Ore. Town Steers Clear of Detroit

Some folks out West don’t think Detroit sounds like a nice place to visit. They’d rather stand up and tell ’em they’re from Detroit Lake.

Voters in the tourist town of Detroit, Ore., will decide Tuesday whether to change its name. The village of about 300 residents, nestled in the Cascades foothills, is known for its boating and skiing–not crime, failing schools or a shaky auto industry.

Builder Doug DeGeorge, who was instrumental in putting the proposal on the ballot, said the name “Detroit” carries an unsavory image.

{snip} The business of changing the name of a city to sever perceived links to Detroit isn’t new. East Detroit voters in 1992 changed their city’s name to Eastpointe.

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“The country has a very poor image of Detroit, and if you want to get away from that, it makes sense to look into changing the name.”

Alabama, Maine and Texas all have towns named Detroit, and there’s a Detroit Lakes in Minnesota.

DeGeorge said he expects the measure to pass.

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