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Detroit on a Warm February Day (Part III)


Allan

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The long vacant Statler Hotel

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Michigan Mutual Building

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Fyfe Building

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Woodward Avenue

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More of Woodward Avenue. The Lofts at Woodward, which is similar to Merchant's Row across the street was completed last year. It is on the far right.

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The Lofts at Woodward is a great project, but unfortunately has not leased much, if any of the ground floor retail space. Luckily Merchant's Row has had more success in leasing commerical space.

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Book Tower needs a bath! Fortunately it is getting one this year.

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Construction work on Merchant's Row

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I still don't like the parking garage....hopefully they will apply details or something to it.

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The Pepper's Shoes Building is not part of the Merchant's Row project, but hopefully development will follow soon.

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Even more of Merchant's Row. This project is great for the city. Just 2 years ago this entire stretch of road was completely dead. Not anymore.

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Here is what replaced Hudson's: the city's premier undergroung parking garage. The site sits, waiting to receive a 18-24 story building.

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Some more of Lower Woodward Avenue. Thank God they did not tear it all down for urban renewal in the 70s!

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Washington Boulevard Apartments viewed from Capitol Park

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Farwell Building

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More of the Capitol Park area

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Looking down Griswold Street towards the Penobscot Building

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Part I

Part II

Part IV

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  • 2 weeks later...

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I can't see any pics!

I'm having issues too. I'm thinking the photo host is not working quite right. Try refreshing it. I get most of the pics to load, but the 4th to last, and the last 2 pics simply will not load. I'll look into it when I get home. (The school computers won't let me access my account :angry:).

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Fantastic Photos.  So many cities are crying for this type of development.  Several of the streets above look perfect for a light rail line.

It is interesting that you mention light rail, Marc. Mass transit is becoming a much debated issue in the metro. M-DOT is pushing its multibillion dollar proposal to widen I-75. It refuses to look at LRT as an alternative to the road widening. Also, it opposes the idea of commuter rail, which existed many years ago, but ceased to exist when the employment centers moved from Detroit to the suburbs. Today, commuter rail is backed by a group called Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers, a nonprofit organization. However, Ferndale, a small inner ring suburb suports a light rail line running up Woodward Avenue as a substitute for the I-75 widening. A group called Transportation Riders United supports this alternative.

Ironically, the Big 3, who got the transit lines torn out in the first place, now support mass transit. They realize that Detroit lacks certain ammenities downtown, one of which is mass transit. They feel that they cannot attract young, well educated people to fill some of the job openings if downtown is not improved.

Here are some interesting quotes from recent articles about the mass transit vs. roads debate. The full articles are posted in the Detroit section if you are interested. I have provided links to the full articles at the end of this post.

For the I-75 expansion to attain its goal of cutting commute time between Pontiac and Detroit by 90 seconds - that's right, only 90 seconds - the region will pay $60 million a mile for the work, endure years of construction detours and end up with more highly concentrated air pollutants in the nearby neighborhoods.

The Michigan Department of Transportation and Oakland County government think it's a worthwhile price for us all to pay in order to make it easier for new outer suburbs to grow and allow the ring of stagnation in established suburbs to follow closely behind in growth.

An MDOT study showed that commuter train service could be restarted for less than $5 million per mile
(Yet it refuses to support the proposal).

The broader issue here is sprawl. Patterson says those who use the word are denigrating vital economic development. Yes and no. Most of it needs to happen, but where?

Dispute Between Ferndale & County Shouldn't be Personal

Battle Lines Need not be Drawn over I-75 & Light Rail Project

More Lanes vs. Mass Transit

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Thanks for the compliments guys!

Once again the weather is not cooperating for my return trip to Detroit. Fortunately, it is warming up...if only it would stop being cloudy & rainy! If I do not get back down there next weekend I will be going sometime over spring break (which is still two weeks away :( ) Hopefully I'll get some night shots & skyline shots next time too. I'm not exactly sure how much I'll be able to get at night, seeing as how the top of Penobscot & the top of 150 West Jefferson are about the only things lit up at night, but I'll certainly try!

I'm taking photo requests for the next photo shoot, so if you guys want to see pics of anything in particular just let me know.

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