Before ending a Detroit Auto Show junket, New Hampshire wrier Michael Conrad posts a second tribute to "a city that is working hard to change and to make change."
The first-time visitor snapped the above view from the Marriott Renaissance Center, where he and other technology bloggers stayed during an "Experience Buick" promotion. His Tuesday post addresses critics of Sunday comments (below) about touring downtown and Midtown highlights with Jeanette Pierce of Detroit Experience Factory:
Some of the comments I saw on my first piece was that I didn’t see all of Detroit. Listen, I know Detroit has abandoned buildings, they have their tough areas and have had some hard times over the past few years.
I also see a city that is working hard to change and to make change. . . . It’s not the billionaires and millionaires that change a city, it’s the communities within the city that make the biggest impact.
Neighborhood by neighborhood, the changes can come slowly. But spending money that was made by working in Detroit at local Detroit companies will do wonders.
I am actually looking forward to coming back to Detroit later this spring. Perhaps the parts of Detroit I saw will continue to spread and help rebuild Detroit!
Original article, Sunday night:
Automakers aren't the only ones who can savor the warm glow of national media hugs this week.
The host city is embraced Sunday by a New England travel and technology writer who's among bloggers on an "Experience Buick" free ride for media previews Monday and Tuesday at the North American International Auto Show.
Michael Conrad: "I was amazed at the growth and rebuilding of Detroit." (Twitter photo)
Michael Conrad of Pelham, N.H., acknowledges low expectations about his first visit here:
When I received the e-mail from Buick about attending the North American International Auto Show, my first thought was, “Detroit in January?” . . . I expected an old school mill town with not a lot going on.
Let me tell you, I was wrong!
Conrad and other guests took a Sunday tour led by Jeanette Pierce of Detrot Experience Factory (DXF), a nearly year-old spin-off from D:hive. They visited the College for Creative Studies, Shinola, The Z garage, Two James Spirits, Selden Standard and The Ghost Bar atop the Whitney Restaurant.
The New Hampshire guest is so smitten he sprinkles 11 exclamation points like confetti throughout his post.
I was amazed at the growth and rebuilding of Detroit. With every corner we took, there was a story about a new local company or renovation going on. . . .
It was pretty cool to talk to the employees [at Shinola] and hear their success story. . . .
It’s buildings and renovations like the Z, the Guardian Building, and passionate people like Jeanette that I believe will put Detroit back on the map! . . . I am actually really looking forward to seeing more of Detroit!
-- Alan Stamm
Related coverage at Deadline:
Auto Show Is 'Chance to Join the Cheering Section' for a Reborn Detroit, Jan. 4
