Someone made this list about which cities are safe, which are dangerous, and which ones are sorta in between. I don't know how they did it, but given they've scored 368 cities down to the hundredth of a point, I'm willing to take their word that some work went into this. All apologies to Portland readers; you did not "win." I know that's hard to wrap you're head around. Mission Vallejo, CA won.Fun facts about Mission
-"The median income for a household in the city is $78,248, and the median income for a family is $86,902."
-"At the center of the city is a man-made lake, Lake Mission Viejo, a private association for Mission Viejo residents with custom waterfront homes, condominiums, boat rentals,and swim beaches."
Detroit, my hometown (median income: $29,526), lost for the fourth year in a row and Baltimore (median income: $30,078) came in 12th from last. A group email discussion ensued at City Paper about slogans B'more could derive from all of this and Lee's contribution was "Baltimore--Still Better Than Detroit." Yeah, that's probably true at this point in most ways. People actually move here, more and more actually. Baltimore doesn't have to worry about extinction; Detroit does. Literally.
Needless to say: not good thoughts.
Then, this morning, Matos sent me a song. I'd never thought about just how cool it is that you can do that, just send someone a song. It's a nice idea. The song is Smokey Robinson's, "I Care About Detroit" from the Complete Motown Singles Vol. 8. It's cheesy. It could be like a radio commercial or something--maybe it was--but it has this spoken intro...
Listen:
boomp3.com
Totally unrelated, a few hours later we're bouncing around an email discussion about this week's Metro Times cover story, "The 100 Greatest Detroit Songs Ever." The vibe is "awe."
The photo is of the Belle Isle Arboretum, my favorite place in the city for so many reasons.
3 comments:
That Metro Times list is sad. Three techno songs? Almost nothing after 1980? Fucking golden-agers, man.
I agree, but I was a bit too misty about the hometown to be that critical when I wrote this.
Alright, so you'll probably hate me for this...
But the city is Mission Viejo, not Mission Vallejo. I can tell you this only because it's the town next to the town I grew up in.
Hope you are enjoying Baltimore. And I agree with your other post about our shared former employer.
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