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01/11/2005 Archived Entry: "Where is Detroit?"
Where is Detroit?
Being the snow wimp I am, I turn on the Weather Channel this morning to check out how the commute into the city will be with the snow falling. Ooooh. I hear that they will be broadcasting live from Detroit. Great. This will be helpful. Only - the reporter is in Madison Heights reporting on conditions. Madison Heights is about 20 minutes to the North. Oh wait - he promises a live shot from the city. Excellent. Only - it's from Southfield, to the West of the city.
Where indeed is Detroit? Does this not exemplify the failure of the topoi? No fixed placed for Detroit. It moves. It's chora. It's digital: speculative. We can only speculate, conditionalize its location.
Unless you live there, of course, Then the question is: where are you? In the encounter. . .
Replies: 4 comments
Couple of barely-relateds: S. of Eight Mile and E. of Telegraph to Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River made up Detroit proper back when I pounded claims all around the metro. Curious about the name change from East Detroit to Eastpointe (where my brother lives). Guess it used to house many municipal employees, now who knows. Also recall distinctive (and pejorative) labels on Hazel-tucky and Taylor-tucky.
Posted by Derek @ 01/12/2005 07:41 PM EST
I don't know when the usage "Greater Detroit" (or Cleveland or Chicago) developed, but most urban areas are blurred now into the city itself and its nearby slurbs. I've noticed locally that some people from San Jose list "San Francisco" in their profiles because they think SF has more immediate recognition. Fewer people "know the way to San Jose."
I did a paper in grad school on a paradox in radio traffic reporting in the SF Bay area. While in general, radio would try to reach a broad audience, when doing traffic reports they used place names that only experienced commuters would understand (e.g., "hospital curve" and Caldecott Tunnel). In a sense, this works efficiently--if you are a commuter, you know the spots where the jam ups are and you know what the reports refer to. If you're not a commuter, it doesn't matter.
But your experience is different because camera placement isn't as fungible as language. So you are getting local information that isn't the local you are looking for. The image could decieve where the word would not.
Posted by John @ 01/11/2005 09:07 PM EST
Yo "tired"
My point exactly. That's what makes it so interesting.
Posted by jeff @ 01/11/2005 05:48 PM EST
this written by a man who lives in ferndale.
what is it with you rhet comp people and your "writing" the city of choice?
detroit isn't spectral. there used to be a station in downtown detroit owned by the banks family before it was sold to cbs - wgpr. they have still have a radio station - 107.5
top of the topoi to ya!
Posted by tired yet game... @ 01/11/2005 05:45 PM EST