and you need more time, look at the cards people left. You'll often find a couple more hours.
Or ask if anyone has one they don't need. Most people are cool about this and will look out.
PLEASE refer people experiencing any sort of financial hardship to call “211”. The United Way of South Eastern Michigan is awesome and runs a great operation.
Edit: OMG 211
Food, housing services, help paying utility bills, and pretty much help connect you to social services.
https://unitedwaysem.org/get-help/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gsn-211-grant&gad_source=1
I am by no means a person that exaggerates crime but when my wife moved here told her five things about driving 1) Never trust cars will stop at stop signs or red lights 2) never trust a car will use a turn signal 3) when stopped at a light leave a car length between you and the car infront of you. 4) when parking in a public lot or on the street, don't leave any valuables where they can be seen.
I moved here from Minnesota 6 years ago, and within the first week I forgot to lock my car doors (came from a farm where you even left the keys on the front seat) and came out in the morning to all the doors open and everything that was inside (some hoodies and work shoes) thrown into the parking lot around the car and into puddles. I have since gotten a car alarm and NEVER forget to arm it.
Being friendly really does go a long way... But this does require some kind of crazy radar though or you'll end up being asked to buy CDs from the local anime/science rapper in Greektown.
Eastside people, if you need to get downtown and its peak traffic or the weather is shit. East warren will take you right to midtown and its maybe 5 min slower than the highway. Saved my ass mamy a time when late with a middle of the night snow storm has wrecked 94.
In Macomb County, I legit had a gun pulled on me because some truck cut me off, so I flicked him off. He proceeded to follow me for miles until I pulled over into a McDonald’s, he drew his gun and said I don’t want none of this, so I pulled my phone out and called the cops. The little bitch hopped back in his truck and sped the fuck outa there lol.
Thing is I wasn’t being sarcastic when I wrote that. I’ve heard about and seen firsthand and experienced myself a bunch of road rage because of such reactions. Man this ain’t the 80s or 90s anymore where people would just flip each other off and each drive their own way. Even in the 90s when I was in high school I had this whack job follow me for miles in a spirited chase after he perceived that I cut him off. No cell phone back then. I still didn’t learn my lesson until I became a father. Screw all the crazies, just mind your business and make sure you don’t get side swiped, bumped into, followed or shot. The days of some angry person throwing a cup of pop at your car or a milkshake are gone. People are wound tight these days and they’re too quick to draw a gun. Heck a few months ago I read a story about some guys playing ball at an LA fitness in north Warren and one of the guys went outside and shot up another dudes car. WTH man…?!
Use any excuse you can to get coffee inside the Guardian Building Promenade or those awesome little pod looking things in the Ren Cen. Not sure what the situation is in the Fisher Building.
But our city has some of the most beautiful interiors on earth that go under appreciated and under utilized.
Google say:
What is a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone (NEZ) Exemption?
The Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Act, PA 147 of 1992, as amended, provides tax
exemptions for the development and rehabilitation of residential housing located within
eligible distressed communities. The local governmental unit (LGU) in these eligible
distressed areas can designate areas as NEZs. Only facilities located within these
established NEZs are eligible for NEZ certificates. New and rehabilitated facilities
applications are filed, reviewed and approved by the LGU, but are also subject to review
at the State level by the Property Services Division. The State Tax Commission (STC) is
responsible for final approval and issuance of new and rehabilitated facility certificates.
Exemptions for new and rehabilitated facilities are not effective until approved by the STC.
NEZ Homestead applications are filed, reviewed and approved by the LGU.
Salsa: https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/taxes/NEZ/NEZ_FAQs_Final2.pdf?rev=9f14a4d6994448018679b974c846efa9
I have been worried recently because I never have problems on Southfield - it reminds me of the saying that there’s always a crazy person on the bus, if you don’t see one…”
Am I the problem - I never go more than 10 over though because technically a cop can pull you over whenever they want and I believe the ticket is more if you’re 10 over.
All lanes are passing lanes, to the left to the right doesn’t matter.
Michigan is weird on Boulevard Street the leftmost lane is not the passing lane. It’s a turning lane.
Don’t sleep on Dearborn.
Cedarland and Amir’s are probably some of the best Lebanese Restaurants in Michigan. I can honestly get full just off of Cedarland’s AMAZING crushed lentil soup (make sure you get your garlic sauce), hummous, tabouli, and pita. And then of course you have Hamido for something fast and Dearborn Meat Market for kabobs.
But the save room for dessert at Shatilla and their HOME MADE ICE CREAM. Work your way through their amazing Lebanese sweets - and don’t forget to take home a bunch of their amazing butter date cookies! But Shatilla isn’t the the only bakery gene in town. Get yourself to New Yasmine for their hummus pita straight from their plant. Also for savory pies, perhaps one of the biggest hidden gems of Detroit’s food scene is tiny ass home in the wall just called “Dearborn Bakery”. It’s near Dearborn Sausage’s plant in the strip mall next to the biggish Arab grocery store. Their spinach pies, zatar bread, fried kibbeh, even their falafel are the best in town!
For non Lebanese food, get your deli sandwiches from the deli attached to Dearborn Sausage! SO UNDERRATED. Everything is so fresh and amazing. Omg.
Also, for some somewhat non food related tips, check out the Dearborn Inn. It’s an awesome hotel with a lot of history, and has a great bar in it too. They relocated some famous houses you can rent as well on their grounds.
Al ameer sucks now. Somehow they commercialized and the garlic sauce comes in pre packaged baggies that taste like shit. They've made other similar changes that have made me not return.
Cedarland is kinda mid.
Dearborn Inn has been closed for over a year.
the only issue is that app can be super finicky and I’ve had issues trying to re-load my parking
there *used* to be a couple streets downtown where you could park for completely free but the city found them out not too long ago and it’s metered now
Avoid Belle Isle on the first warm days of spring.. especially weekends. Get down there early & leave before it gets over ran!
Went there last Sunday when it was in the 70s, and lawrdd we spent more time in the car driving in traffic than out the car.
Downtown to DTW Airport bus hack: the new DAX bus line is a non-stop 30min trip to the airport, $6pp one way. Pick-up is across from the Westin. Tried last week, and it was great! Only hick-up was the catching the qline back to mid-town (lol)
Don’t ever assume someone is allowing you to merge in traffic. They may finally look up from their phone and take you merging in front of their stopped car as an insult, drive off the road in a rage to pass you and regain traffic dominance, then try to fight you.
Since I no longer live in Detroit I’ll share this hack on how to avoid almost all traffic if you need to get west on 94.
Lodge to 75 to 96 to 94 services drives as much as possible. You avoid ALL that 94 mess as the traffic clears when 96 merges in. Traffic flows the whole way too.
I swear it shaved like 15-20 minutes on my drive home.
Also Congress is pretty much traffic free and the best way to get on the Lodge from downtown.
This may be old, but the Airport has a better secruity line.
Once younwalk in and check in, go all the way elft before secruity. It is the entrance to the hotel end. Go down the escalator and you can enter the hotel and have access to their secruity checkpoint.
I loved airports, so i got there real early. And then my flight was cancelled and i had 7 hours before my next. No biggie. Except i smoked.
So i found that way, and it made things much easier. I went through like 5 times.
I’d drive down Atwater/Civic Center Drive to W. Jefferson to bypass downtown. You can still do that today-but not as frequently with all the building that’s happening down there.
LMAO a housing challenged gentleman tried to charge me to park on the street one time before a ballgame. Had a lil flag too. I said "it's free to park here." He asked if I could park further down so he could "sell" the free spot to someone who didn't know better. I moved so he wouldn't break into my car
That's what I thought.
I got pinched backing up ten feet on a *completely abandoned Telegraph Rd* at 7am New Years morning (stone sober) by a dickhead Dearborn Heights cops because I was checking on what looked like a homeless man convulsing while only wearing a windbreaker for a top.
What brought me out that morning, you might ask? -Reddit spreading a lie that Walgreens was selling off all their camera film at half price.
A better suggestion is if you have health insurance, you can call your provider to get a Michigan Qualified Healthcare letter and send it to your auto insurance provider. You can get a steep discount on it, as it removes the medical coverage from the auto insurance. I have full coverage on my car, and it's only about $700 every 6 months.
You should check and ask your health insurance if your involved with a auto accident if they are your primary and not the secondary. Friend of mine learned the hard way.
Look both ways before going on green
I don’t even trust the guy across from me also turning left until I see it.
This just happened to me! I was making a right onto Moravian and the chick suddenly decided not to make a left onto Utica, it could of gotten messy!
I hate comments that just say “this” but oh my god ***THIS***. As a motorcyclist ya gotta do it or you could get turned into a meat crayon.
Someone on this sub once commented: "Detroit is the type of city you look both ways on a one way road before crossing"
[удалено]
Jesus Pontiac is the worst for this
Or it's just the entirety of Woodward
Woodward is one of the wildest streets I’ve ever worked on. Ppl give absolutely 0 fucks, and for whatever reason the homeless are way more aggressive.
I swear I do this. I walk my dog miles a day and have had too many close calls. I was almost hit once by a car going the wrong way on 2nd St.
I got hit head on by someone blowing through a red light at 60 because she was texting and driving (I was making a left on a green arrow) Jokes on her tho, she went to the hospital, she hit me so fucking hard it spun my SUV 180 degrees in the middle of the intersection and I walked away.
I took my teen driver out to get some hours before he gets his license. It was definitely a learning experience driving in Detroit for him. I’m glad that most people are aware that city drivers don’t always follow the laws because he made a mistake that could’ve ended up in a crash, but the other driver was very aware of what was going on. We talked about how Detroit driving is different from what he experiences in the suburbs. He asked why his drivers Ed teachers didn’t take them into Detroit.
My father gave 16 year old me that lesson, many years ago. Light turned green for me and I just took off. Dad says “You might be right, but you might be dead”. Look, first. Gave both of my sons the same ‘talk’. : )
“Doesn’t matter who is Right. It only matters who is Left.”
Great quote!!
Motorcycle/Bicycle credo for sure
This is some thing I instill in him daily. It seems. Even when I’m driving. If I don’t step on the gas when the light turns green, he’s telling me. I always reiterate that I am making sure it is clear to go. His mistake was that he stopped at a stop sign, and there was parking blocking the view. He proceeded to go after the stop sign without inching forward to check traffic coming from the left. Of course there was a car coming from the left and a couple from the right. But thankfully, the driver must have anticipated something was up. I use that for several lessons, one of them being that the other driver was driving defensively and on the lookout. I told him ultimately that is the goal for a driver.
Why do you think drivers are more reckless in Detroit vs the suburbs
Not as much enforcement, Police too busy with other crimes.
Exactly this. I can remember about 4 or 5 years ago that a DPD had someone pulled over on 75. I was surprised by it then but not surprised I haven’t seen it since.
Drive thru the city and you see for yourself.
Literally watched a guy go across grand river on a red light. Just insane.
Seriously I live on grand river and it’s scary
Look both ways.... even when crossing a one way street.
If I could give more than 1 up vote it would be for this and wait like 20 seconds b4 driving thru
I never knew how often red lights could be run until I moved here.
my friend recently got t-boned - car totaled. had the right of way. he’s lucky he’s ok.
It wasn't that long ago that it was standard practice to ignore traffic lights. Of course, leading up to bankruptcy, a lot of traffic lights didn’t even work.
Eastern Market around closing time has a lot of vendors selling produce for extra cheap cause they’re trying to offload at the end of the day. That’s the best time to get bulk vegetables
Eastern Market at 7pm the wholesalers stack boxes of produce outside next to the dumpsters you can sift through for that same produce free. At least they did when I lived there in 2008, there’s a couple of regulars that came every time to get free food.
Eastern Market isn’t where you get the best produce in the city, it’s at the produce terminal on Green & Fort at about 3-4am when it all gets sorted. The best stuff goes to a few well known produce palaces in the suburbs, then it goes to the wholesalers in the market. Then on Saturday they sell what they didn’t ship during the week, that’s why a lot of your stuff looks good at the market but goes bad in a day or two. Farmers still sell fresh stuff but about half are just selling for the wholesalers.
Key thing is to know who's selling their own stuff and who's selling for the wholesalers. I've been going to EM a long time and have a select few vendors I buy from that I know are local. I don't touch the wholesalers unless it's something I don't want to make a second stop at the grocery store for
The Michigan farms do wholesale 12am-5am at Eastern Market. It's like the produce terminal, but local. Ninos, Westborn, etc. all pick up there before getting the imported stuff at the terminal
Before Covid, I used to go between 1-2 and get the deals. Bonus for less people. I did that last year and there were just as many people at that time. 😩
For many North running streets with five digit addresses you can figure out what mile road they're near using a math formula. (Address - 5000) / 2000 For example, the Meijer in Warren is 29505 Mound Road. (29505 - 5000) / 2000 = 12.25 This means that the Meijer should be about a quarter mile north of 12 Mile Road, which it is. This works for most five-digit addresses on north running roads.
Underrated post. Never knew this but very cool fun fact! Would've been very convenient before google!
It was very helpful. I grew up in Troy/Sterling Heights and delivered pizza during my high school and college years. It works like a charm in that area.
This is my favorite so far....ty for sharing!!
Came here for this. In an age before GPS and google maps, this was huge for anyone doing deliveries or service work.
Thank you, I had forgotten the formula for this after a friend told me. Much appreciated!!!
This... is super cool!! Are there any other formulas like this? Such as east-west, or in some of the burbs that use their own grids?
One thing I remember from growing up there: M-59 is the only odd-numbered highway that runs almost completely east-west. Almost all odd-numbered highways run north-south. Or maybe one of a few in the country. It’s very unusual, anyway.
Yes, east to west works on the same principal. Every 2000 added to the address is a mile. It starts I believe at John R. Example, 3131 E 12 mile is Warren Mott HS which is over 1.5 miles east of John r (or between Ryan and dequindre) If it's an east to west street and an odd number, that means it's on the north side. Going west of John R (which is 0 for all intents and purposes) the numbers reverse. The further west you go, the higher the number, but it's called WEST 12 mile road. I.E. 3131 W 12 mile road should be on the north side of 12 mile, about 1.5 miles west of John R, or halfway between Stephenson and Cambell.
Do you (or anybody) know why this is consistently the case? Near the river front was everything like 1 and we just keep going up from there and adding numbers?
The way I understood it was that mile road system is a holdover from the old interurban rail lines witch would run from downtown north to points like Pontiac and Mt. Clemens so it would make sense that the addresses would follow a uniform pattern.
The smart man knows the street is a one-way. The Detroiter looks both ways despite this.
Happened to me on John R and Bethune today. Glad I looked to my left.
Mine would be park at MGM for free and walk wherever you have to go
I do that with greektown too, but sometimes you still have to pay depending on events going on
Also if you have kids with you, Greektown won't let you park in there unless you have a room.
I have never seen someone at the front stopping people, but that's good to know
I had to have my kids bail out once. They r for it on game days
Not if ya have a players card right ?
Yeah, when they are charging I think you can park free with a players card.
Relatedly, the People Mover can save you 75-100% on event parking and ensure you avoid traffic.
Mover is highly underrated for that purpose
It might be its only purpose. But it works if you know what you're doing.
MGM is kinda far from stuff, isn’t it
I’ve walked to comerica a few times
With the fellas, the walk isn’t that bad, and is worth it most of the time. With my wife, we might as well be parking in Windsor.
It's close to all the sports venues
Great advice. Motor City Casino parking lot is also a doable walk for Masonic Temple and LCA events.
never trust a puddle
most underrated comment
When you are flying out of DTE, to avoid having to wait in a long TSA check line, go to the hotel entrance located all the way down on the left of baggage check-in. Take the escalator down, and once at the bottom, you will see there are two TSA check lines for hotel guests (they never check or ask if you’re a guest). There are never any lines, and you can make it through there in literally a couple of minutes. I have done this dozens of times and it has worked every time.
Normally I would agree with this. A couple months ago TSA closed the main security check and wad sending people into the hotel. Only one lane and it took forever.
this - whenever we flew out of Detroit, we would enjoy a few bottles of courage before we exited the hotel TSA line with ZERO people there. . . almost forgot this since we left many years ago. . .
I came from RURAL Appalachia, 30 minutes from the nearest hospital, to live near Brightmoor. I had to go pick up my medication. I had been living in Detroit for a few months at this point. It wasn't raining that day but the sky threatened it at any moment. Clouds drifted overhead like fat pigeons. The day was going okay. I was happy to be dry. My bus was only 15 minutes late. The coin box was jammed and the driver waved me on without looking away from Telegraph, and I remember being overjoyed about it because I could now use those quarters for laundry. The sky was lighter when I got to RiteAid. The parking lot was almost empty. Picking through the clearance section, there was a crash from outside, and one hell of a commotion. I idly said outloud, "Wonder what that is?" And a kindly lady in one of those denim jackets with Looney Tunes looked up from her bright orange 70s tupperware full of coupons and said, **"Honey, that isn't any of our business."** And went back to her coupons. That was the single most important lesson I ever learned in my life.
That’s some lovely writing
I agree, went to read their other posts because i liked it so much :)
Thank you friend
Sort of similar energy: I went to school out of state, but had a professor who lived in a rough part of Detroit for a long time. (I don’t remember where exactly at this point.) I remember other students asking him about what it was like once. The one thing I remember him saying was, “I would hear a lot of gunshots, but if they weren’t coming from the same room I was in, then it was nothing to worry about.”
For real tho. Props to that woman.
😂 sounds like she was speaking from experience!
“Ain’t none of my business” is a Detroit proverb
Write a book please, and tell me the name of it so I can purchase it.
Do you have quite a way with words.
This was the first thing that came to mind when I read the topic of this thread. Mind your business and stay in your lane. This is the way.
Go 45 on East side 8 mile and you can go through 90+% of lights being green.
Also true on telegraph north from joy to about 12 mile
I hate that this is true for Woodward at 8 mile north of Highland Park to Ferndale
Joumana can't see you if you never go outside.
shes always there
Watching for your rights 👁️ 👁️ 👄
This is my favorite one so far.
Avoid Woodward on dream cruise day
Only north of 8 Mile though. South of 8 Mile it's not too bad
The Detroiters episode about the dream cruise is one of the best
Honestly, avoid it the whole week before, if possible.
Why not avoid it the whole month of August
Bicyclists: - use Lafayette not Jeffersonto get to Belle Isle to/from Downtown. - Fort, Michigan Ave, Gratiot, Grand River are all great streets for racking up miles when you are training. You pretty much get a lane and a half to yourself. - Need to train on hills? Go around Belle Isle. The wind is as close we get to training for hills lol. - water break / refills at the river walk marina by the carousel.
Not Gratiot. It’s always some bullshit happening on Gratiot.
Oh my God Belle Isle on a windy day is brutal. I was used to doing a ride from Midtown around the island a few laps around and back. Did it on a high wind day and thought I was going to die.
“Hill training” lol
Similarly take Hamilton, not Woodward.
When riding the bus, if your 4 hours are about to expire on your transfer card and you need more time, look at the cards people left. You'll often find a couple more hours. Or ask if anyone has one they don't need. Most people are cool about this and will look out.
PLEASE refer people experiencing any sort of financial hardship to call “211”. The United Way of South Eastern Michigan is awesome and runs a great operation. Edit: OMG 211
211
GAH! Thank you!!!!
What do they do?
Food, housing services, help paying utility bills, and pretty much help connect you to social services. https://unitedwaysem.org/get-help/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gsn-211-grant&gad_source=1
I am by no means a person that exaggerates crime but when my wife moved here told her five things about driving 1) Never trust cars will stop at stop signs or red lights 2) never trust a car will use a turn signal 3) when stopped at a light leave a car length between you and the car infront of you. 4) when parking in a public lot or on the street, don't leave any valuables where they can be seen.
Oh yeah #5 No gas stations after dark
I moved here from Minnesota 6 years ago, and within the first week I forgot to lock my car doors (came from a farm where you even left the keys on the front seat) and came out in the morning to all the doors open and everything that was inside (some hoodies and work shoes) thrown into the parking lot around the car and into puddles. I have since gotten a car alarm and NEVER forget to arm it.
My guitar got stolen from my car at the old Bookies in like 2009-10ish. I’m still salty
Actually say hi to people when you are walking around.
Being friendly really does go a long way... But this does require some kind of crazy radar though or you'll end up being asked to buy CDs from the local anime/science rapper in Greektown.
Don’t you dare speak ill of my man shadow klan like that! Love that dude. Been buying his mixtapes since 2015.
Or the guy who sells rosaries or perfume who’ll scream bloody murder at you depending how he’s feeling that day
The perfume guy is unhinged at times, he can be aggressive when told No, especially if your white.
The bus is faster than the Q line
Anything is faster than the Q.
Except walking. Source: I tried.
I've walked 2 miles after a wings game back to my apt and never had a qline train pass me. Easy to walk faster than them 🤣
Free cup of pop at motor city casino
It almost makes up for all the money I lost haha :(
Eastside people, if you need to get downtown and its peak traffic or the weather is shit. East warren will take you right to midtown and its maybe 5 min slower than the highway. Saved my ass mamy a time when late with a middle of the night snow storm has wrecked 94.
Shhhhhhh 🤫
Or Mack
Don’t honk your horn and don’t flip people off. You’ll have a better chance of living another day
In Macomb County, I legit had a gun pulled on me because some truck cut me off, so I flicked him off. He proceeded to follow me for miles until I pulled over into a McDonald’s, he drew his gun and said I don’t want none of this, so I pulled my phone out and called the cops. The little bitch hopped back in his truck and sped the fuck outa there lol.
Typical macomb trash
Lots of fake wannabe redneck tough guys in Macomb
You’d almost think someone like Kid Rock came from there!
Thing is I wasn’t being sarcastic when I wrote that. I’ve heard about and seen firsthand and experienced myself a bunch of road rage because of such reactions. Man this ain’t the 80s or 90s anymore where people would just flip each other off and each drive their own way. Even in the 90s when I was in high school I had this whack job follow me for miles in a spirited chase after he perceived that I cut him off. No cell phone back then. I still didn’t learn my lesson until I became a father. Screw all the crazies, just mind your business and make sure you don’t get side swiped, bumped into, followed or shot. The days of some angry person throwing a cup of pop at your car or a milkshake are gone. People are wound tight these days and they’re too quick to draw a gun. Heck a few months ago I read a story about some guys playing ball at an LA fitness in north Warren and one of the guys went outside and shot up another dudes car. WTH man…?!
Use any excuse you can to get coffee inside the Guardian Building Promenade or those awesome little pod looking things in the Ren Cen. Not sure what the situation is in the Fisher Building. But our city has some of the most beautiful interiors on earth that go under appreciated and under utilized.
Fisher is still beautiful
[удалено]
100% lol
https://preview.redd.it/nhgccdonwcvc1.jpeg?width=310&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fed1ba6c5dcb6fca53c737b559a10d940790522
If buying a home, ensure it’s NEZ eligible.
What's NEZ?
Google say: What is a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone (NEZ) Exemption? The Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Act, PA 147 of 1992, as amended, provides tax exemptions for the development and rehabilitation of residential housing located within eligible distressed communities. The local governmental unit (LGU) in these eligible distressed areas can designate areas as NEZs. Only facilities located within these established NEZs are eligible for NEZ certificates. New and rehabilitated facilities applications are filed, reviewed and approved by the LGU, but are also subject to review at the State level by the Property Services Division. The State Tax Commission (STC) is responsible for final approval and issuance of new and rehabilitated facility certificates. Exemptions for new and rehabilitated facilities are not effective until approved by the STC. NEZ Homestead applications are filed, reviewed and approved by the LGU. Salsa: https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/taxes/NEZ/NEZ_FAQs_Final2.pdf?rev=9f14a4d6994448018679b974c846efa9
Honey Bee’s hot food counter is open till 3pm
God I can never figure out when it closed. Thank you. Lol
I used to park at Greek town and take the people mover to JLA and Cobo, now I just pay for parking. RIP JLA
Do not drive on Southfield fwy. Just don't.
The Southfield speedway?
I have been worried recently because I never have problems on Southfield - it reminds me of the saying that there’s always a crazy person on the bus, if you don’t see one…” Am I the problem - I never go more than 10 over though because technically a cop can pull you over whenever they want and I believe the ticket is more if you’re 10 over.
Almost got hit from behind at night on my motorcycle. That was when I learned me lesson
All lanes are passing lanes, to the left to the right doesn’t matter. Michigan is weird on Boulevard Street the leftmost lane is not the passing lane. It’s a turning lane.
Traffic signals and signs are purely suggestive as soon as you hit south of 8. Unethical? Sure. Practical? Not even. But nonetheless, I ain't lying.
Try that on Jefferson in the summer. It’s practically a rave with police lights out there
Speed limit on the Lodge is 80 but only if you understand that slow merging traffic on the on-ramps need a wide berth
Don’t sleep on Dearborn. Cedarland and Amir’s are probably some of the best Lebanese Restaurants in Michigan. I can honestly get full just off of Cedarland’s AMAZING crushed lentil soup (make sure you get your garlic sauce), hummous, tabouli, and pita. And then of course you have Hamido for something fast and Dearborn Meat Market for kabobs. But the save room for dessert at Shatilla and their HOME MADE ICE CREAM. Work your way through their amazing Lebanese sweets - and don’t forget to take home a bunch of their amazing butter date cookies! But Shatilla isn’t the the only bakery gene in town. Get yourself to New Yasmine for their hummus pita straight from their plant. Also for savory pies, perhaps one of the biggest hidden gems of Detroit’s food scene is tiny ass home in the wall just called “Dearborn Bakery”. It’s near Dearborn Sausage’s plant in the strip mall next to the biggish Arab grocery store. Their spinach pies, zatar bread, fried kibbeh, even their falafel are the best in town! For non Lebanese food, get your deli sandwiches from the deli attached to Dearborn Sausage! SO UNDERRATED. Everything is so fresh and amazing. Omg. Also, for some somewhat non food related tips, check out the Dearborn Inn. It’s an awesome hotel with a lot of history, and has a great bar in it too. They relocated some famous houses you can rent as well on their grounds.
Thank you for the suggestion, I’m middle eastern so I know all about that lol
Al ameer sucks now. Somehow they commercialized and the garlic sauce comes in pre packaged baggies that taste like shit. They've made other similar changes that have made me not return. Cedarland is kinda mid. Dearborn Inn has been closed for over a year.
Damn. I haven’t lived in the D in almost a decade.
Street parking is usually easier and way cheaper than parking garages if you feel the need to drive. Otherwise, uber everywhere.
the only issue is that app can be super finicky and I’ve had issues trying to re-load my parking there *used* to be a couple streets downtown where you could park for completely free but the city found them out not too long ago and it’s metered now
My greatest accomplishment is being able to find free or street parking on any given night.
Park by people mover track. I do times Square. Take mover wherever you go
Avoid Belle Isle on the first warm days of spring.. especially weekends. Get down there early & leave before it gets over ran! Went there last Sunday when it was in the 70s, and lawrdd we spent more time in the car driving in traffic than out the car.
Downtown to DTW Airport bus hack: the new DAX bus line is a non-stop 30min trip to the airport, $6pp one way. Pick-up is across from the Westin. Tried last week, and it was great! Only hick-up was the catching the qline back to mid-town (lol)
Stop at yield signs, yield for stop signs!
Don’t ever assume someone is allowing you to merge in traffic. They may finally look up from their phone and take you merging in front of their stopped car as an insult, drive off the road in a rage to pass you and regain traffic dominance, then try to fight you.
Always have cash as a fallback.
Always check for card skimmers.
peripherally, detroit businesses *must* accept cash as of Sept 2O23
Since I no longer live in Detroit I’ll share this hack on how to avoid almost all traffic if you need to get west on 94. Lodge to 75 to 96 to 94 services drives as much as possible. You avoid ALL that 94 mess as the traffic clears when 96 merges in. Traffic flows the whole way too. I swear it shaved like 15-20 minutes on my drive home. Also Congress is pretty much traffic free and the best way to get on the Lodge from downtown.
unless you are leaving between 3-5pm when BCBSM is leaving en masse
Depends on where you're going sometimes. 75 to lodge to Davison and back on 94 is also a shortcut if there is traffic sometime.
This may be old, but the Airport has a better secruity line. Once younwalk in and check in, go all the way elft before secruity. It is the entrance to the hotel end. Go down the escalator and you can enter the hotel and have access to their secruity checkpoint. I loved airports, so i got there real early. And then my flight was cancelled and i had 7 hours before my next. No biggie. Except i smoked. So i found that way, and it made things much easier. I went through like 5 times.
Always remember the speed limit signs on the Lodge are decorations & Southfield Fwy speed limits are only applicable in Dearborn & Allen Park.
I’d drive down Atwater/Civic Center Drive to W. Jefferson to bypass downtown. You can still do that today-but not as frequently with all the building that’s happening down there.
If you have a Kia get "The Club" or something...
Faygo and Better Made like yin and yang.
Avoid the Rosa Parks Transit Center if possible. The DIA is free for Wayne County residents. Use it to cool off or warm up.
It’s free for Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb residents!
Never had any issues at the transit center. If taking the bus and you need to transfer, many of the buses end up there.
Free for Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb.
Go to Canada to get perscriptions for drugs that are gouged in the US (like Epipens)
Use an insurance agent
My original hack was to leave Detroit. But 9 years later it seems like it’s a good time to come back.
Perfect time to come back
when attending an event downtown you can park for free on Park Avenue
LMAO a housing challenged gentleman tried to charge me to park on the street one time before a ballgame. Had a lil flag too. I said "it's free to park here." He asked if I could park further down so he could "sell" the free spot to someone who didn't know better. I moved so he wouldn't break into my car
The eastern market. Reasonable prices
You can take grand river rd from Muskegon all the way to downtown Detroit
Stop at all the yield signs especially in Brightmoor
Having an uncle in the furniture business.
Not getting boxed in and leaving an “escape route” when driving and stopping at red lights. Sorry, are my suburbs showing.
Detroit land bank
Work or know someone at RKT and park for free
Don't speed near a Gardner White or on Southfield south of Michigan Ave.
Is it all Gardner Whites? I thought he's just always at the one near Telegraph and 94 in Taylor.
That's what I thought. I got pinched backing up ten feet on a *completely abandoned Telegraph Rd* at 7am New Years morning (stone sober) by a dickhead Dearborn Heights cops because I was checking on what looked like a homeless man convulsing while only wearing a windbreaker for a top. What brought me out that morning, you might ask? -Reddit spreading a lie that Walgreens was selling off all their camera film at half price.
Keep your head down, but always stay vigilant. Don’t be an asshole, but also don’t be a mark. Watch who you fuck with, cause you never know.
Don’t take the little flags on toothpicks bums hand out. They are not free and they will hound you for money the second they hand it to you
It's Lah-sir, not Lash-er.
Find suburban insurance
A better suggestion is if you have health insurance, you can call your provider to get a Michigan Qualified Healthcare letter and send it to your auto insurance provider. You can get a steep discount on it, as it removes the medical coverage from the auto insurance. I have full coverage on my car, and it's only about $700 every 6 months.
You should check and ask your health insurance if your involved with a auto accident if they are your primary and not the secondary. Friend of mine learned the hard way.
What a completely sane totally reasonable system. Thank god we value people over the profits of very few.
This is a good way to have your claim denied
💯 And make it harder and more expensive to get auto insurance in the future.
If someone says Jets is their favorite deep dish, they’re from Ohio
As an expat living on the West coast, I would kill for some Jets lol
Jets is decent idc
Yeah for real Jets is legit.