Detroit is losing some of its history. Graffiti history.
Ray Mock writes in Vice:
I was shocked when I drove through Detroit earlier this year. Throughout much of the city, the buff had advanced like an unstoppable disease. Blotchy gray, white, and brown stains of paint covered up almost every bit of graffiti in sight. Even side streets and back alleys all the way out to 8 Mile Road, the city's famed northern boundary, were covered in fresh coats of buff paint. What happened?
He mentions Mayor Mike Duggan's aggressive anti-graffiti campaign, which includes fining businesses. He goes on to write:
From the point of view of many residents and property owners, the eradication of graffiti may be a sign of Detroit's much-touted rebirth, but for many writers it spells the end of an incredible cycle of creativity. Not long ago, Detroit was considered by many to be the graffiti capital of the US, and perhaps the world—a vast playground with a near-unlimited supply of walls where writers could paint undisturbed in broad daylight.
In 2014, the Detroit News reported Duggan saying: "I hate graffiti."
We first saw the Vice story in Metro Times.
