I’m often asked what it’s like to live in Detroit or what’s the most surprising, sometimes shocking thing I’ve encountered since moving to the city proper. While I’m happy to tell the story, I think it’s much more interesting to examine the questions.

When someone around here asks what it’s like to live in New York City, it often comes from practical diligence in preparation for a move or fascination for the big city bustle. Similarly, wondering what it’s like to live in San Francisco, Chicago, or Austin is a thought full of both intention and imagination. With the question comes the idea that you, too, could live there. That, perhaps, home can be found elsewhere. Why then, when asked about Detroit, does the question feel different?

Popular imagination, it seems, still trends towards the worst. I will surely disappoint when you discover that I have no stories of sensational misdeeds. Things happen, of course, because things happen everywhere. Detroit is not immune to the consequences of its past or the whims of its misguided. But it’s not defined by them either. Fully stocked grocery stores exist throughout the city. New businesses open faster than they close. (See Detroit’s small business directory.) Gas stations still pump gas. Bars still sell booze. Bills still arrive and payments continue to be made. There are traffic lights and police officers. Uber drivers and room service. Tree lightings and outdoor festivals. And when the snow falls at night, the mornings are just as magical.

The daily routine of living in Detroit is not so different for me than how I imagine it to be in most other American cities. However, here, ambition electrifies the air. Here, a business recommends its neighbor before it competes. Here, a city can be a town. Here, vision can mobilize. Here, my address makes me a part of something great. What does your address do?