Wow, I can't believe they actually painted the building - spent money on that! - and left the dangerous blocks as they were. This boggles the mind. That place is a lawsuit waiting to happen. So sad to see buildings like that. It was once worked in, and visited . . . and now . . . nothing. It kind of looks like it used to be a bar (with the triangular entryway) - do you know what it was?
Yeah, I was pretty amazed when I first saw it freshly painted - new paint right over the giant cracks! I couldn't understand why anyone would bother to paint it without fixing the concrete blocks, either. On the other hand, it took much longer than I was expecting for those blocks to fall - I've been watching them for 4 years now. I'd have expected it to have happened a lot sooner with water getting into the cracks and freezing, as must happen in the winter
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Wow, is that side door open now, or just repainted? Maybe something's going to happen with it soon. I hate to think what kind of urban nature has moved in. We occasionally had monster opossums and raccoons in our neighborhood. Pigeons? Or, yuck, rats? *shudder*
Having moved away, I felt a sick sort of nostalgia, seeing that familiar type of abandoned building. Not for the blight, but for the long familiarity and associations with good friends who live back there. Detroit is shocking when you first experience such large-scale blight.
On the bright side for the city, I heard on the news that there's a new mayor, so perhaps some good things can happen now.
I think the side door is open - it's been that way for a while, at least months. I can't see into that part of the building from the street and haven't gotten out of the car to look at it, so I don't know what's on the other side.
Sorry to have caused you to feel some "homesickness", though! :(
Yes, hopefully having a new mayor will be good for the city. Ken Cockrel took over yesterday, officially. That makes Monica Conyers head of the Detroit City Council, I think. I heard they made a good show of being able to work together, but I think it was Cockrel who Conyers called Shrek at one of the city council meetings last spring? She's a real piece of work...
They already had Kilpatrick's name painted off the Zoo Tower by last Tuesday. I heard that some wealthy private citizen of Detroit personally paid for that to be done, but I have no idea whether or not that's actually true. *lol*
Having been away from Detroit for two months, I still struggle with my feelings about the place. I miss the familiarity of having lived there for over 20 years as I struggle to figure out where to find things here in MN
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*lol* I saw the zoo tower for myself last night and Kilpatrick's name is definitely gone - it just says something like "A Zoo Worth Saving ... Thanks!" I think that's a reference to the recent Oakland County tax resolution to help support the zoo that passed last month.
I'm not sure about Craig Covey, but haven't heard of any changes in Ferndale since you left, so he's probably still "happily reigning." *lol* I guess, since I don't live there, I'm not really against high rise condos - I think it's nice that Ferndale is able to have a thriving downtown area again after it seemed pretty "dead" for so long...
Wow that is really dangerous for them to just leave it that way. I mean what if the rest decided to crumble down? If it was to hit someone they would have a huge lawsuit on their hands.
Yup! But, the thing is, a lot of those problem buildings are privately owned - this one even has active billboards on top - and the city doesn't have the resources to force businesses to take care of the property. There are so many abandoned buildings for which the city is now responsible that need to be demolished, there isn't enough money even for that.
Can't the city at least notify the owner, saying 'fix it - or we will confiscate property'? I know it sounds harsh - but it also sounds like this is a huge problem for Detroit and similar cities in decline. Hubby was telling me that sometimes neighbors will burn down buildings like that, so that they don't become crack houses and such. What a nightmare!
I suppose the city could, if there was a law giving them that authority - I'm not sure. The problem, though, is that even if the city owned it, there are countless other buildings in the same condition or worse that the city doesn't have the funds to demolish or fix. They might be able to sell it to someone, but who would want to buy it?
Yes, I've heard stories of neighbors burning down blighted houses to prevent them being used in that way, too. I can't exactly remember, but I think that may have been portrayed in 8-Mile?
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Having moved away, I felt a sick sort of nostalgia, seeing that familiar type of abandoned building. Not for the blight, but for the long familiarity and associations with good friends who live back there. Detroit is shocking when you first experience such large-scale blight.
On the bright side for the city, I heard on the news that there's a new mayor, so perhaps some good things can happen now.
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Sorry to have caused you to feel some "homesickness", though! :(
Yes, hopefully having a new mayor will be good for the city. Ken Cockrel took over yesterday, officially. That makes Monica Conyers head of the Detroit City Council, I think. I heard they made a good show of being able to work together, but I think it was Cockrel who Conyers called Shrek at one of the city council meetings last spring? She's a real piece of work...
They already had Kilpatrick's name painted off the Zoo Tower by last Tuesday. I heard that some wealthy private citizen of Detroit personally paid for that to be done, but I have no idea whether or not that's actually true. *lol*
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I'm not sure about Craig Covey, but haven't heard of any changes in Ferndale since you left, so he's probably still "happily reigning." *lol* I guess, since I don't live there, I'm not really against high rise condos - I think it's nice that Ferndale is able to have a thriving downtown area again after it seemed pretty "dead" for so long...
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Yes, I've heard stories of neighbors burning down blighted houses to prevent them being used in that way, too. I can't exactly remember, but I think that may have been portrayed in 8-Mile?
Nice icon, BTW. ;-)
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