Class Discussion about Niki's Window

One of my opinions about what was said in class about Niki's Window:

Analogy about family coming over to visit-
In regards to the super bowl, I think that the city had to clean up to make a good impression on the visitors. Otherwise no one would have given Detroit a chance. So the visitors come and see all the positive aspects of the city (and they were not able to see most of the negative things) so possibly their mindset has changed. Therefore if and when they decide to come back to Detroit they know it is just another city like Chicago or New York and has problems, but will overlook these things because their first experience (super bowl weekend) made a positive impact and showed them what the city could do.
If you have "new" friends coming to your house you would most likely know in advance (like super bowl weekend) so you would clean up. Why? To make a good impression, just like Detroit did. After you being to become comfortable with your "new" friends you won't care as much if your bathroom is spotless or everything is put away because you know you made a good impression on your friends and they know that you clean your house. (I.e. previous positive impression)
So Yes, I think that it was necessary for Detroit to clean up before the Super Bowl so that people would give the city a chance. I do however feel that shipping the homeless people out of the city was a little over the top and somewhat inhumane.

Essay Topic Idea

I'm thinking about writing my essay on a huge park that is in Dearborn. It is actually down the street from my house. The name of the park is Levagood. I think there are a lot of aspects about it that would give me plenty of topics to write about. There is a pool, a track, a basketball court, playground equipment, baseball fields, and volleyball courts. During the summer months there are always people picnicking and using the playground equipment. On super hot days the pool is always full. During the spring the surrounding schools use the playing fields for different types of practices and games. There are also recreational summer teams anyone can join.

Niki's Window

The main point that Herron is arguing in this essay is that a lot of people look down on Detroit but in reality it has a lot of interesting history. Also, many types of people frequent the city. There are people who are dirt poor, who work there, or those who shop/eat there and have moderate to high disposable incomes.

When Herron is explaining how the interior of the "Dodge Brother's" shop looks he explains that mostly everything is the same as it once was. I.e. the brick walls and old shop floors show through and old signs were made into props. Now when people come into the restaurant they are given a feeling of nostalgia and are made to feel as if they are living in a part of history that has made a big impact on our lives. I feel that not renovating this space was a great marketing technique by Kefallinos because people love to pretend that they are somewhere else.

Detroit is known as a humiliated city because it has been through and seen some many things. Not to say that other cities haven't but Detroit sticks out more because there aren't too many positive things that could drown out all of the negative things.