Detroit /SE MIchigan's own board ???? [moved from Great Lakes board]

[goatgolfer]

It's time to raise the issue again. Let's allow the others to have their space and Detroit/SE Michigan to focus on ourselves. Can it be that much more broadband ????

[IndyGirl]

I am also strongly in support of a Detroit Metro board. It can be very confusing to visit CH, looking for a specific suburb of this huge metro area, having to wade through posts from OH, IN, etc... especially if one is just visiting the area. Detroit has so many suburbs, and even having lived here for a few years now, I still can't necessarily identify them all. I actually think this would stimulate growth and unity among Detroit metro CH posters (and more efficiently help those planning to visit the area).

[goatgolfer]

And the answer is.... No answer. We will get back to you. ..CH is code for Comcast I quess.

[goatgolfer]

SE Michigan: Calling out.. CQ, CQ, DX (attention caller Long distance) We can and will generate enough traffic on the SE Michigan channel but Jacq...?L?. has been vague and whatever.

The board obviously wants our support or they couldn't sell content advertising. We have three choises. 1. withdraw to another more friendly forum. I couldn't Yellow another idea that met that criteria but it may exist. 2. express our distaste for being a focused enthused group that is included in the larger area that wants its' own voice by posting vociferously and drowning out those welcome but minor players and 3. Get a SE Michigan board. It seems so simple as MSP has a board for a few devoted foodies that stay inside in the winter..(joking).

After this idiot NY rep. puts his frankfurter in his pants we hope to expect that CH mods will finally realize we love the forum. WE SUPPORT CH> think about it....just a little...We have rebuilt Detroit. CH SE Michigan will be a cake walk.

[Cheeeese]

There is a Google group called GUDetroit that everyone could join and post at also. The people are great, very welcoming, many involved in local businesses and most/all posts are about the Metro Detroit area restaurants, food trends, events going on. It is a very welcoming group and won't censor opinions or links. They also have a facebook group and website with a blog and have a lot of fun food/drink centric events. There is a potluck picnic this weekend on Belle Isle. Check it out if you're looking for more SE Michigan dedicated posts.

[Jacquilynne]

I haven't been trying to be vague, but the information I've given you is what information I have. We generally don't add boards in a one-off fashion, so we're not going to create a Detroit board as a direct result of a thread like this.

With the increase in posts about Detroit since the last time we did a major board resplit, it will definitely be on our list of places to consider for the next round of board changes, but I don't know when that will take place.

[goatgolfer]

I have re-written my response to this general diminishment and disenfranchising of our content and contributions that make CH interesting and useful and therefore available to sell paying advertisement that I won't. Not today.

[Sailing77]

I'm not even from Michigan yet I support their wishes. If they want to become a splinter group what's the big deal? If they are curious about what is going on in other areas around the Great Lakes they can visit the Great Lakes part of the board.

[JanPrimus]

Is there a representative of the site that would like to discuss this or are we just expected to go away and forget about this? So far it is a very one sided discussion. Please respect your clients and communicate.

[Jacquilynne]

We don't really make decisions on new boards to create on a one-off basis. I'll put this on my list of possibilities for the next round of new board creation (though I start by looking at most populated metro areas without their own boards, so it would have been on the list anyway).

[JanPrimus]

Thank you!

[momskitchen]

According to the U.S. Dept. of Management and Budget, the Detroit Metro area is the 12th most populated in the U.S
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of...
- that's bigger than places like MSP, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Austin and San Diego that you've given their own boards. So I am not sure how you missed us the last time!

[MplsM ary]

MSP got its own board because we are a postypants bunch who pretty much overran the old Midwest board. You'd open the board and see 12 MSP threads then a Detroit thread, a Cleveland thread and 10 more MSP threads. I think that had more to do with the decision for an MSP board than population.

[jen kalb]

curious, wouldnt it be better to have a Minnesota Board, rather than having non-MAP Minnesota go on a huge Great Lakes board? In a state with only one major Metro area, that would (it seems to me) be a reasonable solution. At least it would be totally clear what Board to go to, which is not the case now. Michigan similarly.

[MplsM ary]

Geography is just not Chowhound's strong suit. Chowhound started in NYC and the board definitions and designation have been and continue to be hampered by geographical myopia.

[jen kalb]

I couldnt agree more. there are communities everywhere who would grow if appropriate area definitions were created.

Midwest or Great Lakes would be fine if it was just a matter of discussion by non-local people (like a travel board), roadfood for example, but once locals are involved, as they should be, the definitions and geographical info that enable people to talk and find info in specific communities really start to matter.

I would add community-fostering to te list of things that Chowhound's managers have not been very good at. Still and all, Im still here. I just wish that bottom up initiatives from the many people investing energy here could be fostered better.. As it is we have to wait for the Gods to speak, sometimes its good and sometimes we just scratch our heads.

[nsxtasy]

>> the Detroit Metro area is the 12th most populated in the U.S

I don't speak for the Chowhound Team, but it seems to me that metropolitan areas deserve their own boards based on how much content is posted about them in their corresponding regional forum. Some cities may have more people but others may have more posts, due to a more active group of Chowhounders and/or more food offerings. For example, Cincinnati and Kansas City both have about the same number of people (2.0 million metro area) but you'll find a lot more posts about KC on the Great Plains forum than you will about Cinci on Great Lakes.

Getting back to Detroit... there are a lot of posts about the Detroit area on Great Lakes, and I think it deserves its own forum. The only question in my mind is whether or not to include Windsor as part of the Metro Detroit forum. ;)

[Jacquilynne]

I didn't miss considering Detroit last time, but population is not a big part of the deciding factors on where to create new boards -- it's just a place to start. Detroit was considered, but there were only a small number of posts about Detroit prior to the last board split, so a board for Detroit wasn't added.

[jen kalb]

I just hpe CH keeps the dialog open with participants before making decisions.
Things like where people spend their weekends could logically be factored in, for example. Fostering growth of a community and giving people certainty about where to post and look for info are both really high values.

[momskitchen]

I'll do my best to fix that...more posting! My guess is Jacquilynne doesn't know the names of Detroit suburbs because she's likely never been here and it's so much bigger than Minneapolis She might be confused about subjects titled "Novi/Farmington Hills", "Livonia", "Troy" etc. Everyone, if you are posting anything regarding southeast Michigan, please preface your posts with DTW first, to help illustrate the point. My guess is that she might have been looking for the word "Detroit" in posts when she found only a small number of posts. Per my recollection, we had just as many as the Twin Cities before the split, that's why I had been scratching my head about it. And Jacquilynne, if you would like to visit Detroit some time, we'd all love to take you out for lunch! Thanks for your hard work on Chowhound!

[Jacquilynne]

I do search for a variety of suburb and neighborhood names when looking to get a sense of how many posts we had about each metro area. I may not get them all, but I don't limit myself to searching simply the name of a given city. I also come at the problem from the other direction -- looking directly at a subset of the posts, and assigning them to cities based on content, to sanity check the numbers I find in other ways.

That said, I do encourage you to preface your posts with Detroit or another indicator that they're about Detroit, as that will help other people who are looking for them.

[VTB]

.....and, Jacquilynne, if you're ever in the area you WILL be taking us up on the lunch offer, right??......

[Jacquilynne]

Thanks, I'll definitely keep your offer in mind ;)

I don't live that far from Detroit, but other than the airport, I've never been there.

[MplsM ary]

We had a small band who pretty much required that any MSP post be tagged as MSP in the title. You can ask a mod to change the title in order to encourage cooperation. Suddenly I feel like I should be twirling a Snidely Whiplash moustache.

When the old Midwest board had at least 3 Bloomingtons and 3 Us of M it was important to differentiate the MSP threads and a few of us were vigilant.

In trying to remember how many states the old Midwest board covered I did a search and found this musty old thread talking about breaking up the Midwest board: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/120601 Interesting.

[IndyGirl]

Yes, let's all start to police the Detroit metro threads for inclusion of Detroit in the title of the thread! (I'd argue for DTW, but I think some people won't know what that means and will start by searching Detroit. Am I right?)

[rainsux]

> only a small number of posts about Detroit prior to the last board split,
> so a board for Detroit wasn't added.

Incorrect.

Where or to whom do I send a list of the SE Michigan communities that we've
been posting about? Awww; WTH, here's the list:

ALGONAC
ALLEN PARK
ALMONT
ANCHORVILLE
ANN ARBOR
ATTICA
AUBURN HILLS
AVOCA
AZALIA
BAD AXE
BELLEVILLE
BERKLEY
BIRMINGHAM
BLOOMFIELD HILLS
BRIGHTON
BURTON
CANTON
CAPAC
CARLETON
CARO
CASEVILLE
CASS CITY
CENTER LINE
CHARLOTTE
CHELSEA
CHESTERFIELD
CLARKSTON
CLAWSON
CLINTON TOWNSHIP
CLIO
COMMERCE TOWNSHIP
CORUNNA
DAVISBURG
DAVISON
DEARBORN
DEARBORN HEIGHTS
DECKER
DECKERVILLE
DETROIT
DEXTER
DRAYTON PLAINS
DUNDEE
DURAND
EAST DETROIT
EAST LANSING
EATON RAPIDS
ECORSE
FARMINGTON
FARMINGTON HILLS
FENTON
FERNDALE
FLAT ROCK
FLINT
FLUSHING
FORT GRATIOT
FOSTORIA
FOWLERVILLE
FRANKENMUTH
FRANKLIN
FRASER
GARDEN CITY
GENESEE
GRAND BLANC
GRAND LEDGE
GREGORY
GROSSE ILE
GROSSE POINTE
HARPER WOODS
HARRISON TOWNSHIP
HARSENS ISLAND
HARTLAND
HAZEL PARK
HIGHLAND
HOLLY
HOLT
HOWELL
HUNTINGTON WOODS
IMLAY CITY
INKSTER
KEEGO HARBOR
LAKE ORION
LAMBERTVILLE
LANSING
LAPEER
LENNON
LINCOLN PARK
LINDEN
LIVONIA
LUNA PIER
MACOMB
MADISON HEIGHTS
MARINE CITY
MARLETTE
MARYSVILLE
MASON
MELVINDALE
MEMPHIS
MERRILL
METAMORA
MILAN
MILFORD
MONROE
MOUNT CLEMENS
MOUNT MORRIS
NEW BALTIMORE
NEW BOSTON
NEW HUDSON
NORTHVILLE
NOVI
OAK PARK
OAKLAND
OKEMOS
ORION
ORTONVILLE
OWOSSO
OXFORD
PECK
PIGEON
PINCKNEY
PLEASANT RIDGE
PLYMOUTH
PONTIAC
PORT AUSTIN
PORT HOPE
PORT HURON
PORT SANILAC
RAY
REDFORD
REESE
RICHMOND
RIVER ROUGE
RIVERVIEW
ROCHESTER
ROCKWOOD
ROMEO
ROMULUS
ROSEVILLE
ROYAL OAK
SAINT CLAIR
SAINT CLAIR SHORES
SALEM
SALINE
SANDUSKY
SEBEWAING
SHELBY TOWNSHIP
SOUTH LYON
SOUTHFIELD
SOUTHGATE
STERLING HEIGHTS
SWARTZ CREEK
TAYLOR
TEMPERANCE
TRENTON
TROY
UBLY
UNION LAKE
UNIONVILLE
UTICA
VASSAR
WALLED LAKE
WARREN
WATERFORD
WAYNE
WEBBERVILLE
WEST BLOOMFIELD
WESTLAND
WHITE LAKE
WHITMORE LAKE
WILLIAMSTON
WIXOM
WYANDOTTE
YALE
YPSILANTI

[JanPrimus]

Dude....CORUNNA food is horrid :)

[rainsux]

Hey, CBS/moderators, anyone paying attention? We want a SE Michigan; or Michigan board.

[berkleybabe]

I'm less in support of this than having MSP & Chicago boards come back UNDER Great Lakes. I think the issue is we're ticked MSP and some smaller cities have their own space -- positioning the Great Lakes (which, BTW is SOOO much better than "midwest" that included Arkansas AND Nebraska!) is good thing for all of us in the region -- lots more to discover in what's often consider "flyover" country. I say critical mass for Great Lakes.

[RedTop]

Against the grain again (sigh).

Just not in favor of creating a board for Detroit metro.

I frequent the Great Lakes Board on a daily basis, and have continuously noticed that threads for D-town get stale quickly. JMHO.

[yorbacus]

I am on board!

[interplanetjanet]

A detroit board is well deserved by the awesome detroit chowhounders!!

[nsxtasy]

I strongly support this suggestion. When a metro area has a lot of posts on a regional board, it deserves its own board. That way, local residents as well as visitors can go there when they're looking for advice in that city.

The last time Chowhound restructured the regional boards, new boards were created for some cities (including Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Atlanta) while other, equally-deserving cities were ignored. The Detroit Area has been very active and deserves to have its own board separate from the Great Lakes forum. Other metro areas that deserve their own boards include Cleveland (currently on Great Lakes), St. Louis and Kansas City (currently on Great Plains), and the Triangle Area of North Carolina (currently on Southeast). Shockingly, the suburbs of New York City don't have their own board and are currently thrown in with the rest of the states in which they're located - a travesty that still needs to be addressed.

[momskitchen]

+1 for Detroit Board....the metro Detroit area is 5.8 million people, and the Twin Cities is only 2.85 million people. Love the Twin Cities, but we are TWICE their size and we deserve our own.

[VTB]

Yup, I'm a big Vikings fan. But, I do get kind of bummed when people post about distant MSP suburbs on the Great Lakes board. If it doesn't belong on the MSP board, then it CERTAINLY doesn't belong on a board primarily frequented by Indianapolis/Cleveland/Detroit folk. Please.

And, while I enjoy sunny Phoenix, I must say that the post traffic (not to pick a fight over food quality), is obviously greater in the Motor City.

In any event, love the board. Just offering "continuous improvement" thoughts.

[itsaboutfood]

I disagree, for the simple reason that after seeing posts from other areas , I recall them when I travel in that direction. It makes the trip a bit more pleasureable to pop in to a place someone wrote of and enjoying their find. What do you think?

[JanPrimus]

I often look at the other boards. There is nothing that prevents me from doing so. I believe this request is about cleaning up the Signal to Noise Ratio for the largest amount of contributors to the current great lakes board.

[Jack Freeman]

I'll second that..is there anything we can do to make that happen?

[JanPrimus]

Third! I heard there is one guy in NYC that is getting his own....

[Davwud]

Fourth

DT