Detroit

It must be Detroit's local color. Not easily duplicated

Long story, but 15+ years ago, SF was in the running as best SC city ... any of us who traveled to other pretender-to-the-throne cities always found nothing compared. Been contemplating writing an article about the tragic first-to-worst fall of SF, but every time I think about it, I start sobbing

It's because Motörhead lives there.

Seriously though for someone that's seen the majority of larger cities in the USA and Canada...

What makes a difference:

1. Name another city where you get a lap dance in a private, curtained off booth/room and nobody checks on you? Yes there are club(s) in cities that do this but is this the norm for every single club in that city? Only in Detroit.

2. The lure of Casinos, which is some parts of the USA that's not a big deal but in many others, it is.

3. A large city whose economy isn't doing well, which equals strippers who will do whatever they need to earn a living. Example: girls in Texas aren't doing this because their economy is good, and they can find decent paying normal jobs. I can't even begin to tell you how many Detroit strippers have told me they are stripping because they cannot find any other forms of work.

4. An area where enough businessmen "day-club" enabling clubs to stay open during the day and be successful (off the top of my head only Dallas comes to mind as another city that can pull this off).

5. Club atmosphere. I can't think of another city where the clubs are so grand and decorated better. Detroit club owners put in some effort on making their clubs look and feel nice, because they are competing with each other. The nicest clubs in Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Cleveland would be considered lower tier in decor quality when compared to Detroit clubs.

6. You're in the Midwest, and you're in Detroit. Generally you're going to get less "attitude" from a dancer coming out of the Midwest versus the north east, west coast or Florida. Ever have a conversation with a stripper from Detroit? Most haven't traveled much compared to a Vegas, Miami, or Atlanta stripper hence less ego and arrogance to deal with. That haven't seen much, they are easy to impress.

Where Detroit doesn't have an advantage:

1. Only one club has girls going nude, and it's not even all the girls that work there.

2. The strippers overall are average looking at best. Many other cities quality of girls blows Detroit strippers away, but they don't do what Detroit girls do in the VIP.

Other cities that can "hang" with Detroit? Id like to know, the only one I can think of is Toronto. Montreal would be in the mix too but to get extras there you have to visit one of the clubs that are way outside city limits.

Not sure how it is now, but a few years ago, Providence, Rhode Island had a very similar vibe to Detroit.

I've only SCed in Detroit once – my biggest takeaway is the ease of extras where often times you don't even have to ask – it's pretty much the norm and as a custy just getting LDs seems to kinda make you the oddball.

Seems like the top clubs are owned by that Alan dude – I wonder if he set the template/bar and everyone else has no choice but to follow suit – i.e. dude offers upscale clubs and dancers with UHM.

Bribery. The cops and politicians in Detroit and other poor cities (Inkster, Romulus, Lincoln Park, etc) in Wayne County can be bought, and so they don't crack down on shenanigans in strip clubs. On the other hand, Oakland County, north of Detroit, is a strip club desert.

The Detroit area has many poor communities which supply the strippers for the clubs, but it also has middle class and wealthy suburbs that supply the clubs' customers. And girls from Michigan are all whores.

lol Jackslash (who knows much more about Detroit than me) sums up my long winded explanation very quickly.

If you want to learn more about how underfunded Detroit municipalities are, watch Anthony Bordain's "Parts Unknown" about Detroit - one of my favorite episodes of a place in the USA.

"Not sure how it is now, but a few years ago, Providence, Rhode Island had a very similar vibe to Detroit."

• right it WAS awesome but not anymore - they cracked down there to a great extent."

Portland is like the opposite of Detroit, I wish Portland would swing more in Detroit's direction. They are trying to class up strip clubs around here. What? It's a strip club for Christ sake, we're not talking about Church.

^^ Jacktrash? You hit a new low for your comment about Detroit's womenwomen. On the other hand I doubt many dancers live in the city. It's too dangerous, or too expensive, depending on where you want to live. I'll leave it at that.

Are any of the Detroit clubs downtown and in a decent area near hotels and the business district, if there is one? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I've never been there before. I've heard people say the city is rough, but wasn't sure if the whole city was or just certain parts. I might be up that way this summer, so was considering visiting.

Thanks for any info.

I've been to Detroit dozens of times and had no issues.

Downtown there is Legends (relatively new) and Bouzoukis (no extras). I'm not sure if I'd be roaming the streets in downtown Detroit late at night but on the weekends there's a lot of bars downtown so there's a lot of people in certain areas and it's safe (just like any other larger city).

Now, most of the clubs are on 8 Mile (which is about 20-30 minutes from downtown) and it's safe to drive on that road at night, but I wouldn't be stopping for gas at 2AM. Another popular area for some clubs is Dearborn which is near the airport (about 15-20 minutes from downtown) and that area is much safe, I wouldn't be afraid to be pumping gas at 2AM in that area.

Check out this guide I wrote up awhile back - should answer all of your questions:

tuscl.net

I was in Detroit last month, and it seemed there was some cracking down of in clubs in Detroit. Inkster and Dearborn were still good.

"I was in Detroit last month, and it seemed there was some cracking down of in clubs in Detroit. Inkster and Dearborn were still good."

• please elaborate!

DivorcedDude, the best strip clubs are not in downtown Detroit. The 8 Mile Road clubs like Penthouse, Trumpps, Coliseum are on northern border of the city. These clubs are safe to visit as long as you use valet parking and don't wonder around the neighborhood. You can find hotels in nearby suburbs of Southfield and Farmington Hills.

There are good clubs in the suburbs, mostly along Michigan Avenue. Flight Club, BT's, Criket, Bogart's, and Landing Strip are in ugly commercial areas of the suburbs but the neighborhoods are not dangerous. These clubs are near the airport, and you can find chain hotels around the airport and close to the clubs.

DivorcedDude, the best part of Detroit is downtown. That's where most of the city's money is being put into, and would be the biggest business district (that and mid town / New Center area). Almost everything else is trash.

Downtown has nice restaurants and a variety of bars as well as Greektown Casino (which is probably in last place after MGM and Motor City, but I'm sure it's still decent and I've had a lot of clients who gamble there spend lots of money.

There are only two strip clubs downtown, Legends and Bouzouki. Legends is new, very beautiful interior, same ownership as Players on 8 mile, some extras, but not good quality of girls. Bouzouki is more of a neighborhood bar feel, has been around for a long time, has no extras (but high contact dances depending on the girl) and has a better dancer quality than Legends (at least on night shifts).

All the 8 mile clubs are big on extras. So is Flight Club by the airport. There are also some dives that are big on extras but I don't feel like getting into that because I don't do dives.

And for the OP, I honestly think Alan has had a lot to do with how the Detroit SC scene has evolved.

Like shailynn, I wrote a Detroit Strip Club Guide as an article 4 years ago. It may be useful for visitors.

tuscl.net

I forgot to add there were some raids a couple weeks ago - Legends and Bouzouki downtown, and on 8 mile: Players, Coliseum, BTs.

Awesome info. Really appreciate it. Thanks Shailynn, Jack, Nina, and rl27!

In regards to the original question, I think Detroit evolved in the 90's sometime into a great strip club city.

Back then, it's my understanding that a lot of the automobile related industries spent BIG money on the wine and dine type of client deal. Many of the people in the auto industry had expense accounts in which they could spend money on clients and a lot of that money went to entertaining clients at strip clubs.

Then, laws changed with the amounts businesses and people could write off for tax purposes, the auto industry went in the tank for most of the 2000 years and expense accounts got slimmed back or canned all together.

Now, it's kind of like the genie in the bottle thing. Once you let the "extras" genie out, it's hard to get it back in the lamp. Many customers in Detroit expect more than just a dance. And it continues to this day at many of the clubs.

I imagine a big part of it is pure economics. After the real estate bubble popped, housing eventually bounced back... everywhere but detroit.

My understanding is its also a city that hasn't gentrified much in the past 20 years. There's been a real trend towards hipsters and others moving into downtown areas. Detroit is largely a city where people work downtown and live in the suburbs. So the actual city of detroit lacks the sort of social conservatives who push a crackdown on clubs.

Plus, as we've discussed plenty here, strip club busts are expensive for what they yield. If I'm the chief or police or mayor of detroit, I care way more about meth and heroin than extras.

Thank you all for your insights, which for me are very timely. I have never been to Detroit, but will be there this weekend for a whirlwind tour. I only recently found out I'd be in the area, and have been doing my TUSCL research for a couple of weeks. For a guy like me who likes extras and prefers dives to divas and does not have unlimited funds (and only a few days/nights to devote to clubbing), it seems like I'm best off hitting the suburbs (Romulus, Inkster, Dearborn). Watch for reviews next week. In the meantime, any additional suggestions from the experts based on the current SC climate in the area would be much appreciated!

What you have in Detroit is nothing special. Providence is better. Why? If you want a casino there's one in Lincoln and two huge ones in Connecticut. Lap dances are private and full contact. Extras are available, but the are available with pretty women with more, way more ethnic variety than Detroit. Club Desire is packed daytimes and has the single best private room set-up in America. $35 to the house 100 to the dancer for 15 minutes in a small room with a couch, a table, a lamp, a door, no camera and the only time you see staff is when they knock and say times up want more. Want skivvy white girls giving you a handjob during a $20 lap dance? Southern mass is close. Providence has better restaurants than Boston, less traffic, less crime and highway access. Comments regarding social conservatives are simply moronic as strip club crack downs have been based on the falsehood of sex trafficking and that is strictly an issue for the pussies we call progressives. Providence is good because it was the center of the Mafia around here and old ways die hard.

EastCoaster, if you like dives and cheap extras, I recommend Bogart's on Michigan Ave and Henry VIII on Middlebelt in Inkster.

JamesSD: "So the actual city of detroit lacks the sort of social conservatives who push a crackdown on clubs." I have to disagree with you here. Detroit has a strong contingent of black churches and ministers who hate strip clubs and want them all shut down. They pushed thru some very restrictive strip club regulations a few years ago. However, the regulations are not enforced. I don't understand why, because I know the police and politicians would never accept bribes.

The regulations are not enforced but as I recall, some other group of LE surfaced kind of recently (summer before last) and did a spree of raids. Another spree of raids happened a couple weeks ago but that was DPD I believe

"1. Name another city where you get a lap dance in a private, curtained off booth/room and nobody checks on you? Yes there are club(s) in cities that do this but is this the norm for every single club in that city? Only in Detroit. "

Almost all the non-alcohol clubs in San Francisco! SF clubs have other problems, but curtained-off booths that are not bouncer-patrolled is not one of them.

We call that City Providence SUB. We also have full liquor with nudity.

Completely agree with Subraman. Once upon a time, had some of the best times in SF SCs. Now, not sure I would waste any money there. Politicians, activists and LE fucked it all up.

Based on my travels, Detroit is the hands down winner with something for everyone's taste and budget.

Question -- if one is flying into BOS Logan and taking MBTA to one's hotel, how does one get to Providence, RI??

"I was in Detroit last month, and it seemed there was some cracking down of in clubs in Detroit. Inkster and Dearborn were still good."

• please elaborate!

I was in Detroit around the 23rd and 24th, and the dancers were a bit more cautious than the last time I visited in July Several dancers mentioned some raids at a few downtown clubs a week or two before, which I verified from several other web sites.

Soooo....when is the next Detroit tuscl meeting going to happen ?

Stayed overnight in Detroit for the first time a few weeks ago after hitting PHC on 8 Mile. Stayed at a Hyatt in a town called Livonia. Seemed like a very nice and safe area, and was an easy drive to get to PHC.