If you're from Detroit, you learn to get used to people talking about your beloved city as if it's in a post-apocalyptic dystopian movie. But the misconception still stings, especially when it comes from The New York Times.

"Even Detroit has restaurants like Slows Bar-B-Q, which are destination restaurants in the middle of urban wastelands," Times columnistDavid Brooks said in a conversation published Wednesday. It seems like an off-the-cuff remark meant to highlight how cities are becoming better and better places to live, but instead just came out patronizing and plain offensive.

Worse, it's false.

"The man clearly needs to visit before popping off," Deadline Detroit's Alan Stamm retorted.

To be fair, there are pockets of Detroit where there are far more vacant buildings than lived-in ones, and it's one of the city's biggest challenges. And what makes a "wasteland" could be in the eye of the beholder -- to people used to the glitz and crowded streets of New York, an underpopulated rustbelt city is always going to look a little desolate. Across the street from the barbecue restaurant Brooks mentions is the hulking, abandoned train station that often appears alongside stories about Detroit's hardships.