Quote:
Originally Posted by jens
Basically, will I be safe walking around downtown alone with a DSLR camera? And are there other people on the streets - say, on a Sunday, generally speaking?
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Yes, you should be alright in the greater downtown taking pictures; if you look on, say, Flickr, you will see that there are quite a few regular photographers who walk this area going back years. Of course, be street-smart; don't let someone try to distract you with calls for help or anything. But it's not like there has ever been a spat of muggers robbing photographers downtown.
I know some fellow homers may disagree, but like in most cities, an inter-city bus station is not generally a place where you'll want to spend any more time than you have to, and Detroit is no exception, and especially if you're a tourist whose accent might give you away as an easy mark if you naively start up random discussions/asking questions. I will admit hearing you say you were coming into the Greyhound station has me a little nervous.
As for activity on a Sunday? It kind of depends if something is going on like a sporting event or concert(s), but I've generally noticed that even on Sunday the downtown is fairly active, now. The parks/squares will for sure have at least some activity on a lazy Sunday. I'd recommend people watching in Hart Plaza and the GM Plaza and Promenade as well as Rivard Plaza and Miliken State Park. All of these are connected by the RiverWalk, so you don't have to try and navigate busy streets or anything.
As for transit, it's still just not there at the level it needs to be to get around very easily outside of the downtown area, and
especially on a Sunday. The QLine streetcar line on Woodward will get you to most of the cultural amenties in Midtown. It'd be nice if I could recommend you use public transit to get to Belle Isle, which is a stunning island park on the east side, but I don't believe there is any direct route to the island from downtown. BTW, you could actually get to the suburbs of Ferndale and Birmingham directly pretty easily on SMART's new FAST routes. Sunday service is slower than weekdays, of course, but if 30 minutes between buses isn't two much for you on a lazy Sunday, you can have a nice, clean rider on this service up and down Wooward. I've heard nothing but good things about it. Ridership has increased since the service was introduced in January, and you get free wifi on the buses, too. lol