I watched the requiem, and of the various documentaries about Detroit have seen over the last few years, thought it was the most balanced. There *are* epic areas of ruin and desolation – denying or downplaying them won't make them go away; half the population left the city; the history has been turbulent. But also, as it finished, there's a lot of hope and concrete, positive, things happening there.

So some of your points I agreed with, but this one stood out:

"but when I look deeper and think back to my younger days, it is no worse than London, Sheffield, Birmingham, or Nottingham, England were in their depressions."

No sorry but that is utterly ludicrous in exaggeration. Even when e.g. heavy industry collapsed in Sheffield, unemployment climbed rapidly and the city became an unpleasant place to live, it never declined so rapidly, or on such a scale or magnitude, as Detroit. Not comparable. I've lived in the rough parts of these cities (cheap), and they were nothing in comparison to the eye-widening, almost unbelievable, parts of the "Post Katrina-like" areas of Detroit I travelled through.

And no, I'm not knocking Detroit. I was based in Midtown which seemed thriving. Bakeries, bars, quality cafes, lots to do, micro businesses springing up, *and* it felt safer – that particular area – than even many areas of British cities today. I hope Detroit continues to recover and rebuild; looking towards Birmingham (UK) and how the digital and media industries are helping it to recover from the loss of e.g. the substantial motor industry, may provide pointers.

Looking forward to my next trip to Detroit.

I am so happy to see people ban together to help make Detroit what it can be!!!