Detroit - May 2009

Do a trip report here....go to another city and want to relate it to what KC is doing right or could do better? Give us a summary in here.
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blackbird
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Detroit - May 2009

Post by blackbird »

As some of you know, I was born and raised in Detroit, attended school in Ann Arbor and have only been in Kansas City for just over 2 years.  This past weekend, I was back in Detroit and spent a few hours in the city for the first time since I have been gone, and the stark differences were somewhat emotional for me. 

Being down here during the worst of the economic situation, the biggest drops in the auto industry, etc. has somewhat isolated me from it, but with family and friends still up there, it all hits pretty close to home.  I decided to visit a few of the sites that were iconic for me growing up to see how they'd changed.

Here's a few pictures.

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Michigan Central Station, the one at the center of the debate about being torn down.  It is pretty intense standing in front of this building - it is beautiful and tragic.  Debris and graffiti everywhere, and when you turn around, this is the scene in front of it:
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and this:
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Here are a few closer up images:
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After Central Station, we headed through Corktown, an old Irish area of Detroit.  One of the first miles of brick road in the nation.
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In the background of the above picture, you see a stadium.  That's the old Tiger Stadium, which actually now looks like this:
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There has been a debate for years, ever since Comerica Park (where the Tigers now play) opened, about what to do with this stadium.  They've started and stopped demolition several times, as is evident by the chopped off sides.  It used to be an entire circle, and that bumper is where the outfield once stood. 

For perspective, here is Central Station looming in the background.
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Think pedestrian issues are bad here?  This is the condition of the sidewalk along what used to be the outside wall of the stadium:
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Then I headed more towards the business district.  This area has gotten significantly better since I left, and I was really impressed at the progress in public spaces and mixed use buildings downtown.
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Here is the recently restored Book-Cadillac outside:
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and inside:
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The view from Campus Martius, sort of like Barney Allis:
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Again from Campus Martius:
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Compuware is headquartered downtown, and their atrium is incredible.  Also, the first two floors of the building hold a bookstore, a Hard Rock cafe, a coffeeshop, a place to get tours of Detroit, and a number of other retail/food type stores.  All seemed to be fairly busy.
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The Fisher Building, where most of the radio stations broadcast from:
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A snippet of Greektown, some of the best and most authentic Greek food in the country:
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Here's where things started getting more difficult.  We ventured into some neighborhoods roughly a mile from downtown.  I'm not going to say much about the individual pictures, but here's a sampling of what we saw.  For location perspective, we roughly stayed in the vicinity of St. Aubin street.
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The neighborhoods are significantly worse than they were when I left.  It's incredible.  And there are still people living in a number of those houses.  Structurally, there's no way I can see it being feasible to keep 90% of them.  It's time to rebuild entirely.  This was much, much worse than I had imagined.  That said, downtown was a lot better than I had expected.

There are plenty more where these came from - if you're interested, I can send you a link to the rest of the photos. 
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Midtownkid
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by Midtownkid »

Wow, one of the best photos posts on here in a long time.  Thanks for all the great pics and info.  Detroit is one of the most fascinating cities in the US (mostly for bad reasons).  It's so sad how a great American city can become that!  The train terminal and the surrounding area is so sad...imagine if we had continued to let our Union Station, Liberty Memorial, and Crossroads area rot like that.  I am glad to see that downtown is turning around a bit...I guess there is some hope left!  Man, those central neighborhoods are just a total wreck.  I still vividly remember seeing blocks of burned out, one gorgeous Victorian houses.  What a total waste.  :shock: :(
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by GRID »

Thanks for this.  It’s interesting to see this from your perspective.  My last visit to Detroit was just as you described.  Downtown really surprised me, but most areas outside of Downtown were still in a mass state of decay.

Here is an aerial photo I took of the Central Station.

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While I was taking aerials, I noticed that much of the inner city housing stock was burned and had not been torn down.  There was at least one fire going on at the time.  It was really almost surreal.  You have houses that try to keep maintained and occupied next to four story burnt out structures.

Downtown has really come back though.  I don’t think it has near the residential population that Downtown KC has, but it seems to have a much larger business community.  I could be wrong though.
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by LenexatoKCMO »

Seems like that train station with the tower and the large base would have made an ideal structure for conversion to either an upscale convention hotel or a hotel/casino.  Too bad the economics aren't there to support such a business. 
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blackbird
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by blackbird »

LenexatoKCMO wrote: Seems like that train station with the tower and the large base would have made an ideal structure for conversion to either an upscale convention hotel or a hotel/casino.  Too bad the economics aren't there to support such a business. 
I don't know that it's the case that the economics aren't there to support a business of that type - I think it's just that there already are businesses of that type there.  There are a number of large hotels downtown, there is a huge convention center already (where the North American International Auto Show is held), and there are already 3 large casinos with hotels downtown.  In addition to the 3 casinos already downtown, right across the river in Windsor, ON there are at least 2 or 3 large casinos with hotels.
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by Roanoker »

Great pics! I can certainly understand your sorrow when you compare what you see now with what you remember in the past. The train station reminded me of our own Union Station in Kansas City. It was an exciting, glorious place in the 40s and early 50s. My family came from St. Louis, and that's where the train took us. The train station there was impressive as well.

There was a time when most everybody traveled by train rather than by air, and there were no interstates. So the sheer volume of passengers justified giant train stations. And they were built to last forever. But when they outlive their usefulness, they essentially die, forming their own massive tombstones. It is indeed sad.  :(
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geeman68
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by geeman68 »

I'm heading off to Detroit for the Memorial weekend to see my partner.  He is most likely moving to Kansas City soon as he knows I probably wouldn't be very happy in Detroit, let alone trying to find a new job up in that area. 
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Highlander
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by Highlander »

Wow, those are some sad photos.  Detroit has some beautiful old buildings though.  I fly through there a lot but never spend any time in the city.  Here are some pictures I found on the net....

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotos ... 63754.html
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by loftguy »

Highlander wrote: Wow, those are some sad photos.  Detroit has some beautiful old buildings though.  I fly through there a lot but never spend any time in the city.  Here are some pictures I found on the net....

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotos ... 63754.html
Highlander, thanks.

Extraordinary photos of beautiful corpses.

Twelve or more years ago I was hired to consult in Detroit.  First visit, I was left having trouble processing all that I was seeing.  Second visit, the archaeologist/scavanger/salvager in me kicked in and I could imagine setting up shop to ship the amazing bones lying everywhere to growing cities.  Third visit, I was morbidly depressed, ended my consultation gig and determined to not return.

I'm glad to hear that downtown is showing signs of life.  When I was last there, the casinos were about to start construction and a massive office building was being built for a hometown tech concern, and I held out little hope........
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by Highlander »

loftguy wrote: Highlander, thanks.

I'm glad to hear that downtown is showing signs of life.  When I was last there, the casinos were about to start construction and a massive office building was being built for a hometown tech concern, and I held out little hope........
I've always wondered how the recent Arabic influx has impacted the economy in Detroit.  I think they've settled mostly in the burbs but not sure.  Middle easterners can be really entreprenureal people. 
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by FangKC »

It's too bad that we can't create some sort of legal immigration reform policy that encourages new residents to come to the USA and settle in cities like Detroit to help rebuild and repopulate them.  Sort of a waiver on the lottery system in that if you agree to come to Detroit and live there for 10 years, you get automatic entry after background check.  After the 10 years are up, you can become a citizen.
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by kazman »



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Haven't been back to Detroit Metro area since 1997,

lived there 10 yrs +



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FangKC
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by FangKC »

This thread reminded me of this web site showing abandoned houses in Detroit.

http://www.100abandonedhouses.com/
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by Highlander »

It's been a while since I've driven through the heart of KC's worst residential areas.  I went to the zoo recently and there was nothing as bad as what we see in the pictures of Detroit here along the way but I seem to remember some pretty crumbling residential areas with a lot of houses torn down and others in states of disrepair.  Some of that is visible from I-70 and 71 highways.  On Google the empty lots where houses have been torn down are abundant and pretty obvious. 
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Re: Detroit - May 2009

Post by FangKC »

More images from the book Ruins of Detroit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/2 ... tml#218521
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