WSTB

Portrait of a City - Detroit (1961)

[youtube]dUW5bqdKWew[/youtube]

Hey Possum, did you provide a link to something. Did not come up when I opened your post. Thnx...

Just hit "play" on the video . . . or do you not see the video?

in case not, here's the link:

Youtube videos have the credit built into them! Just click the i in the circle. To see the link on youtube videos at WSTB click on the three linked dots. It's all in the top far right corner. There you can subscribe or see the video views or read the description.

I can see the video in my post just as it appears on Youtube. What I don't see is an i in a circle.

(I'm using Safari on a Mac . . . not sure if that has anything to do with it.)

I had neither link or the I in the circle ?? BTW, that video is amazing considering what was to come. If only time could be turned back. One would hope that Detroit's civic leadership as well as the citizens would have charted a different path.

It's easier to click on the YouTube logo.

I often hear Detroit focused too much on one industry to drive their economy. I read somewhere the Ford Plant alone supplied enough jobs to support 100,000 households. Then you have suppliers to the plant and additional auto plants and their suppliers. If being a one industry town was it's downfall, wouldn't the entire metro decline?

What is overlooked: Sprawl. The city that gave the world cheap cars also led the way in automobile households, creating massive sprawl. Their sprawl problem dates back to the 1920s, when they actually began work on a new downtown and shopping districts in the suburbs. It's a typical sprawl city, but to the extreme, due to the sprawl starting so early and at such a massive level. The city continues to move outward, abandoning old shopping districts and houses. The outer layers of Detroit are actually very healthy, attractive, and growing with a variety of both white and blue collar jobs. With an increase in popularity of downtowns, downtown Detroit is also growing. The area between downtown and the healthy suburbs that was abandoned, as everything moves outward, is not growing and is the problem. When the old auto plants are outdated, they are abandoned, as the new plants open further out..... and the neighborhoods are abandoned too. As a shopping center becomes outdated, it is abandoned and the stores move further out. This is a cheaper solution to rebuilding or modernizing the existing structures. Unfortunately, it leaves large sections of our nation's cities vacant.

"A National Disgrace"

The historic Hotel Park Avenue has been imploded. Opened as a hotel in 1924, the building later housed the elderly and homeless. It had been vacant since 2003 and on the National Register of Historic Places since 2006.

Here is a mid-century view:



. . . and the same area earlier this year . . . a post-apocalyptic wasteland:



Story with more photos here:

http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2015/04/0 ... cted-demo/

What a spot on assessment. It is astoundingly jaw dropping to view what has become of present day Detroit. Senseless does not begin to describe it.

To be fair, there are some beautiful areas of downtown Detroit with fabulous historic preservation. The blight is what we mostly hear about with Detroit, but there are other aspect of that city. I doubt any other U.S. city has experienced the huge losses that Detroit has...sometimes I'm surprised it has survived at all.

In a few years, this will become The District Detroit (an arena district). It will include apartments, office buildings, park spaces, and retail/restaurants in over 45 blocks. Originally, developers planned to save and restore both historic structures, but as the design and work progressed on the new arena for the NHL Red Wings, they discovered this building made it difficult for the trucks to load and unload for concerts and events. The arena developer applied for demolition permits about four months ago. Many people didn't want to see any demolition, but sort of knew it would happen. Excavation (I guess you could say early construction) on the arena and entertainment district has already started.

In this early image, you can see both buildings still standing near the arena's service area (top center of image):


In this more recent image, you can see just one of the buildings still standing:


[youtube]BCC7Zlk6LNQ[/youtube]

I think Detroit has bottomed-out and is now on its way back up. Two or three wealthy businessmen are buying-up properties and converting them from low income senior housing or abandonment to luxury apartments and Class A offices. Also, several businesses have moved from the suburbs into Detroit's downtown area. They have a streetcar under construction, new sports arenas, beautiful restorations, upscale retail/restaurants moving-in, and some new construction. If this continues, in a few years, discussion on Detroit could change from "down-and-out" or "amazing ruins" to "greatest comeback story?" Right now, it's interesting to follow the progress.

I sure hope your predictions come to pass. I have several friends . . . artists in their early 20s . . . planning to move there in the fall. I just wish the new architecture was even half as inspiring as what has been lost. In that regard, I can't say I'm too encouraged by what I see in those renderings.

Few American cities were as beautiful as old Detroit . . .

The Before was definitely much better than the After.

Holy crap . . . the massive Michigan Central Station is actually being saved!

http://www.freep.com/story/money/busine ... /31633393/