Best Cities in US & Canada 1b: Detroit vs. Quebec City
 

Top 64. . . . . . Which city offers more or do you prefer to visit or dream of visiting or living in?

Detroit, Michigan Motor City, Motown, The Lions & Tigers, The Red Wings & Pistons. In 1950 the population had reached 1,849,568. Latest census places it down to 632,464.

or Quebec City, Quebec On the St. Lawrence River. Oldest Fortified City north of Mexico whose walls still stand.

I don't want Detroit to be shut out, so I'll throw a vote its way. But it's mostly for nostalgia reasons.

I hate to vote against Detroit because it feels like voting against Weedy.

But while I've never been there, I've always had a lot of affection for Quebec City. Château Frontenac is beautiful as is the architecture in general. I've heard wonderful things about their pastries and I'm still angry on their behalf after all these years that they got dicked out of their NHL franchise. I don't travel much at all but I've always wanted to visit there.

I would love to visit Quebec City, and the whole area even more so since reading the Louise Penny books.

There is a lot of history in Motown.

Close one with almost no votes.

I've done you the immense favor of spoilering the TLDR of why I will always love Detroit and stick up for her no matter what. But it's long, really long, because Motown is truly a vibrant city on the rebound and I'm too high to do a decent editing job.

I have tons of relatives from my mother's side across the Province of Quebec and visited when I was around seven years old. I've spent a shitload of time in Detroit, both as a child, a young adult, and recently as an immature older adult. The polar difference in the Detroit of the Coleman Young years of the seventies (which was mostly blight and crime and suburban flight) to today is amazing. Two weeks ago we spent the night at the Motor City Casino after seeing "Book of Mormon" at the Fisher Theater. We had an incredible time -- nowhere near the same vibe as when my dad would be driving the family to a Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert (it was a thing for my family) and my mother would say, "Are all the doors locked? Make sure your door is locked!" as soon as we got off I-75 in the city, which wasn't even the bad part of Detroit. Dan Gilbert of Rocket Mortgage has played a big part in helping the city turn around. There's no hope for the Tigers but Martha Firestone Ford finally gave up control of the Lions to her daughter, Sheila Firestone Ford Hamp. Sheila, by the providence of having a longer name than her mother, did the right thing by hiring Dan Campbell and then left him the fuck alone to do the job he gets paid to do. And he's doing it, too, which I'll hopefully throw in your faces next fall. The Detroit Institute of Arts, once on the table to be sold piecemeal when the city was destitute (thanks, Kwame!) is ranked today as one of the ten best art museums in the United States. The birthplace of the automobile assembly line is immortalized as a slice of the past at Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford Museum. Detroit has a fantastic music scene, aside from the Motown Museum. It's also the supposed birthplace of techno (which I believe with a grain of salt as I can't verify it.) But jazz, jazz is where it is. Baker's Keyboard Lounge is still strong ninety years later, and the next time I'm in the city I'm going back, I don't care who's playing. If we're including metro areas as part of the "city," you don't have to drive more than a half hour from downtown to find a fishing hole, or even less if you take the bridge to Belle Isle in the Detroit River to throw your line, as long as you don't do it at the Belle Isle Aquarium. That'd be rude. Hungry? Detroit pizza is the fucking best and you can't convince me otherwise, and I'm not talking about Little Caesar's, I mean real pizza. Home of Lafayette Coney Island with a side of Tums, that's what you want for lunch if you're tired of pizza. Craft microbreweries abound, but since I don't drink anymore I stick to Vernor's Ginger Ale, which could only be more "Detroit" if it was mixed with Faygo Redpop. Seriously, I don't know how the rest of the country lived without Vernor's before they started distributing it all over. When we'd visit relatives in Niagara Falls we'd load up a case or two for the relatives You hear about the unfriendliness of New Yorkers which is something you'll never hear about Detroit. It's a big city and yup, there are assholes galore. Ted Nugent, for starters, and Kid Rock (although Ted doesn't live here anymore and Kid Rock is way out in the suburbs if he's still there.) But Motown! Eminem! Bob Seger! Gilda Radner! Lily Tomlin! A lot of good has come from this city, but nothing better than the people themselves. Look, you need to be situationally aware no matter where you go and yes, there's crime in areas that it's stupid to go into if you don't need to score drugs or toothless blowjobs. Just like in Quebec City. Stay out of those areas. My city has taken a lot of shit over the decades from people who've never been there. A lot of it has been deserved. Detroit is still a city in recovery, the blight is real. But oh my god, the vast difference in the Detroit of my childhood and the Detroit of the present makes me proud to call it my home and a little ashamed that I removed it from my username. I imagine a lot of folks on the Gweeb have never been there and are voting based on anecdotes and news accounts that show you the worst -- because that's a sexy news story compared to "Family Spends Weekend Doing Cool Shit in a City with Bad Rep." I get it, you only know what you've been seeing in the news for decades which is why I've only voted in maybe three of these city polls. I'm here to spread the news that sometimes the media doesn't tell the whole story.

I would ask you, the people I call my friends, to just give it a little more consideration before you blow us off. I mean, this poll isn't what I'm talking about because who cares about an opinion poll if it doesn't include a Reuben sandwich. I'm talking about real life, like if ever your choice is between Detroit and Canada -- it takes five minutes to cross the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor where you can buy all the poutine and butter tarts your heart desires, eh? Then cross back and hang at a live concert in Hart Plaza. Just keep your wallet in your front pocket.

Weedy, you have convinced me! I weakly voted QC because of the architecture and The Great White North but I will ask for the switch.

@Rebo could you switch my vote from Quebec City to Detroit?

I will add that the Vernor's reference really put me over the top to switch. I like golden ginger ale and Vernor's is the only brand I can get without going to a specialty pop store.

I'll join you, @Rebo, can you switch mine also, from Quebec City to Detroit.

Vernor's has become my soda drink of choice in the last ten years or so. My entire family drank it like it was...uh, soda pop... but I couldn't stand the bubbles that invariably went up my nose. Either my nose is farther away from my mouth now or else they've changed the bubble recipe, something happened to make it less annoying and just plain delicious.

If you've never had Captain Morgan and Vernor's you're truly missing something tasty.

Done.

apparently it's going to win.

I'm happy about that. I grew up a couple hours north of Detroit, and visits to the big city were exciting. I didn't see the blight; I just remembered the cool parts like the museums, river, music, restaurants, Greektown, Tiger Stadium, etc.

Thanks @Weedy Crocker for the update. It's a place with so much history and potential, and I'm glad it's back on the upswing.

Weedy, you've done Detroit a beautiful service with that one. :heart: It will forever be my home.