My wife and I are traveling to the US around Christmas, first staying a couple of nights at Sonder Gabriel Richard in Downtown Detroit before heading on to NYC. We were initially unbothered by what we considered overblown and outdated stereotypes about the area.
Now my wife is hearing from coworkers and family, including family who live in Detroit, about the grave danger she’s in if she stays in downtown.I’m irritated by the anxiety these people have spawned out of nothing. Maybe I’m naive but my gut still says that they’re blowing things out of proportion, and at worst it’s a little seedy around there.
Would any locals like to comment on how poor a choice we made staying in downtown Detroit as first time travellers to the US? We’re Australian if that matters somehow.
Detroit isn’t Britain. Any thugs there would have easy access to firearms, and no need to stab.
Well I’d much rather be shot than stabbed, given the choice, I suppose.
Downtown Detroit is perfectly safe and filled with lots of fun things to do both during the day and at night. The worst that will likely happen is that a homeless person will ask you for money while sitting harmlessly on the street. This can happen in any major city, tho. Stick to downtown and stay out of the Detroit neighborhoods and you’ll be fine. There is nothing touristy to do in the neighborhoods so you’ll have no reason to go into them.
Pretty much everything negative people say about Detroit is the typical overblown pearl clutching. As for your family that lives in Detroit… Do they actually live in Detroit or one of the suburbs? Because that will be most telling. Most people that live in the metro Detroit area will say they’re from Detroit because it’s easier to explain than being from Clinton Township or Troy… And suburbanites can be snobby about Detroit in general. I fully agree with your gut feelings and they are spot on.
As for a comment for your first time traveling to the US… I’m delighted you chose Detroit and I’m hopeful you will have a blast while here! Detroit has awesome culinary, music, and art scenes and there is something here for everyone!
This.
Detroit is a large city, and crime that’s reported gets associated with the city as a whole rather than the individual neighborhoods where it actually occurs. You wouldn’t be afraid to get a hotel in Brisbane’s city center because of violence in the Valley, would you?
You’ll be fine, but do be careful walking around, just as you would in any foreign city. And if you get scared, give me a call and I’ll try to come get you.
If you have wheels and are a bit of a foodie, I recommend Detroit Shipping Company. If you’re in town over Christmas, Campus Martius is fun.
Yeah, I’m truly not expecting anything I would expect from cities here other than supermarkets that stay open after sunset. Made this post in the spirit of due diligence in case I’m being overly optimistic, but mainly to compile some retorts to the things my wife keeps hearing that damn near convinced her to call this off.
Thanks for the recommendations! The Christmas market wasn’t on our radar at all, but I’m keeping it on mine.
Campus Martius at Christmastime has an outdoor ice rink and the markets include a tent where you can play table games with the family while having a warm drink.
I’m guessing their friends live in Macomb Twp.
Thank you! I mean, there are “dangerous areas” where I live too, where the reality is you have maybe a one in a million chance of something awful happening, as opposed to the one in two million you’re used to. When I became an independent teen and actually spent time in all these areas my parents had described so derisively, it all just boiled down to lower median income, higher proportion of disadvantaged people drawn to cheaper housing, and a greater chance that someone’s going to ask you for spare change.
My wife’s extended family lives in Canton, so I think it’s fair to say they do live in Detroit, but also that their opinions of downtown are informed by something they heard. Maybe “that one thing” they heard happened years ago. Who knows.
I’m actually really glad we’re working Detroit into this trip too, and it’s partly because I want to see first hand how distorted everyone’s perception here is. Everyone here seems to have an opinion on this trip, and they all make that 😬 face about Detroit. Definitely keen to hit up the museums, art institute, and whatever else we can before jetting out.
Alright, so I love your attitude and your going to fit in just fine in the D. As for your wife’s family, Canton is closer to Ann Arbor than it is Detroit so I chuckled a bit when you named their city. Have a great time and let us know how you end up spending your time in our fair city!
Yeah, Canton is not Detroit. Eight miles north of there you’ll see 8 Mile Road in Northville, but despite the fact that it’s the same name and an extension of the same road, it’s just not the (in)famous “8 Mile” that it is closer to town.
My wife forbids saying that we live in Detroit. I instead tell people that we’re from (south-east) Michigan.
I saw your post in two different places so I am also adding my comment here:
I currently live in Detroit and have lived in several different areas within the city, including downtown. The area you’re staying in is safe.
Within a few blocks of you are high end restaurants and bars, hotels, the winter market and Christmas tree, and stores (including Gucci and and Shinoa) and a heavily guarded FBI building is visible from your hotel.
You’re staying not far from where major events have taken place including the NFL draft as well as large music festivals which have attracted millions of people to the city, in addition to the regular sports games that bring in tourism. Downtown has very much shifted to cater towards visitors and getting people to stay and spend money.
As others have said, midtown also has a lot to offer including the DIA. Eastern Market can be fun on the weekends but in the winter it’s less active. The surrounding metro area also has things like Greenfield Village and the Ford museum depending on what kinds of things you’re interested in.
Will you see homeless folks and potentially asked if you have spare change? Yes, it’s a bigger city in America. Will you be attacked by exploring the downtown area? No.
If you want any specific recommendations please let me know and I’d be happy to help.
https://cityofdetroit.github.io/crime-viewer/
You can go as far back as the 70’s. That shows reported crimes in Detroit. Best used on desktop browser.
Detroit is as dangerous as any other typical metropolitan area in the US. Follow average safety advisory like when traveling to any foreign country.
Love this, cheers. Bookmarked for the next irritating conversation with an uninformed busy body.
Detroit is not as bad as it used to be; not as good as you want it to be. I wouldn’t walk in residential or underpass areas at night, but around the business downtown area, especially the stadiums and theaters, it’s usually a pretty lively area during days, and especially during events.
If you ever need to go somewhere and there’s sketchy parks or whatever in between, we do have Uber/Lyft like any other major city, and that’s a very safe way to travel.
Oh and indeed we will be ubering, if only because our time there is so limited and I don’t wanna waste it travelling between places of interest. Gotta sit down and make a simplified chart of crime stats comparing Detroit and Sydney or something.
Jesus Christ. No, it’s unlikely anyone will stab your wife. I’ve lived in the city for five years, and zero people have crossed me.
If you don’t mess with anybody, nobody will mess with you here. Just be kind, treat people like people, and folks tend to give that same energy back. Detroiters are good people.
Kinda figured that most violent conflict starts with some kind of instigation. Don’t fight people and they won’t fight you. What a concept! Thanks for your input.
Thugs? Why not just use the N word with the hard R next time? You should probably just stay out of Detroit if you are afraid of us unevolved degenerates that will stab you. Shit, stay out of fucking Michigan.
Also, who has time for knives? You’ll get shot before you get stabbed. You seem like you would enjoy Toledo more anyway.
