it’s amazing what nice weather can do for one’s social life.

there are many fine cultural institutions in detroit such as the DIA, the historical museum, motown. but save those for october-may because once it’s finally warm enough to exist without five layers on, you are going to want to be outside all. of. the. time.

patio bars, the beach at campus martius, eastern market, my plot at the community garden, detroit city football club games, the rooftop at the opera house to watch a tigers game, swimming in the river off the shores of grosse pointe, the belle isle fountain and the rest of belle isle, the carnival/midway that is River Days, walking to work on fridays, extra sweaty yoga classes, the detroit princess boat, volunteering when it’s 90 degrees, sitting on my porch…

it’s much easier to play in detroit when it’s warm in detroit. but hurry, you only have 4 months to cram all of that in before it gets miserable again.

it’s an interesting dichotomy; obviously people live in the midwest and some stay here all their lives. but for 2/3 of the year, they’re couped up inside practically hibernating and constantly complaining. honestly, i want to know why people (myself included) put up with it. in the northwest when it gets cold and snowy you can do all sorts of activities outdoors. but the closest you’ll get to skiing in michigan is when you try to walk down the sidewalk. in toronto, it’s just as brutally cold, but there are still people out walking when it’s -3 deg F in january. what’s the difference?

for those cities that don’t have snowy slopes to entice people, the key, i would argue, is public transit. toronto has not only a subway but an excellent streetcar system. minneapolis has reliable buses and now streetcars, plus tunnels and skywalks connecting buildings. chicago of course has the L and madison also has great buses. these ways of getting around don’t involve the risk of having your car towed.

with the M1 rail breaking ground late in july, detroit is inching its way into the realm of public transit. and there’s no doubt more is needed than a 3 mile streetcar through midtown. but what could being able to get around in winter mean for the city and its residents? due to lack of sunshine, detroit is listed as one of the top 5 worst cities to spend the winter. but if it was still possible to get around and be social without via public transit and connectivity, wouldn’t that improve people’s moods and experience for the better part of the year? and could that perhaps in turn improve what it means to live in this city?

in the meantime, enjoy these hot months while we’ve got ’em. i’ll try to keep that in perspective when i’m sticky, sitting in my apartment without air conditioning.