Talk:Downriver

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Downriver is part of WikiProject Michigan, a WikiProject related to the U.S. state of Michigan.

Earlier versions of the Downriver article claimed that the area is known for having a large population of residents of Southern origin. This assertion is very misleading and historically inaccurate. Arguably two -- Taylor and Romulus -- of the eighteen Downriver communities had some reputation during the 1960s-1980s era for having Southerners who had moved to Michigan during the mid-20th Century to work in the auto industry. However, the so-called Southern influence in these two communities greatly diminished during the 1990s and is rapidly fading as the economy diversifies and the population grows and ages. Today, Taylor is attracting upper middle class residents to new upscale housing developments and Romulus is the site for a proposed billion dollar high-tech focused business park adjacent to Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Moreover, this minor reference about a couple communities certainly does not characterize the entire Downriver area so it should not be stated in the broad manner it was in early versions of this article.

The fact of the matter is that Downriver is best known for its excellent opportunities for boating, fishing, bird watching and hunting enjoyed in, or along side, the Detroit River as well as in a many natural areas and parks maintained by local communities.

As a resident of Downriver I can assure you that the Southern influence is not limited to any two cities. And while waterfowl hunting may be common along the river other forms of hunting are much less common or impossible in the heavily developed Downriver area. Rmhermen 17:21, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Nor is it limited to Downriver. Hazel Park and Ferndale, as well as Brightmoor on Detroit's west side, among others, attracted large numbers of Southern whites in the years immediately following World War II. The same goes for Delray, the section of Southwest Detroit bordering Downriver. I'd also add Lincoln Park, Melvindale and Allen Park to the list, in addition to Taylor and Romulus (alluded to above). One doesn't hear Southern accents nor notice Southern influence in these areas anymore, and hasn't since the 1960s, because the period was so long ago and their families have moved on. The same could be said of Poletown (Polish, rather than Southern), Corktown (Irish) and the area around the corner of Cadieux and Morang (Belgian), all of which eventually dispersed as well, in those cases 20-30 years earlier.SpanishCastleMagic 23:07, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wrong on Southern influence Downriver

I lived in Downriver for about 20 years and in a Southern state for almost as long. Aside from the presence of a few Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, I cannot recall seeing any meaningful trace of Southern influence in Downriver. In all the years I lived there, I never met one person born in the South and never talked to anyone with a Southern accent. O.k., maybe I remember seeing "Go Braves" bumper stickers on a few cars when Downriver baseball star Steve Avery pitched for Atlanta in the 1990s, but anyone who reads this article and then walks into Southland Mall expecting to hear a clerk say "welcome mam or mister, how y'all doing today" in a slow Charleston drawl will be very disappointed. I wish Downriver did have some Southern influence. I mean, there isn't a good pulled pork platter sandwich or mint julip to be found anywhere in Downriver. I don't know which town the writer lives in where all these Southerns are or were, but unless you consider people from Ohio to be Southerners, I do not think this description accurately characterizes all of Downriver. From my point of view, the only thing Downriver seems to have in common with the South is that both areas like to watch NASCAR. And, hey, we invented the car, so that's really an influence of Northern origin!

Perhaps you didn't notice that the commentary was that they moved there after World War II. If my grandfather (who did just that) was any example to go by, it was for those "good factory jobs", in his case at Monsanto rather than a car company. The majority of the church I grew up in (Lakeside Missionary Baptist, in Newport) were people who moved to Michigan from Tennessee and Kentucky, or their children and grandchildren. At any rate, from post-WWII to now would be quite a while for the kind of southern influence you're referring to to have survived.Krilia 23:33, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Down" = South?

I was always under the impression that the name Downriver simply referred to the most literal meaning of the world, and that is that it lies downriver from Detroit, as opposed to upriver. I don't think this has anything to do with the geographical north, east, west, and south directions. If someone can prove to me that is has to do with geographical direction, please hit me up on my talk page. Downriver simply means that this is the way the river floors. Downriver of somewhere else can mean river flowing in any direction, even northward. The Great Lakes flows downward in a manner which just happens to be southward, but there are plenty of rivers in this country that flow northward meaning downriver could mean north. --Criticalthinker 01:22, 23 January 2007 (UTC)