A lot of people consider moving to Detroit after they hear the news that it is a great place to kick start a career, start on a new path, or just experience a city rapidly growing and changing. But when you tell people that you’re moving to Detroit, you get a lot of biased and uninformed questions. One of the most common questions I receive is, “Why would you want to move to Detroit, is there even anything to do there?” The answer? Of course there is! There are countless free events happening throughout the city all year, a ton of amazing restaurants and classy cocktail bars, and outdoor spaces like Belle Isle and the Dequindre Cut if you need to temporarily escape the city atmosphere. I constantly have to schedule a night for myself where I don’t go out because the temptation to spend every day experiencing all the city has to offer can be overwhelming. The one opportunity I rarely decline though is attending live shows.
During just the month of March alone I saw:
- Johnnyswim
- Tom Segura
- Portugal the Man
- Rent, the 20th Anniversary Tour
- Rise Against
- Green Day
My attendance may seem excessive, but it’s hard for me to resist a good show—especially when it’s at most a quick 20-minute drive from my apartment. To me, live performances are enchanting experiences where hundreds of people are driven to come together and unite for the same purpose: to enjoy and celebrate the creation of art. Concert vibes in Detroit are always high energy, and you can feel the excitement of some of the artists as they breathe in the musical history of our city and exhale their own art.
Some performers can compose a crowd and get them to sing together, laugh together and rage together with just a small movement of their hand (I’m looking at you Billie Joe), and to experience this phenomenon is to be a part of a community.
So, why did I move to Detroit? The shortest answer is for community. One of our host companies, the Detroit Experience Factory, likes to say that, “Detroit is big enough to matter in the world, and small enough for you to matter in it.” A person can easily lose themselves without a community that encourages them to be their unique self and pursue what they love. Thankfully, Challenge Detroit handpicked a group of 40 exceptional people to kick start a community for me, and as this year continues I look forward to expanding my network and connecting with more people in the vibrant city that is now my home.