RustTown

Ha! Isn't it sad that doing a job competently gets rave reviews? Sometimes, it gets me how poor customer service has become in so many fields.

Are we still talking the New Center lines, because if so, aren't they above grade through most of midtown? BTW, I hate the "well, this is Detroit" to try and explain why second best is "good enough" for Detroit. I wrote back my New Center Council contact, last night, and she said that they don't know how they are going to finance the station. MDOT is putting in part of the money, but they aren't sure how they are going to make up the rest of the cost. It seems that this is less a solid proposal than I thought, and more a weak concept/vision. However, she said that MDOT (which owns the site) will be doing site prep work this summer (i.e. site clean-up/some small demolition, etc.) in anticipation of something happening, but there are no solid plans as of today.

It's a suface lot, and too large if you ask me. IMO, as currently displayed there, this won't be much of an improvement, at all.

Yes, and I'd never noticed that it really does look like a Taco Bell, and a very badly designed taco bell, at that. lol! Still, it's no worse (and maybe even better) than the literal shack-of-a-station we have here in Lansing. There is a landscape site plan concept, but no rendering that I've seen: Checking back through my old emails, I see almost exactly a year ago the New Center Council informed me that what was holding this up was that Amtrak and MDOT were refusing to give the money to have this completed as they were working out their schedules. Why nothing has happened a year later is beyond me.

Speak of the devil, I actually wrote the police department of "Another Large City on the Side of the State Who's Name Can Not Be Mentioned" about a similar question and, to my own surprise, to be quite honest, they got back to me in the next business day about the question (i.e. I emailed my question the night of the 8th, and they got back to me today). Perhaps, customer service is back in style. lol

Yeah, I guess it's government wrangling holding this one up (as usual with project using federal money). It's the same proposal its always been.

When you make it over to the west side, believe, it will be hard as heck to miss from almost any slightly elevated part of that side of the city. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

It was the original layout of French ribbon farms. They went back two and three miles deep from the river to give more farmer more access to the river. It's why city centers of New Orleans, St. Louis, Windsor...are set up the way they are, as well. But, yeah, Detroit's last boom was too late to add anything much else to downtown. The last boom was built on the back of the automobile, and it shows in how the central city was almost completely forgotten by developers and city government (with the only one paying attention to it being those private sector leaders that had been downtown for years (i.e. Hudson's)), and how almost all of Detroit's new development was concentrated on sprawling the city to fill its borders, and driving through freeways. Detroit's last boom (post late-20's) did little for downtown outside of creating new suburban lands within the city to serve the downtown, but about that time, these areas were already looking northwards and westwards for retail and entertainment making downtown more and more irrelevant.

The developers were hoping to expand downtown. It just never panned out like that. It's the same reason why New Center was never completed. If these two areas would have been built earlier they may have had a chance, but about time they got off the ground, Detroit was developing as an auto-oriented sprawled metropolis. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Detroit's inner city began its decline in population and new construction a good 20 or so years before the cities overall decline in population.

Hawk Island County ParK http://www.ingham.org/pk/ Hawk Island County Park is unique in that it's a county park completely surrounded by an urban city, one of the few in Michigan. It was originally Sablain's Gravel Co. Gravel pit excavated in the 1940's. It was transformed into a park between 1999 and 2001.

Just noticed this one, but someone has GOT to get this shot, but panned further to both sides. What an amazing shot!

Maybe, it's I-96 going out of the central core where it's most visible. Either way, growing up not too far from it perhaps it was just something I always used as a landmark, kind of like the Fisher Building was always more a landmark for me than anywhere downtown.

The first thing I've always noticed coming into central Detroit from the west on I-96 is the Lee Plaza off in the distance. Being the tallest thing around for quite a ways, it really sticks out in an unnerving way.

The MCS seems like such a difficult reuse, with the location being a major hinderance. I could see it being a trade center, though, given its location, but not much else. BTW, does anyone have any contact info for Controlled Terminals, or whatever its called? You know, the owning company of the MCS? Controlled Terminals doesn't even have a website.

The size and location make it really hard to photograph accurately, but I'll see what I can get. I'm not promising anything, though. I'm not really a big fan of the thing. They designed a suburban-styled school in every sense of the word (i.e. huge setback from the streets, surrounded by parking...) right in the middle of the Eastside, and it may lead to the historic Pattengill being demoed.

Allan, since you have a very good take on Southwest Detroit (probably one of the most alien parts of the city to me), why do you think Matty, being advanced in age without much time left here, is trying so hard to make things difficult with the community groups of Southwest Detroit? I mean, realizing that he's far too old for money to matter much, anymore, why isn't he concerned about leaving a positive legacy in that area of Detroit? Seriously, he wouldn't have to do much to get a lot of praise. I don't much like to judge people I haven't met, but I've heard nothing but negative things about how the guy interacts with the city, and the fact that he was such a large contributor to Kwame (I hear) leaves me with an even worse impression of the guy. Southwest Detroit is literally one of the most functional parts of the city, and this guy's trying to make its transformation more painful than it has to be.

I don't think that anyone doesn't see the need for a new bridge, but if it means crippling Mexicantown in the process, we all have our misgivings about the current plan.

That shows that there are people that exist who get their information about places soley from the nightly news and other media outlets, and why that's so dangerous. lol

lol at my typo. I'm too old to be so young. Thanks. *EDIT* I found the answer to my own question by simply emailing the GRPD. The count was 24 for 2006.

I've always wanted Detroit to get active like Chicago and a few others cities have in actively trying to attract immigrants to the city. Just imainge how much could be filled in neighborhoods around downtown.

Yeah, the limestone ledges are some of the tallest in the Great Lakes region, supposedly. I've got to get some photos. The downtown overlooks the river and sits over 60 feet above the river. It also has a cool island park. More Ghetto Mansion by MichSt (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12299238@N00)

Wow. Talk about a Freudian slip. lol

It's also great that the population loss as seemed to have ended. Zach, where haven't you been in Southeast Michigan?

Eckert Power Station Cooling Towers Kiddharm - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiddharma/ North Lansing Dam with Ottawa Street Station and Grand Tower in the distance upriver Patrick T Power - http://www.flickr.com/photos/o_caritas/ Grand Ledge limestone ledges jowo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jowo/