User:T Garth

Please leave comments on my talk page. Thanks.

I am a Wiki neophyte whose primary contribution to date has been helping lengthen the list of "Important persons who were born or lived in Detroit" to almost unmanageable proportions. This is because I, too, was born in Detroit (but don't yet qualify for inclusion in Wikidom). Like many other native Detroiters, however, I'm quick to point out prideful claims related to my hometown (which I expand to include its suburbs) because Detroit often gets such a bad rap in the national and international media, e.g. "Murder City".

Also like many native Detroiters whose creative ambitions transcend automotive design, I left town: First, for corporate life in New York City (northern New Jersey, actually). Then for urban refugee status in northern Michigan (Traverse City and Leelanau County, specifically). At present, I live in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield. Consequently, I have been making Wiki contributions to articles related to those places, as well.

A "sense of place" is important to my nature. I like real cities and real towns with real neighborhoods; real countryside and real wilderness--places on a pedestrian scale where one can easily explore and interact with people and things. I deplore the alienating landscape of automobile-dominated sprawl with its big-box shopping centers, cul-de-sac subdivisions, fast food cuisine and its culture of consumption. But it's unlikely I'll dive into articles on urban planning, new urbanism, smart growth, or historic preservation because it's hard for me to maintain a NPOV on those topics.

Beyond that, my interests are wide and varied, so for me the world of Wiki is an ideal diversion.