Detroit's abandoned tunnel systems open door to another world
Cities like Detroit, Seattle, Chicago, and others sit atop forgotten layers of tunnels, streets, and service networks—remnants of past engineering projects, fires, floods, and urban redesigns that have literally buried earlier versions of the city. Commenters trade examples of underground tours, salt mines, steam tunnels, and cross-border passages, often approached today through urban exploration rather than formal preservation. These hidden spaces spark wider reflection on how boldly cities once reshaped themselves compared with today’s political resistance to change in areas like housing, zoning, and infrastructure.
Underground / Raised Cities and Tunnels
- Multiple cities have abandoned or repurposed underground levels:
- Seattle’s “Underground” is an older street level buried when the city raised streets after fires and flooding; original first/second stories became basements.
- Similar cases cited in Chicago, Sacramento, Atlanta, Tacoma, Butte (MT), and “Underground Atlanta.”
- Explanations: in older times, abandonment plus erosion and regrading bury structures; in modern cities, deliberate elevation for drainage, sewers, and rebuilding after fires.
- Detroit-specific mentions include salt mines (formerly toured), brine wells, and tunnels under the Detroit River for rail and cars.
- Some commenters describe campus, hospital, and university steam-tunnel systems as large, semi-hidden networks; others mention Detroit’s media-building tunnel and Chicago freight tunnels.
Urban Exploration and Access
- Many enjoy YouTube and in-person exploration of disused tunnels and “backrooms”-like spaces.
- Descriptions emphasize surreal, time-capsule environments, graffiti, and odd architecture.
- Access is often semi-forbidden; people mention workarounds (bad locks, clothing and props like high-vis vests/clipboards) but also flag confined spaces as dangerous.
- One commenter notes the most interesting sites are those left untouched and respected by explorers.
Cities, Housing, and Remote Work
- Some see past large-scale regrading and rebuilding as evidence of former willingness to radically reshape cities, contrasting it with current difficulty changing zoning or making cities more walkable.
- Explanations for today’s inertia: entrenched property interests, “vetocracy,” long-lived codebases as analogy, and NIMBY-style constraints even in new areas.
- Debate on housing:
- One side stresses insufficient housing in high-opportunity areas, exclusionary zoning, and unoccupied units as a smaller issue that would fade if building were easier.
- Others question market distortions, note typical vacancy for turnover, and argue heritage rules can also over-preserve “garbage” buildings.
- Remote work is seen by some as partial relief for housing pressure and a way to spread economic activity; others argue it can’t solve housing for non-remote jobs and sometimes drives up prices in smaller towns.
Article Quality and Media Economics
- Several find the Detroit article error-prone (typos, awkward phrasing) and speculate about rushed writing, over-reliance on automated checks, or general decline in local newspaper resources.
- A few discuss specific grammatical issues; motives such as “trap” errors for plagiarism or LLMs are floated but dismissed as less likely than simple sloppiness.
Borders and Crossings
- On Detroit–Windsor crossings, some recall pre‑9/11 ease and now see more documentation and questioning.
- Others maintain that access remains relatively straightforward with proper ID.
- Future pedestrian/bike access on the new bridge is noted positively.
Preservation vs. Redevelopment
- One view: the U.S. is too quick to tear down instead of repair; we under-preserve history.
- Counterview: we over-preserve non-historic structures, blocking energy efficiency and development, and “historic character” rules can harm others’ material interests.