Things That Make You Go, "Wow!" from Inside Detroit

Have you been to Detroit's new Welcome Center?

Find it at 1253 Woodward for answers to all your metropolitan needs. Jeanette Pierce and Maureen Kearns, who run the center and Inside Detroit, are experts. They'll provide you with any information you're looking for, as well as some you're not. They also organize walking tours and pub crawls to open people's eyes to the culture, history and a worthwhile perspective of the city.

Yes, that's right, pub crawls: turn getting drunk into a learning experience. How cool is that?

Courtesy of Inside Detroit, click here for some "Wow" facts about the city. A sample, quoted from InsideDetroit.org: "There are 125 bars and restaurants within the one square mile of downtown Detroit." Detroit is ripe for the exploring.

Why don't you check it out? Use the Welcome Center as a resource or (gasp!) dare to venture down on your own. Consider going on an Inside Detroit pub crawl or walking tour, especially if you're a Detroit novice.

Detroit has a lot to offer; it's time you took advantage. (And perhaps, nudge nudge, you could hop on the Night Move to do it.)

Driving is expensive (duh).

Even with gas prices falling again, it's kind of disheartening to see how quickly dollars can accumulate--outside your pocket. And it doesn't even include the cost of parking, or the cost of all the speeding tickets I get (I'm a terrible driver).

What we need is public transportation.

Wait, we have that now!

If you haven't yet used the Night Move to get around, now is the perfect time to start. Book a seat for this weekend at www.thenightmove.com/booking. Then ask the bus driver for a token for a free People Mover ride; AND use your ticket for a discount on a Michigan Green Cab ride, to get you the rest of the way home. The savings here are AMAZING, no?

ACCESS DETROIT is tonight!

Free block party in Detroit tonight! Celebrate the grand opening of the Cadillac Book Hotel and check out this awesome event.

And don't forget to book the free shuttle! Do it on the Night Move website. You know you want to.

For more details on Access Detroit, check out the site here.

Public Transit NOW

I went to a Model D event last night on public transportation in Detroit. One speaker said mass transit is the crucial element to connecting social and commercial centers, and that without such connectivity, we can never expect our city to grow or the community of suburbs and city to fuse.

You've heard talk about the light rail system that's being planned. Did you know the reason they're funding it privately, at least for stage one, to get it built as quickly as possible? Asking for federal funding would push the timeline at least five years. They're trying to do something about our public transit problem now.

The Night Move is a step in that direction. It's something we can use now.

If you're our fan on Facebook...

Hey fans!

Go to http://www.thenightmove.com/booking. Enter coupon code FANS to get 20% off your ride this weekend!

Just our little way of saying thanks for being you.

(If you're not our fan, this is the perfect time to become one.)

AND now you can book on your iPhone or Blackberry! Just show the driver the confirmation screen instead of a printed ticket. How great is that?!

See you there!

Detroit is awesome.

Read this, from Model D, by U of M kid Kimberly Chou: "Maize, Blue and Detroit, Too: U-M Grads Find Promise in City's Future."

The Night Move introduces mobile booking!

Did you know you can now book a ride on The Night Move using your iPhone or Blackberry? Just go to www.thenightmove.com/booking, like you would on your computer, and go through the booking process. Then, to get on the bus, you can show the confirmation screen on your phone to Dupree* instead of a paper ticket.

So if you're out Friday night and decide to hop on The Night Move to get you around between Royal Oak, Ferndale and Detroit, pull out that iPhone! Note: if no one in your group has an iPhone, I suggest you be the first. That way you not only have access to The Night Move mobile booking, but you also have a super sweet phone and all your loser friends will be jealous because they're still living in the past.

See you on the bus!


*For those of you who don't know, Dupree is our all-star, totally awesome and huge superhero driver. If you haven't met him yet, do yourself a favor. The guy is quite a character.