That map you see above is a drawing of all the neighborhoods within the city and a pin in every single location submitted or discovered at the time of writing this statement. That map gets more colorful and crowded daily.

"I HAD THAT IDEA BEFORE." That statement was the most common feedback I received when pitching my "off the wall" idea about a community driven Detroit based site.  Now: it is a reality.  There are many Detroit based sites out there with different intentions, but also with a lot of good content.  What I personally wanted was a place where people who had a similar "itch" for knowledge could contribute or use the site as their own. This is a collection of all of those ideas with a focus on the ENTIRE city of Detroit not just a specific neighborhood or section.  This is not a corporate backed site. All content on here are from people who choose to contribute.

CONTRIBUTIONS. You can choose to consume or create on this platform. As a consumer, the contributions collected over time will serve you with a plethora of options, whatever your preference may be, of ways to enjoy the city of Detroit.  As a creator, to be able to have your words about an event or location be public and present and possibly featured if discovered to be very useful.  Your pictures can be seen and appreciated, that video tour you may have taken and feel should be appreciated now has a forum and built-in audience for appreciation (and banklinks to your portfolio of course!). All contributing to a collection that is growing daily with fresh content and updated ratings of what users feel are the best places to visit within the city.

THE COLLECTION GROWS DAILY. At the time of writing this, I consider this a "soft launch." There are literally HUNDREDS of locations and events not currently listed on the site.  Of course, you are welcome to communicate and suggest places that are not currently on the site to be featured.  You will discover that there are many seemingly minor additions that seem insignificant but have cultural value.  I want this to be a COMPLETE collection of what the city has to offer with virtually no limitation on importance.  Also, there is a development timeline in place for adding easier ways to find exactly the types of items you would want added to your list and easier ways to consume content.

WHY? I wanted to have a personal blog of places to go in Detroit and then just go do them.  Snap some pictures, do some write ups and just have a central location outside of major social media platforms to have the information. I wanted a "Detroit Bucketlist." I searched for the domain name, DetroitBucketlist.com and registered it.  What I discovered is EVERY major city was taken.  CITYNAMEbucketlist.com. Even smaller, less historically significant cities, had their domains registered.  Why was Detroit the only major city that was not? What happened was an obsession with the "why" of Detroit.  Every new "why" I asked lead me to a different place or a different history book. I was starting to stalk the memories of Detroit's past to discover what all these silly statues meant.  I kept thinking I'm going to run into Amy Elliot Bragg (Author of: Hidden History Of Detroit) when I would go to random historical places.  I would see movies based on the city of Detroit and wonder dumb things like "Where was that 8 Mile fight scene filmed?"  I was buying every old book I found on Detroit in thrift stores or random ebay finds which produced its own fun as well (I did manage to find a Barry Gordy autograph on his hardcover memoir: "To Be Loved"- SCORE!) I was buying new books and trying to consume as much of the new information I could.  Charlie LeDuff  (Detroit: An American Autopsy) pretty much forced me to drive past many of the cities firehouses and enjoy their beautiful architecture and get me angry about the conditions.  I drove down 7 Mile road per Aaron Foley's suggestion (Author: How To Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass) and enjoyed his sentiments.  This obsession lead to a vast and complicated collection of notes about the city of Detroit as a whole community.  My little blog about going to hip new restaurants or maybe (crosses fingers) seeing the city from the top floor of the Penobscot building grew into an entirely new desire.  I wanted everyone who loves this city or is just starting to have an interest in this city to have an outlet just like me to just share the things they love about the ENTIRE city of Detroit.

This brings me to now. The site is up and I look forward to seeing all the contributions and the site growing into what it has the potential to be. Even in this early stage, I have talked and met with many talented people living in and around the city who are excited to be involved. I look forward to getting their photos, videos, and writings onto the site. It will make the site not only a source of information but also a place for a personal flavor to connect with for all involved.

Thank you in advance for all of your contributions and please enjoy.