So anybody know where we're able to park for free at the new arena? Kinda like it was on Jefferson at the Joe. Or will it be impossible? Too far? Not safe.
The new area is exponentially safer if you're talking about street parking compared to parking down the dark depths of Jefferson in the past. On the flipside, its probably not going to be free and might be short-term at 2 hours. You can find up to 4 hours @ $1.50/hr in many places within walking distance or M1 distance though.
And in no area surrounding the arena should you feel unsafe. The back part of the arena from about Bookies to about a block past Temple Bar/The Masonic looks unpleasant but its not because its some unsafe hood area - its because its a deserted real estate development war zone. There are a bunch of hold-outs and take-overs there buts its mostly due to developers and investors. The actual areas where you'd be concerned about the residents therein are almost miles away at that point. On all of three other sides, there have been middle-class-at-worst investments for over a decade.
I'm almost the antithesis of every demographic that should feel safe in that area (the lone exception being religion) and yet I walk around that area at ease. Its become clear to me that most of the people on here that are proponents of the idea that the area is unsafe (or would be unsafe without the Illitches investment) don't frequent Detroit whatsoever. If they did, then they'd be embarrassed by some of the claims they make about danger and development. Really, if a bunch of hipsters and chicks have been living in and/or frequenting the areas surrounding "The District" for over a decade and have never had any problems, nor is there a culture of danger, then a bunch of Internet Badasses bemoaning the areas' plight should be ashamed.