I know the city of Detroit gets frequently bashed.

Sometimes it is deserved. How can you possibly defend the juvenile behavior of Kwame Kilpatrick? The former mayor turned the Manoogian Mansion into a fraternity house. He thanked the citizens of the city who elected him by abusing his position of power and getting tossed into jail.

Too many areas of the city are post-apocalyptic landscapes. Some neighborhoods are virtually unlivable. There’s too much crime and too few jobs and the rusted, graffiti-endorsed remnants of the Industrial Revolution are plentiful.

Still, that is hardly the sum total of the city. Detroit has a decided pulse if you care to listen.

My wife, Kim, and I spend a lot of time in the city and we always enjoy ourselves.

This past Saturday night, we were at the UDetroit Café on Randolph in Harmonie Park. Our son’s band, Green Collar, was playing. It is a great venue and it was overflowing with a young, vibrant crowd.

Nearly every Saturday morning we head to the Eastern Market. In addition to shopping for produce and other things, we eat at the Farmers Restaurant. Kim loves their homemade corned beef hash, which bears absolutely no resemblance to the stuff that is spooned out of the can. I am more partial to a dish called the Farmers Mess, which is a delicious concoction of potatoes, ham, eggs, cheese and green peppers. That mushroom cloud forming is your diet that has just been nuked.

We love the city’s street festivals that pop up during the summer months. The Detroit Riverfront has come a long, long way in the last decade or so. We embrace the professional sports teams that all have a 313 area code.

There are other great entertainment venues, too. Cliff Bell’s is a marvelous jazz club on Park Avenue. The Majestic Theater beckons on Woodward Avenue and the Old Miami is a bar on Cass that hides an oasis out back.

That is hardly scratching the surface. There is plenty more to appreciate in Detroit. It just takes a little searching.

Sure the city has problems. It is way too early to do an obituary, though.

This is a Thank You note, not a eulogy.