why I moved

[adrian_turtle]

As many of you know, I used to live in southeast Michigan. I have fond and blurry memories of ConFusion, my first con. (Not just blurred by the passage of decades. I was bewildered while I was there, but I liked it anyhow.) In thinking about whether to go to Arisia this weekend, I wondered if ConFusion was this weekend as well. It's not, it's next week, FWIW.

But while I was there, I poked around a bit to see what they were doing this year. They have a section for "Public Transit," on the page of hotel information. I was delighted! The Detroit area has very little public transit, but even having a few buses can help a lot.

Public Transit

From Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Take the service drive to I-94 West. Proceed on I-94 West to I-275 North. Continue on I-275 North to Exit 167 (8 Mile Road). Turn left (West) on 8 Mile Road to Haggerty Road. Turn right (North) on Haggerty Road and continue 0.25 miles to the hotel. The hotel is on the left.

They go on to give driving directions from Detroit, Ann Arbor, Southfield, and Brighton. (Not the Brighton you've heard of. The one with the finest downhill skiing between Toledo and Lansing.) The helpful information page was put together by some well-intentioned person who thinks it's obvious that "public transit" means transportation that the public can use. Like, highways. What other way is there to go any significant distance?

My local convention offers directions by Car, Truck, Airplane, Train/Bus, Bicycle, Foot. (Trucks cannot follow the same route as cars in that neighborhood.) The person who put together the helpful information page points to the website of the local transit system in case some readers want to know more. But they generally assume that con-goers know what public transit is, how to take a subway train, etc. It's a different world.

Comments

[kate_schaefer]

"...the finest downhill skiing between Toledo and Lansing..."

I just had to admire that phrase all on its own there. I grew up in Ohio, so I know exactly what it means

[adrian_turtle]

My high school had a ski team, and they really did go out to Brighton to practice. Closer to home, my town only had a hill big enough for tobogganing because they built it when I was a baby. They dug the foundation for the new elementary school, piled up the dirt, and put sod on it.

[redbird]

The weird thing is that they used the phrase at all, rather than just "transportation" or "getting to the con."

[silveradept]

Yep, that makes disappointing sense, and not just because there really isn't any kind of regional public transit for much of the area.

Good that the new place has so many different options.

[evalerie]

Or maybe the Public Transit section is blank, since there is no transportation, and the following section is called "From Detroit Metropolitan Airport." Probably not, but maybe?

[adrian_turtle]

It really isn't. Look at the bottom of the page. https://2025.confusionsf.org/hotel-information/
If they'd said "Directions" or something cute like "Approaching ConFusion" rather than "Public Transit," it would have been perfectly reasonable.

[evalerie]

Wow. They are really not getting it.