Allan

I love that sign they uncovered! They uncovered a bunch of stuff like that down here in Detroit when they were getting ready for the Super Bowl. I'm looking forward to the pics....

Designed by Daniel Burnham, the Ford Building was completed in 1909. The Ford family was in the glass industry, and many of the products used to make glass were mined between Detroit and Toledo. The family established the Edward Ford Glass Company in the 1880s, which later merged with the Libby Glass Company, forming Libby-Owens-Ford. In the second decade of the 20th century, closed coupes became popular, creating an even stronger market for the company.

Basically the owner of the building wants to spend as little money as possible redoing the building, while still charging as much for rent as possible.

Yeah...who paints a historic brick building blue of all colors?

Detroit has been sold for scrap: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/46937&rss=1

That building is the Capitol Square Building (not to be confused with the Capitol Park Building at Griswold & State). It was one of the many buildings in the area that was constructed by Sebastian Kresge. It is undergoing a very slow, low-cost renovation into lofts...they've been working on the building for about three years now, with very little visible progress in the last 6 months.

The Penobscot Building

The Fisher Building Lobby. The lobby contains 41 different kinds of marble, as well as a hand-painted ceiling.

I am. I was reenacting the implosion with my blocks for weeks after that...at least when I wasn't building skyscrapers or something with my legos.

The old IMA was where the William S. White Building on the U of M-Flint campus is. It was imploded about 10 years ago. Actually, it was probably longer ago than that. I remember getting up early to watch on tv, and then the building was so solidly constructed that it did not fall like they had expected it too.

They are working on a new plan to restore the Captiol Theatre. The website is still under construction here: http://capitolrealtyholdings.com/theatre/

Model T Plaza is set back pretty far from Woodward. In fact, it's set back from the street about three times further than the slightly smaller shopping plaza across the street.

I don't believe that they have a master plan. I'm sure they just approve pretty much every development that is proposed. The city definitely has a "we'll take whatever we can get" attitude when it comes to development. I did go lookup some info once at the city offices. I was trying to find out who owned a few buildings that have always fascinated me. I went there with the addresses, and they pretty much told me that they had no idea for two of the buildings - there were not any records of the buildings' existance! Their records are a mess! The city's website has not been updated since April 2005, apparently. http://cityofhighlandpark.org/ The crappy strip mall development that my friend did some work for about 3 or 4 years ago still does not have all the spaces leased. That development was the only building permit pulled in Highland Park that year, too. What's even worse is that the development is located right on Woodward. That is just sad....

Highland Park is reaching a point where everyone who can afford to leave has left. I don't think it can get much worse than it already has. Take a drive up Hamilton and look at all the abandoned buildings, some of which are literally collapsing out onto the sidewalk...or the countless burned out houses. Parts of the city resemble a war zone. A lot of the new developments are suburban in nature. Suburban-style living is seen as an improvement, I guess. Then again, in Highland Park, it could be argued that just about anything is an improvement.

This past week there were more workers at the Fine Arts Building. They also sandblasted all the black crap off that was left around the front entrance when they pulled off the black stone before the Super Bowl. I also noticed a dumpster parked outside the UA, but I haven't seen anybody working there. The C.C. Bar on Cass at Columbia is being cleaned out now. I've seen workmen in there pretty much every day for the last week or so hauling out rusted chairs and tables, and quite a bit of random debris. I did not stop to talk to them, but it looks like something will be happening there soon. In Highland Park I noticed workmen on the roof of the McGregor Public Library. I'm not sure what they were doing, but it's good to see that they aren't just letting the building rot away to nothing, even though the city doesn't have money to keep it open.

Pfft...2 photos or 100...it doesn't matter anymore. This thread needed a revitalization. I could do that myself, except that I am waiting for my new camera to arrive. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow or Monday.

Michigan has this thing with home rule. Citizens in Michigan have a high amount of local control. I grew up in Grand Blanc Township. There was a proposal to merge the city and township into one, but I haven't heard anything about it lately. There was something on the ballot about it the last time I voted, but I don't remember what exactly it was.

I heard there were supposed to be gusts of up to 50mph today. I didn't check the anemometer to see, though. Judging by how the trees were moving, it wouldn't surprise me if he had a few 50mph gusts. That looks like a pretty big tree that came down. We haven't lost any over at my parents' house in Grand Blanc yet, though I wouldn't be surprised if we did.

Detroit was #4 in the 1930 & 1940 census. By 1950, Detroit was #5, as it was overtaken by Los Angeles. I'm having issues formatting the data. The first number is the rank, then the place, then the size (in square miles) and the population desity (in people in square mile) 1930 1 New York city, NY *......6,930,446 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 299.0 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 23,179 2 Chicago city, IL............3,376,438 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 201.9 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 16,723 3 Philadelphia city, PA......1,950,961 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 128.0 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 15,242 4 Detroit city, MI.............1,568,662 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 137.9 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 11,375 5 Los Angeles city, CA.....1,238,048 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 440.3 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 2,812 1940 1 New York city, NY *......7,454,995 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 299.0 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 24,933 2 Chicago city, IL............3,396,808 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 206.7 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 16,434 3 Philadelphia city, PA......1,931,334 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 127.2 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 15,183 4 Detroit city, MI.............1,623,452 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 137.9 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 11,773 5 Los Angeles city, CA.....1,504,277 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 448.3 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 3,356 1950 1 New York city, NY *......7,891,957 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 315.1 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 25,046 2 Chicago city, IL............3,620,962 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 207.5 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 17,450 3 Philadelphia city, PA......2,071,605 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 127.2 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 16,286 4 Los Angeles city, CA......1,970,358 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 450.9 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 4,370 5 Detroit city, MI.............1,849,568 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 139.6 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 13,249 The revised estimate for Detroit city in the 2000 census was something in the neighborhood of 975,000. The population estimate for March 1, 2006 is 886,311, down 6.8% since 2000's official count of 950,270.

I think so, but I'm not 100% certain. I'll ask my friend when I see him at lunch today...he would know.

Detroit's northern sprawl will help Flint out, that's for sure. The southern suburbs of Flint are quickly becoming the northern fringes of metro Detroit. Flint did not fall nearly as hard as Detroit did, so there is much less rebuilding to be done. There's still a ton of work that needs to be done, though. I have confidence that the people of Flint will pull it off. The city has done pretty well when you consider what it's been through with the loss of the auto industry.

The last cement silo on the east riverfront came crashing down about 6:30pm today. There was a large boom that we heard, and driving by later we noticed that it was gone. My friend tells me that the Medusa letters from the top were saved, but nobody seems to know who has them.

Yep, that's the one.

Thanks for the photos! Dtown, I still lurk around these parts, but I'm in Detroit for school, so I have no idea what's going on back in Flint. I rely on people like you to tell me what's happening, haha.

Dtown, my father works at Delphi East as an engineer.