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Johnny Tufts has spent all of his 21 years as an inhabitant of Highland Park, a three-square-mile community of about 11,000 people, bounded on all sides by the city of Detroit.
Driving down Woodward or Second Avenue, Tuft's hometown is often indistinguishable from Detroit. One marker that sets it apart are blue street signs, a contrast to Detroit's green ones.
Highland Park has many of the ills of Detroit -- crime, poverty and vacant buildings -- but far fewer of the amenities. And unlike Detroit, it gets far less love locally and nationally. Any comeback narrative seems distant.
As part of an occasional series on a slice of life in the Detroit area, Deadline Detroit caught up with Johnny Tufts, a local actor, musician, videographer and graphic artist, in downtown Detroit to talk about his hometown and the problems he witnesses daily.
