Just When You Think You've Heard and Seen It All...

...along comes a story from the Detroit News about a body frozen in 3 feet of ice at the bottom of an elevator shaft in one of Detroits countless abandoned buildings. The kicker, is, he had been there for months and despite being seen by countless individuals, no one called the police, of course once someone did, they never showed up. Now you might be asking yourself, how did you find that, especially since it happened back in the winter? Well, I was going through the always entertaining pictures from Sweet Juniper at Flickr when I came across a link posted in the comments of one of the pictures of the old Detroit Public Schools Depository. For those who aren't reading Sweet Juniper, you really are missing out on one of the best blogs around.

Urban issues fascinate me to no end and urban planning and development is a topic that I read up on almost daily. Cities are amazing places and each one has a story to tell. We have a lot of really horrible places here in Louisville, there are almost 10,000 empty homes and buildings in the city and we have some rough neighborhoods that I wouldn't dare venture into. That being said, Detroit is on a whole different level from the rest of the world. It literally is a city returning to it's natural landscape as block after city block stands empty and devoid of anything. I've only been there once and it fascinated me like no other place ever has. Now make no mistake, it's a shithole of epic proportions, but dull it isn't.

I think this story perfectly captures the essence of Detroit and puts into perspective just how sad it is that this once great American city is now perhaps, the worst city in the world. Here are some follow up stories on the man beneath the ice.


A perfect symbol for Detroit