Detroit love: Some in Inland Empire can’t forget the Motor City
Former Detroiters and recent visitors chime in after reading about columnist David Allen's visit to the Motor City. "It made me homesick," one wrote.
In Riverside last week, a friendly barista at Back to the Grind said she hadn’t seen me in a while. Vacation, I explained. She asked: “The Bahamas?” I replied with satisfaction: “Detroit.”
She took a step back to absorb this unexpected answer. Yours truly, to underscore the point, continued: “Detroit is the opposite of the Bahamas.”
Several of you who have lived in or visited Detroit responded to my June 26 column on my trip to the Motor City. Let me excerpt what you had to say.
Mary Berkley of Riverside shared that she went to Detroit for baseball’s All-Star Game in 2005 with her sister, who was battling cancer, and has since died. They won tickets in a lottery thanks to help from family and friends who entered on their behalf. As lifelong fans of baseball and the Dodgers, the trip was very meaningful.
“I’m happy that Detroit is coming back. Our friends thought it was odd that we picked Detroit for our vacation. We told them they didn’t understand, it’s baseball!” Berkley said. “I wish you a long life to be able to complete your quest of visiting all 30 ballparks.”
Melanie So of Claremont describes herself as a former Detroiter and longtime baseball stadium enthusiast. She could properly be described as a Detroit enthusiast as well. “It is amazing how far Detroit has come!” she said.
Dottie Shea of Sun City grew up in Detroit’s suburbs in the 1940s, worked in its downtown, went to Wayne State and left for California in 1980 due to a job transfer. She has lots of warm memories and keeps tabs on Detroit’s comeback.
“Thank you for your kind words about my hometown, Detroit. It made me homesick. Especially Buddy’s Pizza and Lafayette Coney Island,” Shea said.
Geoff Vanden Heuvel of Tulare, formerly of Chino, grew up in Michigan and was just in Detroit in May with his wife for their first ballgame at Comerica Park, the Tigers’ current home. They pressed on to Cincinnati for a day game. “I am at 18 out of 30 in my MLB ballpark goal,” he said.
Shoot, he’s pulled one stadium ahead of me.
Natalie Stalwick of Claremont, who visited Detroit last October, said: “You conveyed the sense of optimism that Detroit residents display, a pleasant surprise for those of us who have gone there expecting to see the decay that we read about for years.”
Gloria Perry of Jurupa Valley: “We were there a few years ago at Christmastime and had fun. Glad you went to the bookstore. It was pretty amazing.” She’s referring to John King Books, with a reputed 1 million books over four stories.
A Detroit resident read my column and shared it widely.
Leland K. Bassett said he and his wife have lived in Detroit more than 50 years. “Much yet to do, but have come a long way,” Bassett wrote. “Come on back. Will leave the light on for you. Detroit is the biggest small, friendly town in America.”
I did experience exceptional friendliness.
My first meal was in a quick-serve salad cafe in the lobby of an office tower. After leaving, I gazed around the lobby, looking for a restroom. The woman behind the security desk asked if she could help me. I explained. It turns out there were no restrooms for the public.
She said she shouldn’t do this, but she gave me directions to the restricted restrooms on the lower level and, get this, handed me her security badge so I could access them.
The display of trust in a stranger was disarming, but appreciated. (As was the restroom.) To return to my opening point, I don’t know if they’re this friendly in the Bahamas, but maybe in Detroit they try harder.
A dry heat (on Venus?)
Wednesday is gonna be lit
pic.twitter.com/Mlg1krWAqf
— David Allen (@DavidAllen909) July 2, 2024
When weather reports talk about “triple-digit heat,” they generally mean the low 100s. Not this week.
On Monday, a graphic on KTLA showing the seven-day forecast for the Inland Empire had a typo, giving Wednesday’s predicted high not as 100 but as, uh, 700.
Seven hundred degrees? As blood boils at 212 degrees, Wednesday might be uncomfortable.
According to KTLA, Thursday will be 102, meaning that for any survivors, relief is in sight!
brIEfly
Actor Martin Mull’s death June 27 at age 80 reminded Rancho Cucamonga reader John Baugh of Mull’s 1978 talk show sendup “America 2-Night,” which was said to originate from the “Quad-City” area of Southern California: Alta Coma, El Tijo, Alta Luna and the City of Merchandise.
David Allen writes Wednesday, Friday and Sunday for the tri-county area. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on X.