Detroit — according to a recent poll of 1,000 Americans — is a desirable place to be.
A website ran by CubeSmart — The Storage Space — says they commissioned a poll asking people, if they could move anywhere in the country, where would they move to in 2020.
On the list of 20? Detroit, at number 18. Nestled between Albuquerque, New Mexico at 17 and Bozeman, Montana at 19.
And the reasons given? Because, and this is a direct quote, it’s “Perfect For: Hipsters.”
They cite greater downtown’s low comparative rent to other big cities (which, although $1,075 is high for most current city residents, and let’s just face it, most Metro Detroiters) it’s a bargain for New Yorkers and others who are used to paying a lot more for a lot less in square footage.
Anecdotally, when I lived in Midtown a couple of years ago, it seemed as almost every new neighbor moving in wasn’t from the burbs of Metro Detroit, but San Francisco, Brooklyn, Seattle or something like that.
They were working remotely for their old jobs at their coastal salary or recruited by a place like Quicken.
Anyway, there are shoutouts to Standby, The Skip, Astro Coffee and Batch Brewing Company.
They are all good places. But there’s so much more to the city than that. Somehow it’s 2020 and out of town folks are still not looking beyond the area near the Dan Gilbert stuff and Corktown.
Rounding out the top three on the list are Franklin, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia and the top billing goes to Hilo, Hawaii.
Let’s be honest. As much as I love Detroit, staring out my window right now as we’re in winter’s icy grip and having been to Hawaii, if I had unlimited money, I can’t say Hawaii would be a bad choice.