Comment by hpcjoe | Hacker News Reader

Comment by hpcjoe | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

Mario's[1] for excellent Italian food. Xoxhimilco[2] for excellent Mexican food. Antonio's[3] in the burbs. New Peking[4] in GC for excellent Chinese food.

I've lived in Michigan 30 years now. Came here for grad school, first at MSU, then down to Wayne State for Ph.D. Never left.

There is something about this place. Even when we are getting the crap kicked out of us ... we don't give up.

It took a long time to get rid of most of the corrupt city management. Some are still there, and the city council are generally throwbacks to the bad time.

Detroit school system is still ... crap. Private and charter schooling is doing a great job of fixing that, giving parents a choice, and forcing the schools to compete for students. This helps.

There are many other anachronisms throughout the region and state. Some of these are quaint, some of them are incredibly frustrating, off putting, etc.

If we could only attract more money to the area, this would be a great place to form small companies seeking to be large companies. Low burn rates/costs. Lots of talent that wants to escape the autos, and other failed regional initiatives (life science corridor anyone?). Ann Arbor has a nascent/tiny startup scene. Should be bigger.

[1] https://www.facebook.com/detroitmarios/

[2] http://www.xochimilcorestaurant.com/

[3] https://antoniosrestaurants.com/

[4] http://newpekingusa.com/

> Private and charter schooling is doing a great job of fixing that, giving parents a choice

Free private schools?

If not they are giving parents that can afford it a choice. Just like wealthy expats tend to place their kids in good private schools in poor places because they can afford it.

As long as education isn't good for everybody it's just another way to stack the deck.

I would be really interested what you did with your kids'(if you have any) education.

Tell us what you practiced.

They went to public schools where ever we lived.

Thanks for sharing. My kid is not yet at school age, but even though I live in suburbia which is good ISD, people are sending their children to Charters. At some level its a status thing, but for me I am for charters for one reason, because I do not believe in one-size-fits all education.

To be honest the gap between public schools in good ISD and charters is in the eye of beholder and mostly subjective.

I’m not sure what you’re proposing. I grew up in Detroit and went to public schools; I learned nothing in junior high or high school there. What could my parents have done differently? I feel that we should have moved, but my parents were committed to a higher goal and we stayed.

My brother and I had rough lives there, assaults, hate crime, etc. I made sure to settle in a better place now that I have a family.

Charters are generally free, as they have contracts with the state to provide school services. My wife teaches at a local college prep charter high school. Our daughter did both private and public school before college.

Charter schools aren't private though. Bad ones are closed, bad teachers are fired at running schools.

Quite a number of kids come from 15+ miles away to this school, driven there and back by parents daily. They come from school districts which have not been demonstrating successful outcomes, either in terms of retention, or successfully preparing kids for life after school (college, trade/vocational school, etc.)

This said, while it is a college prep school, it isn't a silver bullet. Kids parents need to be engaged and involved. They can't be helicopter parents. Most are though.

This isn't an identity or socioeconomic issue. Kids families in this school range from nearly homeless through extremely wealthy. The school will be good for those who wish to engage. For those who don't and simply want a babysitting service, maybe not so good.

You've included the link to Xochimilco's in Illinois, not Xochimilco Detroit (which apparently doesn't have a web site - but does have a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/XochimilcoDetroit/) But, I will attest to their food being excellent!

Gaak ... thanks!

I'll check those out next time I'm in town.

To add to it, Jeff's Kitchen was some legit authentic Chinese food. Need to order ahead of time, it's that legit, they need to get water spinach from some market a day or two before you want to it.

Rep for Wayne State

Reply on news.ycombinator.com