If Erie had a big brother, it would be Detroit. Coming from the same dysfunctional parental lineage as Erie--big industry--Detroit has suffered at the hands of its inconsistent parents. It was spoiled as a child and given everything it wanted with no real thought of the future and then was abruptly kicked out of the house and forced to live on its own. Neglect, I am told, is even worse than abuse. Now an aging adult, it needs to look at itself with the insight that only comes with age, hard knocks and hopefully a little wisdom.
Never having been there before, I was curious about this city that has one of those unshakeable bad reputations which folks who live there claim is just simply unfair. (Actually, I think the better word is stigma.) We in Erie know what that feels like.
The plain truth is that Detroit, like Erie, has to find a better way to shed itself of the bad rep it has developed. Spending the last four days in the Motor City at a newspaper columnists conference, I have had a look at Detroit, not just from the eyes of those who "sponsored" this event, but from my own. My thoughts will be chronicled here in the next few days.
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