young children to Detroit institutions in
1994 would probably be a more difficult
decision.
Any fears or misgivings the Primaks
may have had moving in — Would the
children have Jewish friends? (They did
and still do.) Would they be safe? (They
haven't had any security problems in 25
years.) — quickly dissipated. Ms. Primak
says you couldn't drag her away.
"We're 15 minutes from everything.
We can decide at 7 p.m. on a Saturday
evening to go to Orchestra Hall for a con-
cert. A show for us is the Detroit Film
Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts,
dinner is Stewart's on Woodward. There's
a lot of culture and convenience here,"
Ms. Primak said.
"I love driving out on Woodward, too.
The bowling alley, the car wash, the
State Fair grounds. It's urban, it's excit-
ing, it's raw. I'm happiest in a city."
The same lust for street life attracted
Evie Liberman and her husband Mur-
ray to Riverfront Towers.
"This nice Jewish couple had spent 27
years in Southfield. Our 2,000- square-
foot home seemed huge without the chil-
dren. I didn't want to own a home
anymore. It was the same-old, same-old
every day. I couldn't stand driving up the
same driveway anymore. I couldn't stand
the boredom of the suburbs, no down-
town, no central point, no diversity. I
couldn't deal with it anymore," Ms. Liber-
man said.
After considering moves to San Fran-
cisco and Florida, the Libermans decid-
ed to remain in Michigan and moved into
the new high-rises being built on the De-
troit River.
"Our friends were sitting shiver for us.
They thought we'd get killed or raped.
But I love our high-rise. It's so self-con-
tained. There's security, a restaurant,
a bank, a health club, a market," Ms.
Liberman said. "We're on top of every ex-
pressway. We walk to Greektown. We
use the PeopleMover all the time. We live
among the most interesting people. What
more could we want?"
Ten years ago, Mr. Liberman wasn't
so sure he wanted apartment living. Now
he can't fathom functioning another way.
"It broke my heart when we left our
first home on Dexter in Detroit. I never
had the same feeling about another
house again. Those old homes, they had
something built into them," Mr. Liber-
man said. "I figured when we left South-
field we'd move toward West Bloomfield
like everyone else..But I didn't want the
upkeep.
"I'm New York-Bronx born and bred.
The name of the game was survival and
I was used to tenement living. Moving
downtown felt like moving back to the
tenements. It scared the heck out of me."